EMC Corporation Corporate Headquarters: Hopkinton, MA 01748
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9103 1-508-
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1000 www.EMC.comModule for Oracle
Release 5.0
Administration Guide
Published June, 2009
EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.
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EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 3
Preface
Chapter 1
Introduction
Naming conventions used in this guide... 20
Importance of backups... 20
Product features ... 20
Scheduled compared to manual backups ... 21
Deduplication backups and restores ... 21
Probe-based backups ... 23
Proxy backups and restores ... 24
VMware support... 25
Archived redo log backups ... 25
Control file autobackup ... 25
Automatic channel allocation ... 26
Backup and restore optimization ... 26
Backup copies... 27
Backup of backup sets... 29
Cluster and RAC backups and restores... 29
Configuration wizards... 30
Internationalization (I18N) and localization (L10N) ... 33
Oracle Data Guard support... 36
Parallelism ... 36
Policy uniformity ... 37
Restartable backups... 37
Retention policies ... 38
Save set bundling... 39
Other Oracle features ... 44
Software used in the NMO environment ... 47
NetWorker software ... 47
NMO software... 48
NetWorker PowerSnap Module software ... 48
Oracle backup and recovery system ... 49
NMO components ... 51
NMO backup and restore processes ... 52
Regular scheduled backup processes ... 53
Regular manual backup processes... 54
Deduplication backup processes... 55
Regular restore processes ... 57
Chapter 2
Software Configuration
Configuration roadmap... 62
Verify the Oracle Server configuration... 63
Verify the NetWorker resources ... 63
NetWorker Server resource... 63
NetWorker user group privileges ... 64
NetWorker Schedule resource... 66
NetWorker Device resources ... 66
NetWorker volume pools... 66
Firewall support ... 67
Configuring I18N support ... 67
Requirements for I18N support ... 68
Configure I18N support ... 68
Configure L10N support ... 69
Migrating a legacy configuration with the nsrnmoadmin command ...69
Requirements for using the nsrnmoadmin command for migration ... 70
Migration command syntax and options ... 71
Configuring a backup with the NMC wizard...72
About the backup configuration wizard ... 72
Requirements for using the backup configuration wizard ... 73
Configure a backup with the wizard ... 73
Configuring a backup with the NMC legacy method ...75
About backup configuration with the legacy method... 75
Create RMAN scripts for backups... 75
Customize the nsrnmo script ... 79
Configure a Group resource with NMC ... 86
Configure a Schedule resource with NMC... 87
Configure a Client resource with NMC ... 87
Configure save set bundling... 91
Configure policy uniformity ... 92
Configuring a deduplication backup ... 93
Requirements for a deduplication backup ... 94
Best practices for a deduplication backup... 94
Configure a deduplication backup... 95
Configuring a probe-based backup ... 97
Requirements for a probe-based backup ... 97
Configure a probe-based backup... 97
Chapter 3
Backup Procedures
Manual backup procedures ...104Requirements for a manual backup ... 104
Manual backup through the RMAN command line interface ... 105
Manual backup through Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Management Tools ... 105
NetWorker server bootstrap backup ... 106
Cancel a manual backup ... 107
Monitor a manual backup... 108
Scheduled backup procedures ...110
Test a scheduled backup ... 110
Cancel a scheduled backup ... 111
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 5
Chapter 4
Data Restore and Recovery
About restore and recovery... 118
NetWorker indexes and policies used for restores ... 118
Recovery configuration wizard ... 118
RMAN scripts for restore and recovery ... 121
Performing an Oracle data restore and recovery ... 123
Requirements for an Oracle data restore... 123
Restore through the RMAN command line interface ... 125
Restore with Oracle Enterprise Manager Backup Management Tools ... 126
Perform an Oracle data recovery ... 127
Chapter 5
Disaster Recovery
About disaster recovery... 130Preparing an Oracle database for disaster recovery ... 130
Create the DBID text file... 131
Set up a postcommand script for backup of Oracle-related files... 131
Set up RMAN backups of the database and related files ... 132
Set up RMAN backups of Recovery Catalog... 132
Performing a disaster recovery... 133
NetWorker server recovery ... 133
Oracle disaster recovery to a new host... 133
Sample postcommand script... 134
Chapter 6
Cluster and RAC Systems
Considerations for cluster and RAC systems ... 138Parameters in the RMAN script or session... 138
NetWorker software configuration ... 139
Backup failover ... 139
Cluster systems ... 139
Roadmap for backup/restore configuration in a cluster system... 140
Backup failover ... 140
RAC systems... 140
RAC terminology... 140
RAC backups and restores ... 141
Roadmap for backup/restore configuration in a RAC system... 141
Setting up RAC nodes to back up to a local storage node... 142
Connect-time failover... 144
Creating RMAN backup scripts ... 146
Creating RMAN restore scripts ... 146
Archived redo logs ... 147
Chapter 7
Proxy Backups and Restores
Overview of proxy backups and restores... 150Types of proxy backups ... 150
Types of proxy restores ... 151
Proxy backup and restore system... 151
Proxy backup processes ... 153
Scheduled proxy backup ... 154
Proxy restore processes ... 159
Instant restore or rollback... 160
Restore from secondary storage ... 161
Basic configurations... 163
Additional configurations for proxy operations ... 163
Proxy backup requirements...171
Checking configuration consistency ... 171
Performing proxy backups ... 172
Proxy backup information in the NetWorker indexes ...174
Entries in the client file index... 175
Entries in the media database ... 175
NWORA resource file backup in the NetWorker indexes... 176
Proxy restore requirements... 177
Creating RMAN scripts for proxy restores... 177
Performing proxy restores ... 178
Relocating files during proxy restores ... 179
Restoring to a different host ... 180
Point-in-time recoveries without a Recovery Catalog... 181
Catalog synchronization for proxy backups ...181
Extra entries in the catalogs... 181
Control file versus recovery catalog... 183
The NWORA resource file ... 183
Automatic catalog synchronization with the nsroraclecat program ... 191
Proxy backups and restores on cluster systems...194
Proxy backup failover ... 194
Proxy backups from a virtual cluster client ... 195
Proxy backups from a physical cluster client... 196
Restores from proxy backups on a cluster system ... 197
Appendix A
Parameters in an RMAN Session
Setting the NSR* parameters ... 200NSR* parameter definitions... 201
Appendix B
RMAN Commands
The delete expired backup command ... 210The change...crosscheck and crosscheck commands ... 210
The pool option of the backup command... 210
The send command... 211
Syntax rules... 211
Two ways to run the send command... 213
Precedence rules... 215
The set duplex command... 215
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 7
Appendix C
Troubleshooting and Error Messages
Troubleshooting tips... 220
RMAN error messages ... 221
NMO error messages... 222
Error messages from the libnwora library ... 223
Error messages from the nsrnmoadmin program ... 231
Error messages from the nsrnmoinfo program... 233
Error messages from the nsrnmoprobe program ... 235
Error messages from the nsrnmostart program... 236
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 9
Title Page
1 Regular Oracle backup and recovery system... 50
2 Regular scheduled NMO backup ... 54
3 Regular manual NMO backup ... 55
4 Deduplication NMO backup ... 57
5 Regular NMO restore ... 58
6 UNIX Client resource for scheduled backups... 90
7 Windows Client resource for scheduled backups... 91
8 Oracle backup messages in Sessions tab of Monitoring window ... 108
9 Oracle backup messages in Devices tab of Monitoring window ... 109
10 Oracle backup messages in Log tab of Monitoring window ... 109
11 Group details for regular scheduled backups... 113
12 Proxy backup and restore system... 153
13 Scheduled instant backup ... 156
14 Scheduled immediate live backup... 158
15 Deferred live backup ... 159
16 Instant restore or rollback ... 161
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 11
Title Page
1 NMO components... 51
2 NetWorker Server resource attributes ... 63
3 User group privileges required for NMO operations... 65
4 Options of the nsrnmoadmin command for migration... 72
5 NetWorker Client resource attributes ... 88
6 NetWorker Probe resource attributes ... 98
7 PowerSnap parameters ... 167
8 NWORA parameter resources ... 184
9 NWORA SID resource components ... 186
10 Parameters in the RMAN command or script ... 201
11 Option values in the send command ... 213
12 Set duplex command values... 216
13 Trace option values and conditions traced... 217
14 Error messages from the libnwora library... 223
15 Error messages from the nsrnmoadmin program... 231
16 Error messages from the nsrnmoinfo program ... 234
17 Error messages from the nsrnmoprobe program ... 235
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 13
Title Page
1 Using the configure channel command with parms option for automatic channels .. 26
2 Specifying parameter values per automatic channel ... 26
3 Using the set backup copies command in the RMAN script ... 28
4 Using automatic channels for backup copies ... 28
5 Expiring a backup ... 38
6 Save set bundling for a one-week scheduled backup cycle of a tablespace ... 42
7 Save set bundle join ... 43
8 Splitting a save set bundle across volumes ... 43
9 Using save set consolidation to re-unite a save set bundle ... 44
10 RMAN script for a manual backup ... 75
11 RMAN script for AES encryption during an Oracle backup ... 76
12 RMAN script for a scheduled backup ... 77
13 RMAN script for a manual deduplication backup ... 96
14 Possible Command Options settings for the nsrnmoprobe program ... 99
15 Multiple probes for a probe-based backup ... 100
16 RMAN script to restore a tablespace ... 121
17 RMAN script to restore an AES encrypted backup ... 122
18 RMAN script to restore from a specified pool ... 122
19 Sample nsrnmoinfo commands for Oracle restores ... 125
20 Volume information displayed by the nsrnmoinfo command ... 125
21 Sample postcommand script on UNIX ... 134
22 Sample postcommand script on Windows ... 135
23 Setting up RAC nodes as storage nodes ... 142
24 RMAN script for a manual Oracle backup on a RAC system ... 146
25 RMAN script for an Oracle restore on a RAC system ... 146
26 RMAN scripts with multiple channels ... 165
27 PowerSnap parameter settings ... 168
28 PowerSnap parameter settings for a Celerra NAS device ... 168
29 Proxy backup failure ... 172
30 Proxy backup entries in the client file index ... 175
31 Proxy backup entries in the media database ... 176
32 Resource file backup entry in the client file index ... 176
33 Resource file backup entry in the media database ... 176
34 RESTORE_TYPE_ORDER parameter settings ... 177
35 Symbolic link specified in the set newname command ... 180
36 Relocation of a raw volume ... 180
37 Default NWORA parameter resources ... 186
38 NWORA SID resource ... 187
39 Connection file contents ... 188
Title Page
41 Proxy backup entries in the index of a virtual cluster client ... 197
42 A send command sets the parameters for a specified channel ... 212
43 An rman send command sets a parameter for all channels ... 214
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 15 As part of an effort to improve and enhance the performance and capabilities of its product lines, EMC periodically releases revisions of its hardware and software. Therefore, some functions described in this document may not be supported by all versions of the software or hardware currently in use. For the most up-to-date information on product features, refer to your product release notes.
If a product does not function properly or does not function as described in this document, please contact your EMC representative.
Audience This document is part of the EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle (NMO)
documentation set, and is intended for use by system administrators and Oracle database administrators (DBAs) who are responsible for installing software and maintaining the Oracle Server backup and recovery systems. Operators who monitor Oracle database backups may also find this document useful.
Readers of this document are expected to be familiar with the following topics: ◆ Oracle terminology and concepts, especially those related to Oracle database
backup and recovery.
◆ Backup and recovery procedures on an Oracle Server. ◆ Disaster recovery procedures on an Oracle Server.
Related documentation
Documentation related to the use of this product can be found at the EMC website, http://Powerlink.EMC.com, including:
◆ The NetWorker Module for Oracle release 5.0 documentation set: • Administration guide
• Installation guide • Release notes
• Command reference guide ◆ The NetWorker documentation set:
• Administration guide • Installation guide • Release notes
• Command reference guide • Disaster recovery guide ◆ Other EMC documentation:
• NetWorker PowerSnap Module documentation • Software compatibility guide
The following additional documentation may be useful: ◆ Oracle Server documentation
◆ Oracle database backup and recovery documentation
Conventions used in this document
EMC uses the following conventions for special notices.
Note: A note presents information that is important, but not hazard-related.
CAUTION
!
A caution contains information essential to avoid data loss or damage to the system or equipment.
IMPORTANT
!
An important notice contains information essential to software or hardware operation.
