1.30 BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST

BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST specifies the pathname (directory or disc) where debugging trace files for the background processes (LGWR, DBWn, and so on) are written during Oracle operations.

Property Description

Parameter type

String

Syntax

BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST = { pathname | directory }

Default value

Operating system-dependent

Modifiable

ALTER SYSTEM

Modifiable in a PDB

No

Range of values

Any valid local path, directory, or disk

Basic

No

Note:

The BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST parameter is deprecated in Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1).

An alert log in the directory specified by BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST logs significant database events and messages. Anything that affects the database instance or global database is recorded here. The alert log is a normal text file. Its file name is operating system-dependent. For platforms that support multiple instances, it takes the form alert_sid.log, where sid is the system identifier. This file grows slowly, but without limit, so you might want to delete it periodically. You can delete the file even when the database is running.

Note:

This parameter is ignored by the diagnosability infrastructure introduced in Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1), which places trace and core files in a location controlled by the DIAGNOSTIC_DEST initialization parameter.

See Also: