Oracle RMAN Pocket Reference is a handy guide for DBAs who intend to use Oracle Recovery Manager for database backup and recovery. Because Recovery Manager (RMAN) is a relatively new tool, many DBAs are just becoming familiar with it. They will welcome a timely book that explains clearly and concisely how to use RMAN for common backup and recovery tasks that are infrequent, yet extremely vital.

The first portion of the book is primarily task-oriented. After a short section on RMAN architecture, the book shows (in checklist style) how to perform common backup and recovery tasks such as:

• Implementing a recovery catalog
  
• Creating and running RMAN scripts
  
• Configuring input/output channels
  
• Taking a full database backup
  
• Backing up tablespaces and datafiles
  
• Taking incremental backups
  
• Recovering lost datafiles
  

The second portion of the book consists of a handy syntax reference to the many RMAN commands. Having a quick reference to RMAN commands is a great convenience to DBAs who otherwise, often under the pressure of a recovery situation, would have to wade through Oracle's online documentation.

Table of Contents

      Introduction  

                Acknowledgments  

                Caveats  

                Conventions  

      RMAN Architecture  

                RMAN Executable  

                Server Processes  

                Channels  

                Target Database  

                Recovery Catalog Database  

                Media Management Layer  

                Backups, Backup Sets, and Backup Pieces  

      Starting RMAN  

                Target Prerequisites  

                Invoking the RMAN Executable  

                Connecting to a Target with No Catalog  

                Connecting to Both a Target and a Catalog  

      Executing Commands  

                Executing RMAN Commands from the RMAN Prompt  

                Executing RMAN Commands from a File  

                Running SQL and O/S Commands from Within RMAN  

                Running RMAN from Shell Scripts  

      Implementing a Catalog  

                What Is the Catalog?  

                Catalog Backup Strategies  

                Catalog Issues  

                Creating a Catalog  

                Registering a Target Database  

      Stored Catalog Scripts  

                Storing a Script  

                Executing a Stored Script  

                Viewing a Stored Script  

                Deleting a Stored Script  

      Backups  

                Full Database Offline Backup  

                Full Database Online Backup  

                Backing Up a Tablespace  

                Backing Up a Datafile  

                Backing Up Control Files  

                Backing Up Archived Redo Log Files  

                Incremental Backups  

                Backup Tips  

      Restoring Files  

                Restoring and Recovering All Datafiles  

                Restoring Specific Tablespaces/Datafiles  

                Restoring Read-Only Tablespaces  

                Point-in-Time Recovery  

                Restoring Control Files  

                Restoring Archived Redo Log Files  

      RMAN Command Reference  

                Common Keywords  

                Common Clauses  

                Command-Line Syntax  

      @ 

      @@ 

      ALLOCATE CHANNEL 

      ALLOCATE CHANNEL FOR MAINTENANCE 

      allocOperand 

      ALTER DATABASE 

      archivelogRecordSpecifier 

      BACKUP 

      BLOCKRECOVER (Oracle9i only) 

      CATALOG 

      CHANGE 

      completedTimeSpec 

      CONFIGURE (Oracle9i only) 

      CONNECT 

      connectStringSpec 

      COPY 

      CREATE CATALOG 

      CREATE SCRIPT 

      CROSSCHECK 

      datafileSpec 

      DELETE 

      DELETE SCRIPT 

      deviceSpecifier 

      DROP CATALOG 

      DUPLICATE 

      EXECUTE SCRIPT 

      EXIT 

      HOST 

      keepOption (Oracle9i only) 

      LIST 

      listObj 

      mntQualifer (Oracle9i only) 

      obsoleteOpersList (Oracle9i only) 

      PRINT SCRIPT 

      QUIT (Oracle9i only) 

      RecordSpec (Oracle9i only) 

      RECOVER 

      REGISTER 

      RELEASE CHANNEL 

      releaseForMaint 

      REPLACE SCRIPT 

      REPLICATE 

      REPORT 

      RESET DATABASE 

      RESTORE 

      RESYNC 

      RUN 

      SEND 

      SET 

      SHOW (Oracle9i only) 

      SHUTDOWN 

      SPOOL (Oracle9i only) 

      SQL 

      STARTUP 

      SWITCH 

      untilClause 

      UPGRADE CATALOG 

      VALIDATE