Typographical conventions
EMC uses the following type style conventions in this document: Normal Used in running (nonprocedural) text for:
• Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus)
• Names of resources, attributes, pools, Boolean expressions, buttons, DQL statements, keywords, clauses, environment variables, functions, utilities • URLs, pathnames, filenames, directory names, computer names, links, groups,
service keys, file systems, notifications Bold Used in running (nonprocedural) text for:
• Names of commands, daemons, options, programs, processes, services, applications, utilities, kernels, notifications, system calls, man pages Used in procedures for:
• Names of interface elements (such as names of windows, dialog boxes, buttons, fields, and menus)
• What the user specifically selects, clicks, presses, or types Italic Used in all text (including procedures) for:
• Full titles of publications referenced in text • Emphasis (for example, a new term) • Variables
Courier Used for:
• System output, such as an error message or script
• URLs, complete paths, filenames, prompts, and syntax when shown outside of running text
Courier bold Used for:
• Specific user input (such as commands) Courier italic Used in procedures for:
• Variables on the command line • User input variables
EMC NetWorker Module for Oracle Release 5.0 Administration Guide 17 Where to get help EMC support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows.
Product information —For documentation, release notes, software updates, or for information about EMC products, licensing, and service, go to the EMC Powerlink website (registration required) at:
http://Powerlink.EMC.com
Technical support —For technical support, go to EMC Customer Service on Powerlink. To open a service request through Powerlink, you must have a valid support agreement. Please contact your EMC sales representative for details about obtaining a valid support agreement or to answer any questions about your account.
Your comments Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of the user publications. Please send your opinion of this document to: SSGdocumentation@EMC.com
If you have issues, comments, or questions about specific information or procedures, please include the title and, if available, the part number, the revision (for example, A01), the page numbers, and any other details that will help us locate the subject you are addressing.
Introduction 19 This chapter includes the following major sections:
◆ Naming conventions used in this guide ... 20
◆ Importance of backups ... 20
◆ Product features... 20
◆ Software used in the NMO environment ... 47
◆ NMO components... 51
◆ NMO backup and restore processes... 52
Naming conventions used in this guide
Consider the naming conventions used throughout this guide:
◆ “Administrator Microsoft user” and “a member of the Microsoft Windows Administrators group” are used interchangeably.
◆ “Oracle Server host” refers to the host where both the Oracle Server and EMC® NetWorker® Module for Oracle (NMO) software are installed.
◆ “Proxy backup or restore” refers to an Oracle RMAN proxy copy backup or restore that is implemented by using snapshot technologies through the PowerSnap™ Module software.
◆ Unlike the NetWorker software, which uses the term recover for all data retrieval activities, Oracle distinguishes between restoring and recovering a database: • “Restore” refers to retrieving individual datafiles from backup and storing the
files on disk.
• “Recover” refers to applying the redo logs to make the database consistent. This guide follows the Oracle terminology.
◆ “Regular backup or restore” refers to an NMO backup or restore of Oracle data that does not use snapshot technologies through the PowerSnap Module software.
◆ "UNIX" refers to both UNIX and Linux operating systems, unless specified otherwise.
◆ "Windows" refers to all the supported Microsoft Windows operating systems, unless specified otherwise.
Importance of backups
The reliability of computer equipment has improved greatly in recent years, but system and hardware failures still occur, sometimes with catastrophic results. In a client/server environment, data can be lost due to hardware failures and user errors. Software bugs, procedural flaws, and simple user errors are common problems that necessitate database restores from backup storage media. A viable backup strategy can help in the recovery from disastrous situations.
Database administrators must recognize the importance of performing regular backups of database files and frequent backups of archived redo logs. If all archived redo logs are lost, a database can be recovered only to the time of the last consistent backup. Without backups and archived redo logs, the database cannot be recovered at all.
Product features
The following sections describe major features of the NMO, Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN), and Oracle Server software.
Product features 21
Scheduled compared to manual backups
An NMO backup can be either a scheduled or manual (unscheduled) backup: ◆ A scheduled NMO backup includes the following features:
• The backup is initiated by the NetWorker server.
• The backup start time depends on the settings in the NetWorker resources. A regular scheduled backup starts at a time specified in the NetWorker Group resource.
A probe-based backup (or event-based backup) is a type of scheduled backup that starts when specified conditions are met, as described in “Probe-based backups” on page 23.
A proxy backup is only supported by using a scheduled backup, as described in “Proxy backups and restores” on page 24.
◆ A manual NMO backup includes the following features:
• The backup is initiated by a user on the NMO host through an Oracle backup utility, which can be RMAN or Oracle Enterprise Manager.
• The backup is performed by running the Oracle utility from the operating system command line. For example, a user starts a manual NMO backup by running an RMAN backup script from the command line.
Chapter 2, “Software Configuration,” provides details on the configuration of both scheduled and manual backups.
Chapter 3, “Backup Procedures,” provides details on scheduled and manual backup procedures.
Deduplication backups and restores
NMO 5.0 software provides new support for deduplication backups and restores. The NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes provides details on the NetWorker requirements for the support of deduplication operations.
Main features of deduplication operations
An EMC Avamar® server (on Linux) interacts with the NetWorker server and NMO software during deduplication backups and restores. The Avamar server is
configured as a NetWorker deduplication node, and deduplicates the data from various clients, including the NMO clients. (The Avamar server must also be available when a deduplication client resource is created.)
The initial backup to a deduplication node (Avamar server) will be a full backup. During subsequent deduplication backups, the Avamar server identifies redundant data blocks on the NMO client host and backs up only the unique blocks (not entire files) that contain changes. Only a single instance of any unique (atomic in Avamar terminology) data block is maintained on the Avamar server.
The Avamar client-side binary, nsravtar, is installed on the NMO client with the NetWorker client software. During a deduplication backup, the nsravtar process sends the deduplicated client data to the Avamar server. A deduplication NMO backup uses a hash cache on the client side. The Avamar and NetWorker documentation provides more details about caches in deduplication backups.
The following sections describe the processes involved in deduplication backups and restores:
◆ “Deduplication backup processes” on page 55 ◆ “Deduplication restore processes” on page 58
A deduplication backup can be a manual or scheduled backup, including a probe-based backup.
The application of browse and retention policies and the selection of media pools is the same for a deduplication backup as for a regular NMO backup.
Since only the backup metadata (hash ID) is stored on the NetWorker backup device (generating a very small save set), the device should be configured as an advanced file type device (AFTD). The NetWorker administration guide provides more information.
You must configure a scheduled or manual deduplication backup according to “Configuring a deduplication backup” on page 93.
“Deduplication backup information in NetWorker indexes” on page 115 describes the backup information stored in the NetWorker indexes, and how to delete the backups.
Features not supported with deduplication operations
Deduplication operations do not support the following: ◆ Oracle proxy backups or restores.
