PowerProtect Data Manager 19.13 Oracle RMAN User Guide

Performing centralized disaster recovery of an Oracle database or group

You can use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to perform a centralized disaster recovery of an Oracle database including the spfile and control file. You can also perform a centralized disaster recovery of an Oracle Data Guard asset group.

1. In the PowerProtect Data Manager UI, select Restore > Assets and select the Oracle tab.

   The Restore window displays all the databases and Data Guard asset groups that are available for disaster recovery.

   You can click or on the top right of the window to switch between the group view and list view. The group view uses a tree view to show any Oracle Data Guard asset groups with their database assets. When you expand an asset group in the group view, you can see all the assets within the group. When you select an asset group, all the databases within the group are selected.

   In the list view, to filter the displayed list of assets if needed, you can click in the column heading Name, Status, Protection Policy, Host/Cluster/Group Name, Host Type, Data Guard Name, Data Guard Role, Application Name, Last Copy, Network, Protocol, or Backup Technology:

   • The Name and Application Name columns list the Oracle database asset names.
   • The Status column lists the status as Available, Deleted, or Not Detected.
   • The Protection Policy column lists the names of the protection policies for the assets.
   • The Host/Cluster/Group Name column lists the hostnames.
   • The Host Type column lists the host types as RAC or Standalone.
   • The Data Guard Name column lists the names of associated Data Guard groups.
   • The Data Guard Role column lists the Data Guard roles as Logical Standby, Physical Standby, Primary, Snapshot Standby, or Generic.
   • The Last Copy column lists the dates and times of the backup copies within the specified date and time range.
   • The Network column lists the networks that are available under the selected host or cluster.
   • The Protocol column lists the protocol as BOOSTFS or NFS when a protocol has been set.
   • The Backup Technology column lists the backup technology as Application Direct or Oracle Incremental Merge.

   NOTE:

   The listed assets are the assets that have at least one copy discovered by PowerProtect Data Manager. You can select only one asset for one Oracle host.

   Oracle software installed on the alternate host must be compatible with the source Oracle Server, as recommended by Oracle.

2. Select the check box next to the Oracle Server database asset or Data Guard asset group for restore, and click Restore.
   The restore wizard opens the Oracle Restore and Recovery window.
3. On the Scope page, select Disaster recovery, and then click Next.

   This option restores and recovers the selected database, including the spfile and control file, or the selected Data Guard asset group.

   You can use this option to restore the Oracle database to the original host or to an alternate host with a different database ID (DBID) than the original production host. The restore to the alternate host is usually used for test and development purposes.

4. On the Copy Selection page, select the backup copy to be restored from the list, and then click Next.

   To filter the displayed list of backup copies if needed, you can click in the column heading Created Time, Copy Type, Location, Backup Technology, Copy Status, Asset, Protection Strategy, or Storage Unit:

   • The Created Time column lists the dates and times when the backup copies were created.
   • The Copy Type column lists the backup copy types as Differential, Full, or Cumulative.
   • The Location column lists the backup copy locations as LOCAL or Local_Recalled.
   • The Backup Technology column lists the backup technology as Application Direct or Oracle Incremental Merge.
   • The Copy Status column lists the backup copy status as Available, Deleting, Deletion Failed, Deletion Failed (Agent Catalog), Cloud Tiering, Cloud Recalling, Replicating, Restoring, or Ready for Cloud Tiering.
   • The Asset column lists the database asset names.
   • The Protection Strategy column lists the protection strategy as All, Standby, Primary, or Standalone.
   • The Storage Unit column lists the storage units of the backup copies.
5. On the Location page, select the preferred type of restore, and then click Next:

   • Restore to original host—Specifies to restore to the original host with the displayed hostname.

     If the original host is part of a RAC cluster, select the available node hostname from the list.

   • Restore to alternate host—Specifies to restore to an alternate host.

     Select the alternate hostname from the list.

