Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Getting Started
Backup and recovery skills are at the top of the list for desired DBA abilities. Protecting and keeping data available
form the foundation of database administration. Your DBA job depends on your ability to regularly perform backups,
and when necessary, restore and recover a database. Recovery Manager (RMAN) is Oracle's flagship backup and
recovery tool. This tool is an efficient and effective way to protect your data. Every DBA must know how to implement
and use RMAN.
RMAN is a flexible tool that contains a wide variety of backup and recovery features. The purpose of this topic
is to give you a solid understanding of the most common ways in which you can use RMAN to back up, restore, and
recover your database. I'll show numerous real-word examples along with the code required to implement various
features. With this foundation you'll be able to implement RMAN in any environment.
I'll also cover user-managed backup techniques (hot and cold backups). I find that DBAs who understand the
mechanics of user-managed backups are much better equipped to troubleshoot and resolve any type of database
problem (including (but not limited to) backup and recovery issues). I'll also cover the use of Data Pump. DBAs often
implement Data Pump features to augment backup and recovery needs (e.g., a quick backup of a single table). In
short, every DBA should be familiar with all Oracle tools used to protect data.
To get started, there are a few basic tasks that you should be familiar with when working with Oracle backup and
recovery, namely:
Connecting to your database
Starting/stopping your database
An understanding of these topics is prerequisite to using RMAN (and other Oracle tools as well). The purpose of
this chapter is to familiarize you with these initial tasks. First up is connecting to your database.
Note
This chapter assumes you have Oracle installed and have a database created and available.
Connecting to Your Database
Prior to connecting to your database, you must establish the required operating system variables. Additionally, if
you're going to run backup and recovery commands, you need access to either a privileged operating system (OS)
account or a database user who has been granted the appropriate privileges (via a password file). These topics
are discussed in the following subsections.
 
 
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