◆ Cluster or RAC backups or restores. ◆ Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
◆ AES encryption of deduplicated data through the NSR_AES_ENCRYPTION parameter.
◆ Checksumming of deduplicated data through the NSR_CHECKSUM parameter. ◆ Compression of deduplicated data through the NSR_COMPRESSION parameter.
If NSR_AES_ENCRYPTION, NSR_CHECKSUM, or NSR_COMPRESSION is set for a deduplication backup, NMO applies the AES encryption, checksumming, or compression, respectively, to only the metadata that is stored on the NetWorker storage node.
◆ Cloning or staging of deduplicated data on the Avamar server.
Product features 23
Probe-based backups
NMO 5.0 software provides new support for probe-based backups (also known as event-based backups). A probe-based backup is a type of scheduled backup:
◆ The NetWorker server starts a regular scheduled backup based on a time interval. ◆ The NetWorker server starts a probe-based backup when specified conditions are
met.
The NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes provides details on the NetWorker requirements for the support of probe-based backups.
Probe-based backups are not supported for proxy backups or cluster/RAC environments.
Workflow of probe-based backups
A probe-based NMO backup starts when both of the following are true:
◆ (Condition 1) The current time is within a specified window of time (the backup window, defined by the probe start time and probe end time in the probe-enabled backup group resource).
◆ One of the following conditions is met:
• (Condition 2) A specified amount of time has elapsed since the previous probe-based backup.
• (Condition 3) One or all of the probes associated with the backup are successful, depending on the probe success criteria specified in the backup configuration.
The probe success criteria can be set in the NetWorker Group resource to the value Any or All.
At specified probe intervals, the NetWorker server performs the following:
1. The server checks for condition 1, to determine if the current time is within the backup window.
2. If condition 1 is met, then the server checks for condition 2, to determine if a specified amount of time has elapsed since the last probe-based backup: • If condition 2 is met, then the server starts the probe-based backup.
• If condition 2 is not met, then the server checks for condition 3, to determine if one or all of the probes are successful:
– If the probe success criteria is set to Any, and any one of the probes is successful, then the server starts the probe-based backup.
Types of probes
There are two different types of probes: ◆ An NMO probe.
The NMO probe is implemented through the NMO program nsrnmoprobe. The nsrnmoprobe program returns a successful result (signifying that the condition being checked has been met) when it detects either of the following:
• The number of Oracle redo logs generated since the previous probe-based backup exceeds a number known as the change threshold.
• A new database incarnation (reset log) has occurred since the previous probe-based backup.
◆ User-defined probes.
A user-defined probe checks if any other user-defined condition (other than the number of generated Oracle redo logs) has been met since the previous
probe-based backup. (This option requires more advanced configuration.) To implement a user-defined probe, you must create a new script or program that checks for the condition, as described in “Configuring a probe-based backup” on page 97.
You must configure the required parameters and NetWorker resources to specify the probe interval, backup window, and any other settings for a probe-based backup. “Configuring a probe-based backup” on page 97 provides details on how to configure a probe-based backup.
Proxy backups and restores
Proxy backups and restores provide continuous snapshot-based protection and availability of Oracle data on specific types of primary storage. A proxy operation involves both the NMO software and a specific PowerSnap Module. The EMC Information Protection Software Compatibility Guide on the EMC Powerlink® website provides a list of supported PowerSnap Modules.
Proxy backups create point-in-time copies or snapshots of Oracle data, store the snapshots on primary storage devices supported by the PowerSnap Modules (for Symmetrix®, CLARiiON®, and so on), and optionally back up the data to secondary storage (such as tape) from the point-in-time copies.
Proxy restores are used to restore the Oracle data that is backed up during the proxy backups.
Product features 25
VMware support
NMO 4.5 provided support for regular backups and restores of an Oracle database installed on a VMware Virtual Machine (VM) on an ESX server.
NMO 5.0 extends this support with the support for the following advanced features of a VMware ESX server:
◆ VMotion — The VMotion feature enables migration of virtual machines from one ESX server to another while the servers are on. The migration is seamless to the applications running on the virtual machines, and a user does not experience any disconnection. If a migration occurs during an NMO backup or restore, the backup or restore is not interrupted. VMware documentation provides details on the VM requirements for VMotion.
◆ Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) — The DRS feature enables dynamic balancing and allocation of resources across multiple ESX servers. Depending on the DRS policies set by the user, the DRS can migrate or recommend that users migrate a virtual machine to a different ESX server by using VMotion. DRS can also start (at boot-up time) a virtual machine on a different ESX server. Since this feature uses VMotion, if a migration occurs during an NMO backup or restore, the backup or restore is not interrupted.
The NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes provides details on the NetWorker requirements for the support of VMware features.
Archived redo log backups
Archived redo log backups enable recovery of the database to its predisaster state. Without archived redo log backups, the database can be recovered only to the time of the last consistent Oracle backup. In this case, transactions that occurred between the time of the last consistent backup and the time of the database corruption will be lost. Archived redo logs can be backed up by using the appropriate option of the RMAN backup command. Ensure that the NMO backups of archived redo logs are enabled. “Backing up all archived logs from each node” on page 147 provides a sample script to back up the archived redo log files in a RAC system.
The appropriate Oracle backup and recovery documentation provides more information on setting up and running archived redo log backups.
Control file autobackup
RMAN performs a control file autobackup after each RMAN backup command if the control file autobackup has been enabled with the configure controlfile autobackup on command. Use this feature to restore the backup entries contained in the control file when the control file is lost and the Recovery Catalog is not available.
Specify persistent settings for the control file autobackups with the configure controlfile autobackup command. For example, enable control file autobackup and specify the persistent setting for the format of the control file autobackup name with the following commands:
configure controlfile autobackup on
If the control file autobackup is set to on and the RMAN backup is performed with NMO, the control file autobackup will also be performed with NMO. As a result, one or more channels of device type sbt_tape must be allocated for the restore.
Note: Oracle also supports autobackup of the current server parameter file together with control file autobackup.
Automatic channel allocation
RMAN supports automatic channel allocation. This feature enables the configuration of persistent settings for automatic channels, for use in all RMAN sessions.
IMPORTANT
!
Manual and automatic channels are mutually exclusive and cannot be mixed in an RMAN session. The format of an automatic channel name of the device type for NMO backups and restores is ORA_SBT_n or ORA_SBT_TAPE_n, where n is the channel number. Do not use this name format for manual channel allocation for NMO. Otherwise, RMAN reports an error.
