Backup and Recovery

FAQs on backup and recovery on Oracle Database Appliance.

What are all the backup destinations supported in Oracle Database Appliance?

Oracle Database Appliance supports backups to Fast Recovery Area (Disk), Object Store and NFS-mounted location.

How do I take a database backup?

See the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User's Guide for your hardware model for the complete procedure.

What are the Oracle Database Appliance components which support backup and restore?

Oracle Database Appliance supports backup of components such as database and TDE wallet. Whey you take a backup of the database, a backup of the TDE wallet is also performed, if the database is TDE-enabled.

If the database is TDE-enabled, is it required that the backupconfig that is used to attach to that database must have a separate Database backup location and TDE wallet location?

Yes. According to security guidelines, the backup of the database and TDE wallet must not be in the same location.

How is the database backup location and TDE wallet location separated in the case of disk backupconfig?

While creating the disk backupconfig, explicit paths for database backup and TDE wallet backup is not required to be provided. Oracle Database Appliance internally backups up the TDE wallet to separate path within the Fast Recovery Area (FRA).

What type of keystore is used in Oracle Database Appliance to configure TDE?

Oracle Database Appliance uses Software Keystore to configure TDE

What are the different types of keystores created in Oracle Database Appliance?

Oracle Database Appliance creates Password Protected Software Keystore and Autologin Software Keystore. However, Local Autologin Software Keystore is not created on Oracle Database Appliance.

Does Oracle Database Appliance tooling support setting up Oracle Key Vault as a key management solution?

Not at this time.

Which are the database versions that Oracle Database Appliance supports TDE on?

Oracle Database Appliance supports TDE configuration for 18c and above databases.

What is the TDE parameter used in Oracle Database Appliance while configuring TDE?

Oracle Database Appliance uses the Oracle recommended WALLET_ROOT parameter to configure TDE.

Does Oracle Database Appliance support auto backups?

Yes, Oracle Database Appliance supports auto backup of database and archivelogs.

When are the auto backup schedulers created?

Backup schedulers are created while attaching a backupconfig to the database. On successfully attaching the backupconfig to the database, a database backup scheduler and archivelog backup scheduler are created.

What is the frequency of the database backup scheduler and archivelog backup scheduler?

Default frequency of database backup scheduler is once every 24 hours and that of archivelog backup scheduler is every 30 mins.

Can the autobackup scheduler be disabled?

Yes, the database backup scheduler and archivelog backup scheduler associated to the database can be disabled by running the odacli update-scheduler command.

Can the frequency of the schedulers be changed?

Yes, the frequency of the schedulers can be changed by updating the corresponding cron expression using the odacli update-scheduler command.

Can the database backup be disabled?

Yes, the database backups can be disabled by using the odacli modify-database command with the -no-bkp option. Once disabled, manual backup, using the odacli create-backup command and automatic backups using schedulers, cannot be performed.

What are the backup compression algorithms supported in Oracle Database Appliance?

Oracle Database Appliance supports BASIC, LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH compression algorithms.

How can the compression algorithm be specified in Oracle Database Appliance backup?

Compression algorithm can be specified while creating the Backupconfig object. However, by default, BASIC compression algorithm is used while creating Disk or NFS backupconfig and MEDIUM compression algorithm is used while creating Objectstore backupconfig.

Can the compression algorithm be updated?

Yes, use the odacli update-backupconfig command to update the compression algorithm.

What is the license requirement to use different types of compression algorithm in Oracle Database Appliance?

BASIC compression algorithm does not require any license, whereas LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH compression algorithm require Advanced Compression Option license. However, if the user has Objectstore subscription, that is, Objectstore credentials, then any compression algorithm can be used.

Does Oracle Database Appliance check for license compliance before using any compression algorithm?

Compliance with license is the end user's responsibility, and Oracle Database Appliance tooling does not verify it.

Are the Objectstore credentials validated while creating the Objectstoreswift object?

No. The Objectstore credential is not validated while creating the Objectstoreswift object.

When does the validation of the Objectstore credentials happen?

The validation of the Objectstore credential happens while creating the backupconfig which uses the Objectstore.

What all attributes are considered to validate the Objectstore credentials?

Attributes such as Username, Password, Endpoint URL, Tenancy, and Container are considered while validating the Objectstore credentials.

Can more than one Objectstoreswift object can be created using the same Objectstore credential?

Yes, any number of Objectstoreswift objects can be created with one Objectstore credential. However, the Objectstoreswift object names must be different. Oracle Database Appliance does not allow multiple Objectstoreswift objects with the same name.

Can multiple Objectstore backupconfigs be created using same Objectstoreswift object?

Yes, multiple Objectstore backupconfigs can be created using same Objectstoreswift object. The names of the Objectstore backupconfigs must be different.

Can TDE enabled database be registered in Oracle Database Appliance?

Yes, Oracle Database Appliance supports registration of TDE-enabled database from 19.12 onwards with limited support for TDE wallet lifecycle management.

What are the prerequisite to register TDE enabled database in Oracle Database Appliance?

See the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User's Guide for your hardware model for the complete procedure.

What is the significance of TDE Wallet Management attribute in database object?

TDE Wallet Management attribute signifies the one responsible for TDE wallet lifecycle management and is available starting from Oracle Database Appliance release 19.12.

What value does TDE Wallet Management attribute in database object take?

TDE Wallet Management attribute takes the values: Oracle Database Appliance, which means Oracle Database Appliance manages the lifecycle management of TDE wallets, EXTERNAL , which means Oracle Database Appliance does not manage the LCM of TDE wallets, and the value NULL which means database is not TDE-enabled.

What are the operations that are not supported by Oracle Database Appliance when TDE Wallet Management is EXTERNAL?

The following operations are not supported by Oracle Database Appliance when TDE Wallet Management is EXTERNAL:
  • Re-key of TDE wallet
  • TDE wallet password change
  • TDE wallet backup
  • Restore of TDE wallet
  • Cloning of TDE database
  • Deletion of TDE wallet on deleting the database