     NOTE: For an Application Direct restore, Oracle RMAN agent version 19.12 or later is required on the alternate host. For an Oracle Incremental Merge restore, Oracle RMAN agent version 19.13 or later is required on the alternate host.
6. On the Folder Location page, select one of the following options, and then click Next:

   • Restore to Root Level Folder

     Type the root level pathname in the Root Level Path text box.

     NOTE:

     For an Oracle Incremental Merge recovery, all the files related to the database are restored to this path, including the spfile.

   • Restore to original folder

     CAUTION: When you select to restore the Oracle data files to the original location, the original database is overwritten. Ensure that all the folder structure locations on the source host also exist on the target host.

   • Restore to alternate folder

     To specify an alternate location, select Archive log, Control file, Datafiles, Fast recovery area, or Redo log from the menu, and then type the alternate location in the text box. For each additional alternate location, click +, select the file type from the menu, and type the alternate location in the text box.

     You must specify at least one alternate location if selected. For the control file, specify the full pathname, such as /u01/app/oracle/fast_recovery_area/sourcemay1/control01.ctl. You can specify a maximum of 31 archive log locations, five control file locations, one data file location, one fast recovery area location, and five redo log locations.

   NOTE:

   To ensure successful restores, the folders specified for the alternate folder locations and root-level folders must exist with the required Oracle user permissions.

   When you restore to an alternate host, the Oracle database audit folder must exist with the required permissions on the target host, similar to the source host. You must create the audit folder manually on the target host. If the folder location is different from the source location, then specify the audit_file_dest parameter setting.

7. On the Instance Details page, specify the required settings, and then click Next:

   • Oracle SID—Type the Oracle instance system ID (SID) in the text box.

   • Oracle Home—Type the valid Oracle home pathname in the text box.

     NOTE: The Oracle home pathname must not include a final space or slash (/).

   • Credentials—Select one of the following options:

     • Use the credentials set at asset level or policy level for restore

       NOTE: Credentials at the asset level take precedence over credentials at the protection policy level.

     • Select existing credentials or create new credentials for restore

       Click Set Credentials, complete the fields in the Set Credential dialog, and then click Save.

   • Mount Protocol—Select BoostFS or NFS as appropriate. To perform a restore using the BoostFS protocol, the DD BoostFS package much be installed on the target client.

8. On the SPFILE Options page, specify the required settings, and then click Next:

   • SPFILE Options—Select this option to specify the restore of the spfile during the disaster recovery. This option is selected by default when the selected copy contains the spfile.

     If you do not select this option to restore the spfile for an Application Direct backup, you must create the spfile manually and start the database instance in no mount mode. If you do not select this option to restore the spfile for an Oracle Incremental Merge backup, the agent creates the pfile from memory.

     This option is disabled by default when the selected copy does not have an spfile backup. In this case, one of the following warning messages is displayed, based on the technology:

     Warning: The spfile is not found in the selected backup copy. Create the spfile or pfile manually and start the database instance in no mount mode.

     Warning: Oracle Incremental Merge will create the pfile from memory and restore will be performed using pfile.

     NOTE:

     Ensure that the spfile does not already exist on the target host. If needed, rename or delete the file on the target host; otherwise, the restore job fails.

     In some cases, the restore job from the UI might be reported as failed when pre-19.11 backup copies are selected. A known limitation exists in identifying specific backup pieces, such as an spfile and control file. The identification is required for a successful restore that is started from the UI.

     When the spfile option is cleared, only the Datafiles folder locations are used during the restore operation. Other added locations are ignored.

   • Configure spfile parameters (optional)—To change a default spfile parameter setting, type the parameter name in the Parameter text box and the parameter value in the Value text box. For each additional parameter setting that you want to change, click + and then type the parameter name and value in the new blank text boxes.