With automatic channel allocation, specification of the send command before the backup or restore command causes the following error:
RMAN-06422: no channels found for SEND command
You must use the configure channel...parms... command to set the NSR* parameters for automatic channels for an NMO backup. Do not use the send command or option to set the NSR* parameters for automatic channels if you plan to use scheduled backups.
Table 10 on page 201 lists all the NSR* parameters and their requirements.
Example 1 Using the configure channel command with parms option for automatic channels
Automatic channels are configured for NMO backups with the NetWorker server server1.emc.com by typing the following configure channel...parms... command:
configure channel device type ’sbt_tape’ parms ’ENV=(NSR_SERVER=server1.emc.com)’
This command sets the default parameters for all the automatic channels.
Example 2 Specifying parameter values per automatic channel
Specific NSR* parameter values can be set for different channels (for example, a separate setting of parameter NSR_GROUP for each channel) by typing the configure channel n device type...parms... command, where n represents a channel number. An NMO debug file is specified for the second automatic channel by typing the following configure channel command:
configure channel 2 device type ’sbt_tape’ parms ’ENV=(NSR_DEBUG_FILE=/db/logs/backup.log)’
Backup and restore optimization
Product features 27
Note:
- To force a backup that would otherwise be skipped due to backup optimization, use the force option in the backup command.
- When RMAN skips a backup due to backup optimization, it does not produce an error message. However, RMAN does issue a warning message similar to the following:
skipping archive log file...
IMPORTANT
!
When using Oracle backup optimization with NMO backups and restores, run the crosscheck command regularly to synchronize the Recovery Catalog and
NetWorker indexes. This ensures that backups expired by the NetWorker server are also marked as expired in the Recovery Catalog and RMAN does not skip a backup when a referenced backup has already expired in NetWorker.
The restore optimization function prevents RMAN from restoring a file if the original file is already in the correct location and contains the expected information.
Note: To force a restore that would otherwise be skipped due to restore optimization, use the
force option in the restore command.
Backup copies
IMPORTANT
!
If more than one RMAN channel is used for backup copies of an NMO backup, parameter values set with the send command or option are passed by RMAN to the first backup channel only. Due to this send command limitation, NMO does not support the use of RMAN backup copies commands during scheduled backups. NMO supports backup copies with manual backups only.
Use the RMAN commands for backup copies only during manual backups when the parameters NSR_SERVER, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL,
NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL1, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL2, and
NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL3 are set with the parms option, not with the send command or option.
Manual backups can be duplexed (up to four copies) by using one of the following commands:
◆ The configure...backup copies for device type sbt_tape to... command specifies persistent settings for duplexing backups through NMO.
For example, specify persistent settings for duplex copies of datafiles and archived redo logs (respectively) in NMO backups with the following types of configure commands:
configure datafile backup copies for device type ’sbt_tape’ to 2 configure archivelog backup copies for device type ’sbt_tape’ to 2
◆ The backup command with the copies option applies to objects within the backup command. The backup...copies setting takes precedence over the persistent settings in the configure...backup copies command.
◆ The set backup copies command applies to all backup objects in the same run job.
In the following examples, the parms option is used to configure the channel and set the required parameters. These sample scripts must be invoked manually with RMAN, for example, by using the following command:
rman cmdfile script_name
Example 3 Using the set backup copies command in the RMAN script
The following RMAN script uses the set backup copies command to generate the backup copies. The parameters are set with the parms option, as required. The RMAN script must be invoked for a manual backup, not a scheduled backup: run {
set backup copies 4;
allocate channel ch1 parms ’ENV=(NSR_SERVER=server_name, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL=nmo1, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL1=nmo2, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL2=nmo3, NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL3=nmo4)’; backup format '%d_%U'
tag tag_name
(tablespace 'SYSTEM' ); release channel ch1; }
Example 4 Using automatic channels for backup copies
The following configure commands are used to configure RMAN automatic
channels. (The configure commands could also be included in the RMAN script.) The configure...backup copies command generates the backup copies. The parameters are set with the parms option, as required. The RMAN script must be invoked for a manual backup, not a scheduled backup:
configure default device type to ’sbt_tape’;
configure datafile backup copies for device type ’sbt_tape’ to 4; configure channel device type ’sbt_tape’ parms
Product features 29 The RMAN script invoked for the manual backup is as follows:
connect target sys/oracle@test; run {
backup format '%d_%U' tag tag_name
(tablespace 'SYSTEM'); }
Backup of backup sets
RMAN supports the backup of backup sets. If Oracle data has been backed up with device type disk, NMO can be used to back up these backup sets from disk to NetWorker volumes.
For example, to back up all backup sets from disk to NetWorker volumes in a tape device, use the following command:
backup device type sbt backupset all
The backup set on disk can also be deleted with the delete input option in the backup device type sbt backupset... command. For example, to back up the backup sets that were created on disk more than a week ago and then remove the backup sets from disk, use the following command:
backup device type sbt backupset completed before sysdate-7 delete input
Cluster and RAC backups and restores
The NMO software supports backups and restores of cluster and Real Application Cluster (RAC) systems for high availability and parallelism.
A cluster system typically includes multiple nodes connected by a shared SCSI bus to which common storage is attached. Cluster services such as disk services can be defined and assigned their own IP addresses and names (virtual hosts). The services and their associated storage can migrate for failover between the physical nodes in the cluster.
After a cluster service is configured as a NetWorker client, NMO can be used with NetWorker server software to back up and restore an Oracle database associated with the service, independent of the actual node that provides the service.
A RAC system enables multiple Oracle instances across multiples nodes to access the same Oracle database at the same time. Oracle RAC is based on a cluster software infrastructure that provides concurrent access to the same storage and the same set of datafiles from all nodes in the cluster. All the database files reside on cluster-aware shared disks.
After RAC and the associated cluster system are properly configured, NMO enables Oracle backups on either a single node or several nodes of the RAC system. A parallel Oracle backup uses Oracle instances running in parallel on multiple nodes of the cluster.
Configuration wizards
NMO 5.0 software supports new backup and recovery configuration wizards that are integrated with the NetWorker Management Console (NMC). The configuration wizards used in NMO release 4.5 or earlier are replaced by the NMC-based wizards in NMO release 5.0.
Configuration wizard plug-in components are installed with the NMO software on the NMO client host. NMC loads the NMO wizard plug-in at run time. You can run the NMO wizards from the NetWorker Console Administration window, which you can start on any supported host by using a web browser session and specifying the Console server URL.
The NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes provides details on the NetWorker requirements for the support of the NMC-based configuration wizards.
