Overview of Recovery Appliance Backup Module

Install Location for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module

The Recovery Appliance backup module must be installed in the following locations:

In the Oracle home of every protected database that uses RMAN to backup protected databases to Recovery Appliance

If a particular Oracle home is used by more than one protected database, then the backup module must be installed only once in this Oracle home.
On every upstream Recovery Appliance that sends backups to downstream Recovery Appliances in replication environments

The library for the Recovery Appliance backup module, libra.so, is preinstalled on Recovery Appliance. However, the Oracle wallet containing the replication user credentials must be created on the upstream Recovery Appliance.

See Also:

Recovery Appliance Backup Module Configuration File

The Recovery Appliance backup module configuration file contains the configuration settings that are used when protected databases communicate with the Recovery Appliance. The configuration file is created automatically when the Recovery Appliance backup module is installed on the protected database host.

You can also set some Recovery Appliance backup module configuration parameters inline, while configuring or allocating RMAN SBT channels for the Recovery Appliance, as shown in Example 3-3 and Example 3-4.

See Also:

"Configuration Parameters for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module" for the configuration parameters that can be specified while installing the Recovery Appliance backup module

Configuration Parameters for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module

Table 4-1 describes the configuration parameters that are used when installing the Recovery Appliance backup module. These parameters are used by protected databases while backing up to and restoring from Recovery Appliance.

Table 4-1 Recovery Appliance Backup Module Installer Parameters

Parameter Name	Mandatory/Optional	Description
dbUser	Mandatory	User name of the Recovery Appliance user who has the privileges required to connect to, send, and receive backups for the protected database
dbPass	Mandatory	Password for the `dbUser` user
host	Mandatory	SCAN host name of the Recovery Appliance
port	Mandatory	Listener port number of the Recovery Appliance metadata database
serviceName	Mandatory	Service name of the Recovery Appliance metadata database
walletDir	Mandatory	Location of the Oracle wallet that stores the Recovery Appliance user credentials and the proxy information used to connect to the Recovery Appliance. Note: If an Oracle wallet already exists in this directory, then the Recovery Appliance backup module installer overwrites the existing wallet.
proxyHost	Optional	Host name or IP address and TCP port of a proxy server through which to make an HTTP connection to the Recovery Appliance, in the form host:port.
configFile	Optional	Location of the configuration file that stores the configuration parameters for the Recovery Appliance backup module. The default location on Linux/UNIX is `$ORACLE_HOME/dbs/raORACLE_SID.ora`. On Windows, the default location is `$ORACLE_HOME\database\raORACLE_SID.ora`.
libDir	Optional	Location where the shared library for the Recovery Appliance backup module is stored. This library is used to transfer backup data over the network to the Recovery Appliance. It is recommended that you store the shared library in `$ORACLE_HOME/lib` on Linux/UNIX and in `$ORACLE_HOME\database\lib` on Windows. When you omit this parameter, the installer does not download the shared library. Downloading the library is not required only when you regenerate the Oracle wallet and configuration file in an Oracle home where the backup module was previously installed.
libPlatform	Optional	Platform name of the protected database host on which the Recovery Appliance backup module needs to be installed. Typically, the Recovery Appliance backup module installer automatically determines the platform on which it is run. You need to set this parameter only if the installer displays an error indicating the platform cannot be determined. Valid values for platform name are: linux64, windows64, solaris_sparc64, solaris_sparcx64, zlinux64, aix_ppc64, and hpux_ia64.
argFile	Optional	File from which the remaining command-line parameters must be read during the Recovery Appliance backup module installation.

Installing the Recovery Appliance Backup Module

Protected databases communicate with the Recovery Appliance through the Recovery Appliance backup module. You must install the backup module on the protected database host before you enroll the protected database with Recovery Appliance.

During the Recovery Appliance backup module installation, an Oracle wallet that contains credentials required to authenticate the protected database with Recovery Appliance is created. Additional Oracle wallets can be created.

To install the Recovery Appliance backup module:

Complete the preparation tasks described in "Preparing to Install the Recovery Appliance Backup Module".
Download the Recovery Appliance backup module installer as described in "Obtaining the Installer for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module".
In each Oracle home that contains one or more protected databases, install the Recovery Appliance backup module as described in "Running the Recovery Appliance Backup Module Installer".

See Also:

"Overview of Recovery Appliance Backup Module" for the location where the Recovery Appliance backup module must be installed
"Creating an Oracle Wallet on the Protected Database"

Preparing to Install the Recovery Appliance Backup Module

Complete the following steps before you install the Recovery Appliance backup module:

Verify that you have Java version 1.5 or higher
Contact the Recovery Appliance administrator and obtain the following information:
- Recovery Appliance host name and port number
- Credentials of the Recovery Appliance user that will be used to authenticate the protected database with the Recovery Appliance
  
  The permissions required to perform protected database backup and recovery operations need to be assigned to this Recovery Appliance user.
Ensure that the release of the protected database is Oracle Database 10g Release 2 or later.

Obtaining the Installer for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module

You can either download the Recovery Appliance backup module installer from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) or obtain it from the Recovery Appliance.