     For example, to specify the memory parameter settings sga_target=3000m and pga_aggregate_target=694m, type the following values in the text boxes:

     • Parameter: sga_target, Value: 3000m
     • Parameter: pga_aggregate_target, Value: 694m
     NOTE:

     If you specify the db_recovery_file_dest parameter setting, you must also specify the corresponding db_recovery_file_dest_size parameter setting. Ensure that the folder structure for the db_recovery_file_dest parameter is created with the required permissions on the target host. For example:

     • Parameter: db_recovery_file_dest, Value: /u02/app/sndusr/fast_recovery_area/sudb
     • Parameter: db_recovery_file_dest_size, Value: 8016m

     The Oracle database audit folder must exist with the required permissions on the target host, similar to the source host. You must create the audit folder manually on the target host. If the folder location is different from the source location, then specify the audit_file_dest parameter setting.

9. On the Database Recovery Options page, select the required options, and then click Next:

   • Restore To—Select Backup time (backup end time of selected backup copy) or Point in time.

     For Point in time, select one of the following options from the menu:

     • System Change Number—Type the System Change Number (SCN) in the text box.
     • Timestamp—Type the date and time in the text box, or click to display a calendar and select the date and time.
     • Log Sequence—Type the log sequence in the text box.

   • Data Guard—Select the required option for a database restore in a Data Guard environment:

     NOTE: Ensure that the standby database is in sync with the primary database. You can restore a standby database backup to the primary database, or restore a primary database backup to the standby database.
     • None—By default, the None value is selected, which specifies to restore the database in a non-Data Guard configuration.
     • Primary—Select this option to restore the database as a primary database in a Data Guard configuration to a specified point in time.
     • Standby—Select this option to restore the database as a standby database in a Data Guard configuration to a specified point in time.

   • Database Options—Select any required options from the list:

     • Open database after recovery

       This option opens the database after the recovery. If the database is a container database (CDB), all the pluggable databases are opened.

     • Change DBID after recovery

       This option changes the DBID after the recovery. Select this option only when you also select to open the database after the recovery. When the database is unopened, the DBID cannot be changed.

       When you select this option for an Oracle Incremental Merge recovery, the database name is changed, based on the specified target SID.

       NOTE:

       When you select the Change DBID after recovery option, the asset is discovered automatically in PowerProtect Data Manager after a successful restore with the DBID change. When you do not select this option, the restored asset is not discovered automatically.

       Remove the SID entry from the EXCLUDE_SID parameter setting in the $RMAN_AGENT_HOME/config/rman_agent.cfg file.

     • Crosscheck backups

       This option specifies to crosscheck the backup before performing the disaster recovery. This option applies only when the application agent version 19.13 or later is installed on the target host. Selecting this option causes a delay in the display of progress updates for the restore job. Additional time is needed to crosscheck the backups from the Oracle RMAN catalog.

       NOTE: The Crosscheck backups option is not supported for the recovery of an Oracle Incremental Merge backup.

     • Dry run

       This option enables a job that creates the required RMAN restore scripts in the $RMAN_AGENT_HOME/tmp directory on the selected target host. The dry run procedure does not run a disaster recovery. You can use the scripts that the dry run creates to perform a self-service disaster recovery as required.

10. On the More Options page, specify the required options, and then click Next:
    • Set Stream Count—Type an integer stream count in the text box, if required. The default stream count is 4. The maximum stream count is 255.
    • Compressed Restore—To enable restore compression and reduce the impact on the network bandwidth, select Use PowerProtect DD Boost compressed restore.

    • Troubleshooting—Select any required options from the list:

      • Enable debug logs for troubleshooting purposes

        This option enables debugging for the recovery operation.

      • Disable auto cleanup

        This option maintains the database in the mounted state when the recovery is partially successful. This option is applicable to the recovery of Oracle Incremental Merge backups.

11. On the Summary page:
    1. To ensure that the recovery settings are correct, review the information about the Scope, Location, Folder Location, Oracle Instance Details, SPFILE Restore Option, Database Recovery Options, and More Options.
       To change any settings, you can click Edit beside an information section. As an alternative, you can click Back to access a specific page and change the settings as needed.
    2. To start the centralized disaster recovery operation for the Oracle database, click Restore.
       A status message appears with a link to the Protection Jobs page where you can monitor the restore and recovery job.