Whole backups of a database are based on backing up the entire contents of the database at the time of backup. Full backups of all datafiles are created. The results may be stored as image copies or as backup sets, but in either case the complete contents of all datafiles of the database are represented in the backup, as well as the control file, archived redo log, and server parameter file. With this set of files, you can perform complete recovery of the database.
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 switch ARCHIVELOG mode on or off (see "Configuring ARCHIVELOG Mode For the Database" on page 9-7).
To perform a whole database backup, follow these steps:
Backing Up Your Database
1. In the Backup/Recovery section of the Maintenance page, click Schedule Backup.
The Schedule Backup page appears, as shown in Figure 9–1.
Figure 9–1 Schedule Backup Page
The following sections of this page are important:
■ The Oracle-Suggested Backup section, where you can click Schedule
Oracle-Suggested Backup to choose among backup strategies recommended by the database
■ The Customized Backup section, where you can schedule a one-time or repeated backup of database objects you select.
2. In the Customized Backup section, select Whole Database to make a full backup of your database immediately or schedule one as part of a user-designed backup strategy. Make sure the Username and Password fields are correct in the Host Credentials section and then click Schedule Customized Backup.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Options page appears. In this page you specify the options for this whole database backup.
Backing Up Your Database
Performing Backup and Recovery 9-13 3. In the Backup Type section, select Full Backup. In the Backup Mode section, select
either Online Backup or Offline Backup. Typically, you will want to perform online backups to maximize database availability.
In the Advanced section, make the following selections:
■ Check Also back up all archived logs on disk if you are performing an online backup. There is no need 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 from this backup. Nevertheless, you can include archived logs in the backup if you wish.
■ Do not check Delete all archived logs from disk after they are successfully backed up if a flash recovery area is your only archiving destination. In this case, redo logs that have been backed up are deleted automatically as space is needed for storage of other files. If you are using some other destination, it may be useful to check this option as part of managing backup storage.
■ Do not check Use proxy copy supported by media management software to perform a backup for now.
■ Do not check Delete obsolete backups if you use a flash recovery area for backup storage. In this case, obsolete backups are deleted automatically as space is needed for storage of other files. If you are using some other
destination, it may be useful to check this option as part of managing backup storage.
■ Do not enter a value for Maximum Files per Backup Set.
After making your selections, click Next.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Settings page appears.
4. Select a backup destination. Oracle recommends backing up to disk when possible to minimize recovery time by minimizing restores from tape. Backups created on disk can be moved to tape later. Click Next.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Schedule page appears.
5. Specify identifying information for the backup job (including a tag and a
description for your reference), and specify when the tasks for this backup job are performed:
■ In the Job section of the page, you can enter values for Job Name and Job Description. Default values for the name and description are generated for you. If you want to provide a tag for this backup, however, then enter the desired tag in the Job Name field. The job name is used as a prefix for the backup tag for backups produced by this job.
You can set Job Description to any descriptive text that is useful for your own reference.
■ In the Schedule section, specify when to start the backup and how often to repeat it. Leave the default start time of Immediately selected to run a backup immediately, or set Later and enter a time in the future. For recurring backup Note: As explained in "Configuring Your Database for Basic
Backup and Recovery" on page 9-4, you can only use online backups if your database is set up to run in ARCHIVELOG mode. In NOARCHIVELOG mode you can only perform offline backups.
Backing Up Your Database
jobs, select options in the Repeat and Repeat Until sections. For one-time backups, select One Time Only and Indefinite.
When finished, click Next.
The Schedule Customized Backup: Review page appears. This page presents a complete description of the backup job you specified in the previous pages.
6. You can perform one of the following actions:
■ Click the Back button to change these options.
■ Click Edit RMAN Script to view and, if desired, edit the RMAN commands that will be executed to perform your specified backup jobs.
■ Click Submit Job to add the specified backup job to the schedule (or to run it immediately, if you specified that the job should run immediately).
■ Click Cancel to stop the scheduled backup.
In this example, click Submit Job.
The Status page appears. This page should contain a message indicating that the job was successfully submitted.
7. Click View Job to monitor the progress of the backup job.
The Execution page appears. This page contains a Summary section describing the job. The Logs section includes a table listing 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 in the Logs section, you can see what phase the RMAN job is in. Clicking on the name of the phase of the backup displays a page containing the RMAN output for that part of the job. From this page, click the Back button in your browser to return to the Execution page.
Performing Offline Database Backups When performing an offline backup, the database instance shuts down, then restarts and enters a MOUNTED state for the duration of the offline backup. The offline backup runs in the background, generating no user-visible output in the browser. The fact that the database is not open affects the pages you see from Enterprise Manager while the offline backup runs.
After you submit the backup job, a status page should appear indicating that the job has been successfully submitted. The output also includes a notification that the database will be shut down and mounted as part of the offline backup, and that you must wait for the backup to complete.
When the database is shut down and restarted, the Enterprise Manager application must also shut down for a brief time. During the period when Enterprise Manager is shut down, it cannot respond to attempts to refresh the page.
After Enterprise Manager restarts but the database is not open, Enterprise Manager reports that it cannot connect to the instance. The Database Instance section of the page reports the current state of the database listener and the instance (unmounted or mounted) as the database performs the offline backup. It also offers the options of Startup or Perform Recovery.
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
Performing Backup and Recovery 9-15 During the offline backup, do not click Startup or Perform Recovery because these may interfere with the offline backup. Instead, continue to refresh the page until the offline backup is complete and the database is restarted. At that time, Enterprise Manager prompts for login credentials. After you log in, you can return to the database home page.