On the Recovery Appliance, the installer is called ra_installer.zip and is available in the ORACLE_HOME/lib directory. During the installation, the Recovery Appliance backup module first attempts to download the modules required for your platform from OTN. If OTN access is unavailable, then the installer obtains the required libraries from the Recovery Appliance.

To download the Recovery Appliance backup module installer from OTN:

Access the following URL on OTN:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/availability/oracle-zdlra-backup-module-2279224.html
Sign in using your OTN account credentials.
Select Accept License Agreement to accept the OTN license agreement.
Click All Supported Platforms to download the Recovery Appliance backup module for your platform.

The Recovery Appliance installer is named ra_installer.zip.

Running the Recovery Appliance Backup Module Installer

Install the Recovery Appliance backup module in the host file system of the protected database. Since the Recovery Appliance backup module is a shared library, it must be installed into a location within the shared library search path that is visible to every protected database instance. For example, $ORACLE_HOME/lib is the default location for shared libraries for the Oracle database.

The Recovery Appliance backup module location is used with the SBT_LIBRARY parameter in the ALLOCATE CHANNEL or CONFIGURE CHANNEL commands.

To run the Recovery Appliance backup module installer:

Unzip the installer downloaded in "Obtaining the Installer for the Recovery Appliance Backup Module" into a local directory.

The installer contains the following files: ra_install.jar and ra_readme.txt.
Ensure that the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set to the Oracle home of the protected database.
Run the installer ra_install.jar by providing the mandatory parameters. Table 4-1 describes the parameters required to install the Recovery Appliance backup module.
For example, the following command runs the Recovery Appliance installer with the VPC user name rauser11 and password rau11pswd. The Oracle wallet containing the Recovery Appliance credentials is stored in $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/ra_wallet and the SBT library for the Recovery Appliance backup module is stored in $ORACLE_HOME/lib. The Single Client Access Name (SCAN) of the Recovery Appliance is ra-scan, the listener port number of the Recovery Appliance metadata database is 1521, and the service name of the Recovery Appliance metadata database is myzdlra.
```
% java -jar ra_install.jar -dbUser rauser11 -dbPass rau11pswd -host ra-scan -port 1521 
-serviceName myzdlra -walletDir $ORACLE_HOME/dba/ra_wallet -libDir $ORACLE_HOME/lib 
-proxyHost www-proxy.mycompany.com
```

See Also:

"Creating an Oracle Wallet on the Protected Database" for steps to manually create an Oracle wallet
"Using RMAN Channels for Recovery Appliance Backup and Recovery Operations"

Creating the Enterprise Manager Administrator to Manage Protected Database Operations

The Enterprise Manager administrator is an Enterprise Manager user that has the roles and privileges required to manage the data protection of one or more protected databases.

To create an Enterprise Manager administrator named protdb_admin:

Log in to Cloud Control as an Enterprise Manager administrator who has the privileges to create other Enterprise Manager administrator accounts.
From the Setup menu, select Security, and then select Administrators.

The Administrators page is displayed.
Click Create to display the Create Administrator: Properties page.
Enter the credentials of the new Enterprise Manager administrator in the Name and Password fields. In this example, the name of the Enterprise Manager administrator is protdb_admin.

In the Password Profile field, DEFAULT is selected. This value need not be modified. Providing information in the other fields on this page is optional.
Click Next to display the Create Administrator protdb_admin: Roles page.
Move the EM_USER role from the Available Roles list to the Selected Roles list and click Next.

The Create Administrator protdb_admin: Target Privileges page is displayed.
In the Target Privileges section, add privileges for all the targets that the new Enterprise Manager administrator will require access to. The required target privileges for an administrator that will manage protected database operations are as follows:
- Targets corresponding to the protected databases that will be managed by this Enterprise Manager administrator user: Full privilege.
- Targets corresponding to the hosts of each protected database that will be managed by this Enterprise Manager administrator: Full privilege.
- Target corresponding to the Recovery Appliance to which the protected databases will be sending backups: View privilege.
To add privileges for these targets:
1. Click Add to display the Search and Add: Targets dialog.
2. Search for the target(s) using the Target Name, Target Type, and On Host filters. Choose the target(s) and click Select.
  
  The selected targets are added to the list of targets in the Target Privileges section.
3. Privileges can be specified for all the targets in the list via the Grant to All button or by selecting individual targets and clicking the Grant to Selected button. Either way, in the subsequent Assign Privileges screen, select the appropriate privilege for the targets as specified above; then click Continue to return to the Target Privileges page.
Repeat these steps as needed for each target that will be managed by the new Enterprise Manager user.
Click Next to display the Create Administrator protdb_admin: EM Resource Privileges page.
Perform the following steps:
- For the Job System privilege, click the Edit icon in the Manage Privilege Grants column. In the Resource Type Privileges section, select Create and then click Continue.
- To provide the EM administrator user access to existing credentials, click the Edit icon in the Named Credential column. In the Resource Privileges section, click Add and select the named credentials that must be associated with this Enterprise Manager administrator.
Click Review to display the Create Administrator protdb_admin: Review page.

The properties, roles, and privileges for this new user are displayed. Review the settings and click Back to modify settings.
Click Finish to create the Enterprise Manager administrator.