Main features of the wizards
The configuration wizards can be used to configure the following for an NMO client: ◆ Scheduled Oracle backups (either typical or customized).
“Configuring a backup with the NMC wizard” on page 72 provides details on using the backup configuration wizard.
◆ RMAN scripts for Oracle data restores to the original host.
◆ RMAN scripts for Oracle database duplication to either a local or remote host. “Recovery configuration wizard” on page 118 provides details on the recovery configuration wizard.
The configuration wizards support NetWorker servers and clients in a stand-alone or cluster environment.
The new wizards provide improved security and ease of management for backup and recovery configurations, compared to the wizards from NMO release 4.5 or earlier.
Features of the backup configuration wizard
The backup configuration wizard can perform the following:
◆ Configure a new NetWorker Client resource for an NMO backup.
◆ Configure a new or use an existing NetWorker Group resource for the backup Client resource.
◆ Configure new or use existing browse and retention policies for the backup Client resource.
◆ Optionally save a copy of the configuration settings from the Client resource to a nsrnmo script or RMAN script.
◆ Modify a backup configuration that was created with the NMC-based NMO configuration wizard.
Product features 31
Note: NMO 5.0 still supports the legacy method of backup configuration whereby you manually create a nsrnmo script and RMAN script, set any required parameters in the NWORA resource file, and configure the NetWorker resources with NMC (without the wizard). “Configuring a backup with the NMC legacy method” on page 75 describes the legacy configuration method.
“Configuring a backup with the NMC wizard” on page 72 provides information on using the wizard to create or modify a backup configuration.
Features of the recovery configuration wizard
“Features of the recovery configuration wizard” on page 119 provides information on the features of the recovery configuration wizard.
Backup configuration storage with the wizard
The backup configuration wizard stores the configuration information in a new hidden attribute named Backup Config in the NetWorker Client resource. Do not modify the new attribute manually. If you use the wizard to create a backup configuration, you must use the wizard to modify the configuration.
In a backup configuration created with the wizard, the Client resource stores the parameters and RMAN commands (except for sensitive data, such as passwords) that would have been stored in the nsrnmo and RMAN scripts and NWORA resource file in NMO release 4.5 or earlier.
Note: The backup configuration wizard stores sensitive data securely by using NetWorker lockbox services.
The wizard does not automatically generate a nsrnmo script and RMAN script, but provides an option to save configuration settings to a nsrnmo script or RMAN script on disk. These scripts are meant for reference use only.
When you run a backup that was configured through the wizard, the backup does not access any nsrnmo or RMAN script file that the wizard saved to disk. Instead, the backup accesses the configuration information that the wizard stored in the Client resource.
The wizards do not store any database connection passwords in any RMAN scripts that are saved to disk.
The backup configuration wizard also sets the following values in the Client resource:
◆ Backup Command attribute is set to:
nsrnmostart -C [-c virtual_client] ◆ Save Set attribute is set to:
RMAN:/<database_Net_service_name>_level[/<name_of_first_tablespace _or_datafile>]
where:
• database_Net_service_name is the the name of the Oracle database to be backed up.
• level is the Oracle backup level (full, incr_differential, or incr_cumulative). • name_of_first_tablespace_or_datafile is the name of the first tablespace or datafile
Features not supported with the wizards
The configuration wizards cannot perform the following: ◆ Configure backups or restores in a RAC environment.
◆ Configure proxy backups or restores that require a PowerSnap Module.
Proxy backups and restores must be configured without the wizard, as described in Chapter 7, “Proxy Backups and Restores.”
◆ Configure two different database backups in the same Client resource.
A separate Client resource must be created for each database to be backed up on the same client host.
◆ Modify a backup configuration that was created either with the wizard from NMO 4.5 or earlier, or with the legacy method, unless the configuration has been migrated according to “Migration of configurations for the wizard” on page 32.
Migration of configurations for the wizard
The backup configuration wizard stores the scheduled backup configuration in the Client resource by using a configuration storage framework that is incompatible with the configurations created either through the wizard from NMO release 4.5 or earlier, or through a legacy method (without a wizard).
The backup configuration wizard can modify only the following types of backup configurations:
◆ Configurations created with the new wizard.
◆ Configurations migrated to the configuration storage framework that is supported by the new wizard.
If you have a backup configuration that was created with the wizard from NMO release 4.5 or earlier, or with a legacy configuration method, you must migrate the configuration before you can use the new wizard to modify it. The recommended migration method is to use the nsrnmoadmin command, as described in “Migrating a legacy configuration with the nsrnmoadmin command” on page 69.
Note: Migration of a proxy backup configuration is not supported. “Requirements for using the nsrnmoadmin command for migration” on page 70 describes the requirements and limitations of migration with the nsrnmoadmin command.
Migration converts legacy configuration files and resources (the nsrnmo script, RMAN script, NWORA resource file, and Client resource) to the configuration storage framework used by the new wizard. Migration with the nsrnmoadmin command does not create a new Client resource; the migration modifies an existing Client resource, such that you can then use the wizard to modify it.
The migration process stores the following in a hidden attribute in the Client resource:
◆ Environment variable settings extracted from the nsrnmo script. (Any scripting commands in the nsrnmo script are ignored.)
◆ RMAN commands and options extracted from the RMAN script.
Product features 33 The migration process also sets the following values in the Client resource:
◆ Backup Command attribute is set to:
nsrnmostart -C [-c virtual_client] ◆ Save Set attribute is set to:
RMAN:database_Net_service_name
Internationalization (I18N) and localization (L10N)
The following sections describe internationalization (I18N) and localization (L10N) features that NMO release 5.0 supports in a non-English locale.
I18N features
NMO I18N is the capability of the NMO software to operate in a non-English environment or locale without itself generating non-ASCII data. After you set up NMO I18N as described in “Configuring I18N support” on page 67, NMO can process and display non-ASCII data that is passed to it by the operating system, NetWorker software, and Oracle software. The non-ASCII data can include text messages, dates, times, numbers, and so on.
The EMC Information Protection Software Compatibility Guide on the Powerlink website provides details on the different languages supported and the operating system, Oracle Server, and NetWorker software requirements for NMO I18N.
NMO I18N is supported for the following: ◆ Regular (nonproxy) backups and restores
◆ Proxy backups and restores with a supported PowerSnap Module release, as described in the NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes
As a separate NMO feature, NMO localization (L10N) is the capability of NMO to itself generate non-ASCII data and print the data to the user interface. “L10N features” on page 35 provides more information on NMO L10N support. The term internalization is used differently in the NetWorker documentation (as opposed to this NMO documentation). NetWorker server and client documents refer to internationalization as the capability of the NetWorker software to both process non-ASCII data as input and generate non-ASCII data as output in a non-English locale.
