RMAN: BACKUP DATABASE KEEP FOREVER OPTION 12C

I got to know about this option when I saw a configured backup script in an environment running Oracle Database 12c with Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance (Recovery Appliance). Then I started to search about this and although Oracle Documentation doesn’t really show a lof about this option I could understand that it is one of the types of the long-term backup retention and then the backup or copy never expires.. However, one of the prerequisite to use this option is to have a recovery catalog because the control file can’t keep the backup forever. So in this post I will simply show how to configure this option.

1- Create the directory to receive the backup:


[root@hostech ~]# cd /
[root@hostech /]# mkdir backup_forever
[root@hostech /]# chown oracle:dba backup_forever
[root@hostech /]# ls -ld backup_forever
drwxr-xr-x 2 oracle dba 4096 Oct 19 16:56 backup_forever
[root@hostech /]#

2- Connect into the RMAN catalog:


[oracle@hostech ~]$ rman target /

Recovery Manager: Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on Sat Oct 19 17:25:28 2019

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

connected to target database: techdb (DBID=4110865931)

RMAN> connect catalog  rcatowner/&lt;password&gt;@rman

connected to recovery catalog database

3- By default, RMAN allocates one disk channel for all operations. So as I want to specify a non-default backup location I have to change the channel:
#Before


RMAN>  show all;

RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name techdb are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 20 DAYS;
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; # default
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/backup_forever/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p';
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC' AS OF RELEASE 'DEFAULT' OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE ; # default
CONFIGURE RMAN OUTPUT TO KEEP FOR 7 DAYS; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE; # default
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/dbs/snapcf_techdb.f'; # default


RMAN&gt;  CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/backup_forever/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p';

new RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/backup_forever/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p';
new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored
starting full resync of recovery catalog
full resync complete

#After


RMAN>  show all;

RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name techdb are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 20 DAYS;
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; # default
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/backup_forever/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p';
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC' AS OF RELEASE 'DEFAULT' OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE ; # default
CONFIGURE RMAN OUTPUT TO KEEP FOR 7 DAYS; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE; # default
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/dbs/snapcf_techdb.f'; # default

4- Run the backup with the KEEP FOREVER clause in order to have a backup that doesn’t expire in the new channel:


RMAN>  BACKUP DATABASE KEEP FOREVER;

Starting backup at 19-OCT-19

allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=68 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_2: SID=71 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_3
channel ORA_DISK_3: SID=64 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_4
channel ORA_DISK_4: SID=75 device type=DISK
backup will never be obsolete
archived logs required to recover from this backup will be backed up
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00001 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/system01.dbf
input datafile file number=00006 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/users01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00003 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/sysaux01.dbf
input datafile file number=00020 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/ts_inactive2.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_3: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00011 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/PDB04pdbseed/sysaux01.dbf
input datafile file number=00018 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/ts_inactive
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_4: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00007 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/pdbseed/sysaux01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_3: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088886_s526_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_3: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:01:18
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_3: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00010 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/PDB04pdbseed/system01.dbf
input datafile file number=00017 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/ts_active.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_3: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_4: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088886_s527_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_4: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:01:19
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_4: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00005 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/pdbseed/system01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_4: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088886_s525_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:01:20
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00009 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/my_1000m_ts2.dbf
input datafile file number=00019 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/ts_active2.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088967_s530_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00004 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/undotbs01.dbf
input datafile file number=00015 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/tsrestore.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088886_s524_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:01:25
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00012 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/example01.dbf
input datafile file number=00016 name=/u01/app/oracle/oradata/techdb/userstechdb01.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088971_s532_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088971_s531_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:04
channel ORA_DISK_3: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088965_s528_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_3: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:22
channel ORA_DISK_4: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088966_s529_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_4: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:21
current log archived

using channel ORA_DISK_1
using channel ORA_DISK_2
using channel ORA_DISK_3
using channel ORA_DISK_4
backup will never be obsolete
archived logs required to recover from this backup will be backed up
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting archived log backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying archived log(s) in backup set
input archived log thread=1 sequence=29 RECID=24 STAMP=1022088989
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088990_s533_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01

using channel ORA_DISK_1
using channel ORA_DISK_2
using channel ORA_DISK_3
using channel ORA_DISK_4
backup will never be obsolete
archived logs required to recover from this backup will be backed up
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
including current SPFILE in backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088992_s534_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01

using channel ORA_DISK_1
using channel ORA_DISK_2
using channel ORA_DISK_3
using channel ORA_DISK_4
backup will never be obsolete
archived logs required to recover from this backup will be backed up
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting full datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
including current control file in backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 19-OCT-19
piece handle=/backup_forever/ora_df1022088994_s535_s1 tag=TAG20191019T173444 comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01
Finished backup at 19-OCT-19

5- Check the backup in the configured location:


[oracle@hostech ~]$ ls -ltr /backup_forever/
total 2522600
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 414818304 Oct 19 17:35 ora_df1022088886_s527_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 423903232 Oct 19 17:35 ora_df1022088886_s526_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 546185216 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088886_s525_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle   2146304 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088967_s530_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 709672960 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088886_s524_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle   2146304 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088971_s532_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle   4390912 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088971_s531_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 208969728 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088966_s529_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle 214319104 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088965_s528_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle  38442496 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088990_s533_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle     98304 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088992_s534_s1
-rw-rw---- 1 oracle oracle  18022400 Oct 19 17:36 ora_df1022088994_s535_s1
[oracle@hostech ~]$

6- Change the channel to the default configuration in order to clear all the modification:


[oracle@hostech ~]$  rman target / catalog rcatowner/password@rman

Recovery Manager: Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on Sat Oct 19 17:37:56 2019

Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

connected to target database: techdb (DBID=4110865931)
connected to recovery catalog database

RMAN&gt;  CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK  CLEAR;

old RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/backup_forever/ora_df%t_s%s_s%p';
old RMAN configuration parameters are successfully deleted
starting full resync of recovery catalog
full resync complete

RMAN>  show all;

RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name techdb are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 20 DAYS;
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON; # default
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '%F'; # default
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC' AS OF RELEASE 'DEFAULT' OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE ; # default
CONFIGURE RMAN OUTPUT TO KEEP FOR 7 DAYS; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE; # default
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/dbs/snapcf_techdb.f'; # default

brunors

Hi! I am Bruno, a Brazilian born and bred. Former Oracle ACE, Computer Scientist, MSc in Data Science, over ten years of experience in companies such as IBM, Epico Tech, and Playtech based in three different countries (Brazil, Hungary, and Sweden) and joined projects remotely in many others. I am super excited to show you my interest in Databases, Cloud, Data Science, Data Engineering, Bigdata, AI, Programming, Software Engineering, and data in general.
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RMAN: BACKUP DATABASE KEEP FOREVER OPTION 12C

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