Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance 5.12.0.1 Oracle RMAN User Guide for DM5500

Backups fail when credentials include a backslash character (\)

When you enter credentials that include a backslash character (\) for an application agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI, the backups fail.

For example, when you enter a password for the operating system or database user that includes the backslash character, subsequent backups fail with the following error message:

This error might occur when updating the password for a storage unit.

To resolve this issue, type \\ (double backslash) instead of \ (single backslash) when you enter the credentials for an application agent in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance user interface.

Self-service backup error for an unmanaged asset

When two assets on a host have the same DBID and only one asset is managed by PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance, a backup of the asset that is not managed by PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance might fail with the following error message:

sbtbackup: Unable to find the asset in the settings file. for a dataguard instance, make sure to specify DBUNIQUE_NAME parameter in rman script.

To resolve this issue, set the ALLOW_BACKUP parameter in the $RMAN_AGENT_HOME/config/rman_agent.cfg file to the SID of the asset that is not managed by PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance. For example:

ALLOW_BACKUP = orcl2

Self-service backup error related to top-level pathname

If a self-service backup fails with the following type of error, you must complete the required top-level directory changes:

Reason for failure: orcl failed due to error message: The backup operation failed for the instance 'orcl' with dbid '1585115093' due to the following error: RMAN-03009: failure of Control File and SPFILE Autobackup command on CH0 channel at 12/09/2020 13:16:52
ORA-19502: write error on file "c-1585115093-20201209-06", block number 1 (block size=16384)
ORA-27030: skgfwrt: sbtwrite2 returned error
ORA-19511: non RMAN, but media manager or vendor specific failure, error text:
sbtwrite2:The top-level pathname must be specified in backup piece format for assets configured with PowerProtect Data Manager.
Recovery Manager complete.

To resolve this type of error for a self-service backup, complete the procedure in Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases.

Self-service operations with data-in-flight encryption

PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance supports in-flight encryption for both centralized and self-service Oracle backup and restore operations. The /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc/Addons/global_config.json file on the Oracle client contains option settings that affect the in-flight encryption during self-service operations.

The status of in-flight encryption during self-service operations depends on the following settings:

• If the encryptionOverTheWire option setting in the /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc/Addons/global_config.json file is TRUE, in-flight encryption is enabled.
• If the encryptionOverTheWire option setting in the /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc/Addons/global_config.json file is FALSE, in-flight encryption is disabled.
• If the /opt/dpsapps/agentsvc/Addons/global_config.json file does not exist or is corrupted, in-flight encryption is disabled. Applicable information is recorded in the operational logs.

Data-in-flight encryption provides more information about the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance support of in-flight encryption.

Oracle self-service jobs that run indefinitely

When you perform an Oracle self-service backup or restore, the backup or restore job continues to run indefinitely and the job status appears as In Progress in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI.

As a workaround, always exit from the RMAN session after each backup or restore job. Then the job status changes to Successful or Failed in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI, depending on the RMAN session output.

Incorrect self-service backup report for different backup types in same session

When you perform different types of self-service data backups such as full and incremental backups with archive log backups in the same RMAN session, the backups job can be reported incorrectly in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI.

For example, you might run the following backup command to perform the full and incremental backups with archive log backups in the same RMAN session:

backup incremental level=0 database plus archivelog delete input tag='oracle-L0'

In this case, the Oracle self-service backups job name and subtype can be reported as LOG instead of FULL or INCREMENTAL in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI.

To prevent this issue, perform a self-service data backup and archived log backup by using separate backup commands. Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases provides examples of RMAN backup scripts that perform a full backup of a database and its archive logs in separate statements.

Missing duration value for centralized backup

A centralized Oracle backup succeeds, but the backup job duration at the asset level appears as 0 ms on the Step Log tab and Details tab in the PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance UI.

The Step Log tab and Details tab appear in the Job ID Summary window, which you can access by selecting Jobs > Protection Jobs and clicking the job ID next to the job name.

As a workaround, view the correct backup duration in the Duration column in the left pane that has a grid format.

Issue with onboarded backup copies

You might encounter an issue with onboarded Oracle backup copies.

PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance does not delete any Oracle backup copies that are onboarded but not associated with a protection policy, even when the backup copies are expired.