The extent of the NMO I18N support is dependent on the following:
◆ I18N support that is provided by the operating system on the NMO client host. ◆ I18N support that is provided by the NetWorker client and server software. ◆ National Language Support (NLS) or globalization support that is provided by
the Oracle software.
When NMO I18N support is set up as described in “Configuring I18N support” on page 67, NMO supports non-ASCII data in the following:
◆ Pathnames of nsrnmo scripts
◆ Pathnames of preprocessing and postprocessing scripts ◆ Pathnames of RMAN scripts
◆ Strings passed as command line options to the nsrnmo(.bat),
nsrnmoadmin(.exe), nsrnmoinfo(.exe), and nsroraclecat(.exe) commands ◆ Tablespace names and datafile paths
◆ The format string of the RMAN backup command (unless the nsrnmoadmin -M or nsrnmoadmin -P command is used for migration of a legacy backup
configuration on Windows)
◆ The tag string of the RMAN backup command
◆ Usernames in the connection strings to the target database and recovery catalog
Note: Oracle does not recommend the use of non-ASCII text in the Oracle database usernames. Due to Oracle limitations, ASCII text must be used for the password of the target database.
◆ Values of the following parameters: • NSR_DEBUG_FILE
• NSR_ORACLECAT_LOG_FILE • NSR_RMAN_ARGUMENTS • NSR_SB_DEBUG_FILE
Note: Support of non-ASCII values for ORACLE_SID and TNS_ADMIN is dependent on the Oracle software. Support of non-ASCII values for LD_LIBRARY_PATH, LIBPATH, and SHLIB_PATH is dependent on the operating system.
◆ Additional values input in the NMO wizard, including the following: • New or existing names of NetWorker Group resources
• Time data based on the time zone of the user
◆ Information displayed on the following screens of the NMO wizard: • Review and Edit the RMAN Script screen
• Review and Accept the Client Configuration screen
◆ Content of output files created by the NMO wizard, such as nsrnmo scripts (for example, nsrnmo.bat or nsrnmo.sh file) and RMAN scripts
Due to Oracle limitations, ASCII text must be input in the wizard for the following: ◆ ORACLE_HOME path
◆ Net service name of the Oracle target database, recovery catalog, or duplicate database
Product features 35 When NMO I18N support is set up, NMO generates debug messages in English only. NMO generates error messages in the nmo.messages.raw file in a
language-independent binary form, readable by the nsr_render_log program only. The nmo.messages.raw file replaces the nmo.messages file used in previous NMO releases. (The log file does not contain Oracle Server or RMAN errors.)
The NetWorker administration guide provides information on how to use the nsr_render_log program to read any language-independent binary file, such as nmo.messages.raw.
The PowerSnap Module documentation provides details on the PowerSnap options that support non-ASCII values.
“Configuring I18N support” on page 67 describes how to set up NMO I18N support.
L10N features
NMO L10N is the capability of the NMO software to generate non-ASCII character and numeric data based on the locale of the user, and output the data to the user interface. This capability requires the installation of the appropriate NMO language packs in non-English locales. The non-ASCII data generated by NMO is printed to the command line or to specific log files or wizard screens.
◆ When NMO I18N is set up, NMO can process and display non-ASCII data that is passed to it by the operating system, NetWorker software, and Oracle software. ◆ When NMO L10N is set up by also installing the required NMO language packs,
NMO can also generate non-ASCII data, localized according to the user locale. The non-ASCII data can include text messages, dates, times, and numeric values displayed in the locale-dependent format.
The EMC Information Protection Software Compatibility Guide on the Powerlink website provides details on the different languages supported and the operating system, Oracle Server, and NetWorker software requirements for NMO L10N.
NMO L10N is supported for the following: ◆ Regular backups and restores
◆ Proxy backups and restores with a supported PowerSnap Module release, as described in the NetWorker Module for Oracle release notes
The extent of the NMO L10N support is limited by the following:
◆ L10N support that is provided by the operating system on the NMO client host. ◆ L10N support that is provided by the NetWorker client and server software. ◆ National Language Support (NLS) or globalization support that is provided by
the Oracle software.
When NMO L10N support is set up as described in “Configure L10N support” on page 69, NMO generates messages in localized form and displays localized text in the wizard, except for the following:
◆ Comments (lines starting with the symbol #) in the nwora.res file and RMAN scripts
◆ All debug messages, including the messages in the configuration wizard debug log files and in the log files specified by NSR_DEBUG_FILE and
NSR_SB_DEBUG_FILE ◆ Output to the Oracle trace file
Oracle Data Guard support
NMO software supports Oracle Data Guard, an Oracle data availability and protection solution that involves the primary database and one or more standby databases over an IP network. As transactions occur in the primary database and redo data is written to the local redo logs, Data Guard automatically transfers this redo data to the standby sites and applies it to the standby databases, synchronizing them with the primary database.
RMAN backups of datafiles, archived redo logs, and possibly other files can be offloaded to a physical standby database, and the backups used to recover the primary database or a standby database. RMAN and Data Guard documentation provides information on how to configure and back up a physical standby database, and use the backups to recover the primary or standby database.
To configure NMO backups and restores in a Data Guard environment:
1. Follow the instructions in Oracle documentation on how to set up the required RMAN configurations, for example, to use a Recovery Catalog and the
DB_UNIQUE_NAME parameter.
2. Install and configure the NMO and NetWorker client software on the primary database host, and on each physical standby database host involved in the backups and restores.
3. Configure a Client resource on the NetWorker server for the primary database host and each physical standby database host involved in the backups and restores. In the Client resource of the primary database host, specify the hostname of the physical standby host in the Remote Access attribute if you set
NSR_CLIENT to the primary database hostname in the following step. 4. Create an RMAN script for the primary database and the standby database,
setting the same NSR_CLIENT parameter value in both. The NSR_CLIENT value used for a backup should be the same as the NSR_CLIENT value used for the restore of that backup. Setting NSR_CLIENT to the primary hostname might be preferable.
Parallelism
Parallelism is a feature that enables NMO backup or restore streams of Oracle data from several clients, or many Oracle data streams from one client, at the same time. Different types of configuration settings enable different types of parallelism during NMO operations:
◆ The Parallelism attribute in the NetWorker Server resource specifies the
maximum number of backup save streams that the NetWorker software allows to arrive in parallel at the server.
