Whole backups of a database include the complete contents of all data files of the database, also the control file, archived redo log files, and server parameter file. With these files, you can perform a complete recovery.
While whole database backups can be an important element in your overall backup strategy, they are also a required step in some situations, such as when you enable or disable ARCHIVELOG mode (see "Configuring Recovery Settings" on page 9-6). This section explains how to make whole database backups to disk.
To perform a whole database backup when the database is open:
1. On the Database Home page, click Availability to display the Availability subpage.
2. In the Manage section of the Availability page, click Schedule Backup. The Schedule Backup page appears.
Backing Up Your Database
3. In the Host Credentials section at the bottom of the page (not shown in the figure), enter values in the Username and Password fields if the Preferred Credentials are not set.
4. In the Customized Backup section, select Whole Database, and then click
Schedule Customized Backup.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Options page appears.
5. In the Backup Type section, select Full Backup.
6. In the Backup Mode section, select either Online Backup or Offline Backup. Typically, you want to perform online backups to maximize database availability.
7. In the Advanced section, make the following selections, and then click Next:
■ If you are performing an online backup, then select Also back up all archived
logs on disk.
You do not have to back up archived logs when performing an offline backup because the database is in a consistent state at the time of backup and does not require media recovery if you restore the database from this backup. However, you can choose to include archived logs in the backup.
■ If a fast recovery area is your only archiving destination, then do not select
"Delete all archived logs from disk after they are successfully backed up". In this case, archived redo log files that have been backed up are deleted automatically as space is needed. If you are using some other archiving destination, then it may be useful to select this option as part of managing your backup storage.
■ If the fast recovery area stores backups, then do not select the "Delete obsolete
backups" option.
Note: As explained in "Configuring Your Database for Basic Backup and Recovery" on page 9-4, you can make online backups only if your database is running in ARCHIVELOG mode.
Backing Up Your Database
In this case, obsolete backups are deleted automatically as space is needed. If you use another destination for your backup files, then you can select this option.
■ Do not select "Use proxy copy supported by media management software to
perform a backup" for now.
■ Do not enter a value in the Maximum Files per Backup Set field or the Section
Size field.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Settings page appears.
8. Select Disk and then click Next.
Oracle recommends backing up to disk when possible to minimize recovery time by minimizing restore operations from tape. Later, you can move disk backups to tape.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Schedule page appears.
9. Complete the following steps:
a. In the Job section, leave the default values for Job Name and Job Description. In the Job Name field, you can enter a user-specified tag for this backup. The job name is used as a prefix for the backup tag for backups created by this job.
In the Job Description field, you can enter any descriptive text that is useful for your own reference.
b. In the Schedule section, select One Time (Immediately), and then click Next. The Schedule Customized Backup: Review page appears.
10. Click Submit Job.
The Status page appears. This page should contain a message that indicates the job was successfully submitted.
11. Click View Job to monitor the progress of the backup.
The Execution page for your database appears. This page contains a Summary section describing the job. The table at the bottom of the page displays the progress of the various steps of the backup job. You can reload this page in your browser to monitor the ongoing progress of the job.
In the Name column of the table, you can see the current phase of the RMAN job. Clicking the name of the phase of the backup job displays a page containing the RMAN output for that part of the job. If you clicked on a job phase link, then from your current page, click the Execution: Database_name link at the top of the page to return to Execution page for your database.
To perform a whole database backup when the database is closed:
■ Follow the same steps as for an open database backup, except select Offline
Backup in Step 5 and then continue with the steps that follow.
Note: For recurring jobs, it is useful to set a Job Name so that the resulting backups are easy to identify as part of an ongoing series. Use a descriptive tag, such as WEEKLY_FULL_BACKUP.
Backing Up Your Database