Product features 37 ◆ For proxy operations, the PowerSnap parameter settings specify the maximum
number of parallel save streams on the proxy client host.
Note: The degree of proxy backup or restore parallelism is not controlled by the allocation of multiple channels in the RMAN script. Oracle uses only one of the allocated channels for the proxy backup or restore, unless specific backup options are used.
◆ Configurations on a RAC system enable parallel Oracle backups and restores with the NMO software on multiple nodes of a cluster. Chapter 6, “Cluster and RAC Systems,” provides more details.
Policy uniformity
If policy uniformity is enabled, NMO automatically enforces the uniformity of the browse and retention policies between all the dependent save sets in a scheduled backup cycle (whether or not save set bundling is enabled). When save set bundling is also enabled, all the save sets in a bundle receive the same browse and retention policies.
After NMO performs an incremental scheduled backup, if the browse and retention policies of the save sets in the backup are longer than the policies of preceding dependent save sets in the same backup cycle, the NMO program nsrnmostart changes the policies of all save sets in the cycle to match the longest policy of the new incremental save sets. NMO modifies the policies recorded in the NetWorker media database. As a result, backups cannot expire and become recyclable before other dependent backups from the same backup cycle.
The NMO software does not enforce policy uniformity for a manual backup, except when a subsequent scheduled backup is dependent on the manual backup, and then the policies of the manual backup are modified accordingly.
Policy uniformity does not depend on whether save sets are stored on separate volumes. For example, if parts of a save set bundle are split onto separate volumes, all the save sets in the bundle still receive the same browse and retention policies. “Configure policy uniformity” on page 92 provides information on how to configure policy uniformity for NMO backups.
Restartable backups
RMAN can back up files that have not been backed up since a specified time. For example, to continue the backup of a database that was canceled 2 days ago, use the following command:
backup device type sbt database not backed up since time ’sysdate-2’
RMAN compares the given time in this command with the completion time of the most recent backup of a datafile to determine if the datafile requires backup. The appropriate Oracle backup and recovery documentation provides more information. The following sections provide more information on how to cancel NMO backups: ◆ “Cancel a manual backup” on page 107
Retention policies
RMAN provides an Oracle retention policy for backups. An Oracle retention policy is based on the recovery window or redundancy; it is not based on a defined time period, such as a year. Oracle considers a backup obsolete when it is no longer required according to the Oracle retention policy setting. Oracle checks the retention policy of a backup when the report obsolete... or delete obsolete... command is run. NMO supports the Oracle retention policy with some restrictions, since the
NetWorker server has its own browse and retention policies to specify how long data is available for recovery. NetWorker browse and retention policies are based on a user-defined time period. Since the Oracle retention policy is independent from that of the NetWorker server, and there is no mechanism to synchronize these policies, the NetWorker and Oracle policies could conflict.
Example 5 Expiring a backup
A NetWorker server might expire an NMO backup that is not yet obsolete in RMAN, depending on the NetWorker browse and retention policies. Use of NMO cannot guarantee that the NetWorker server will not expire a backup volume until all the RMAN backups on that volume have been removed from the RMAN catalog. To avoid conflicts, perform either of the following:
◆ Disable the Oracle retention policy (and then use only the NetWorker server policy) with the following command:
configure retention policy to none
If the Recovery Catalog is used, exempt a backup from the retention policy with one of the following commands:
change backupset...keep until/forever... backup...keep until/forever...
◆ (If you want to use the Oracle retention policy) Set the NetWorker browse and retention policies to be long enough that backups are kept on the backup volumes until the Oracle retention policy makes them obsolete.
Set the NetWorker policies in the NetWorker Client resource for scheduled backups or through the NSR_SAVESET_BROWSE and
NSR_SAVESET_RETENTION parameters. “Configure a Client resource with NMC” on page 87 provides more information on how to set NetWorker policies for NMO backups.
IMPORTANT
!
Run the crosscheck command on the NMO backups before running report obsolete or delete obsolete backups of the device type sbt_tape. This ensures that backups expired by the NetWorker server are flagged as expired in the RMAN catalog. As a result, RMAN can correctly identify which backups are not needed according to the Oracle retention policy.
For example:
1. Run the following command to synchronize the RMAN Catalog and NetWorker indexes:
crosscheck backup;
Product features 39
Save set bundling
If NMO save set bundling is configured, NMO automatically creates a save set bundle for each scheduled backup cycle of an Oracle database object, by grouping all the dependent save sets from the same backup cycle into the save set bundle.
A “backup cycle” includes a full backup of the database object and all subsequent incremental backups that are dependent on the full backup.
Note: NMO does not support save set bundling for proxy backups. NMO performs save set bundling for regular Oracle backups only.
During staging operations with NetWorker server release 7.4 and later, if the staging criteria determine that a particular NMO save set should be staged (migrated) and the save set is part of a save set bundle, the NetWorker server stages the entire save set bundle. If the nsrstage command is used to manually stage one or more save sets from a save set bundle, all the save sets in the bundle are staged.
Note: After a staging operation during which all the save sets in a bundle are staged, the resulting available space on the staging device might exceed the lower-water mark specified in the staging policy.
The NetWorker administration guide provides details on how to work with staging policies and perform automatic and manual staging operations through the
NetWorker server.
“NMO scheduled backups and save set bundling” on page 39 describes NMO save set bundling during regular scheduled backups, and how to configure save set bundling.
If policy uniformity is configured, NMO automatically enforces the uniformity of browse and retention policies for all the dependent save sets of the same scheduled backup cycle or same save set bundle, which ensures that incremental backups do not persist after the backups they depend on have expired.
“Other Oracle features” on page 44 provides more information on how policy uniformity relates to save set bundling. Save set bundling and policy uniformity can be enabled and disabled independently.
NMO scheduled backups and save set bundling
Use the information in the following sections to plan a save set bundling strategy and enable save set bundling for NMO scheduled backups. Both are performed to prepare for staging operations with NetWorker server 7.4 and later.
“Configure save set bundling” on page 91 provides information on how to configure save set bundling for NMO scheduled backups.
RMAN backup levels and dependencies An RMAN backup can be either full or incremental:
◆ A full (or stand-alone full) backup includes every used block of the database objects listed in the RMAN backup script (unused blocks might be skipped). This type of backup is created when you do not specify a backup level with the RMAN backup command. A full backup cannot be the parent of a subsequent
