Protecting and securing data is a core responsibility of a DBA. DBAs must be proficient in B&R skills. As shown in Chapters 17 through 19, you can use RMAN to manage and automate the backup of Oracle databases. RMAN is easily configured to back up and restore database files to and from disk.

Most production database environments will have an additional requirement of storing database backups on tape. If your database server experiences a complete failure, you can use tape backups to restore and recover. Furthermore, tape backups are easily transported outside the data center to provide additional protection in the event that an entire data center experiences a complete failure (such as a tornado or flood), the idea being that the tapes are safely stored off-site and can be brought back when disaster strikes.

To this end, Oracle offers a centralized tape backup solution, Oracle Secure Backup (OSB). This tool is a full-feature enterprise backup management system that automates the tape backup and restore of OS files. More important to you as the DBA, OSB can also be configured as a media management layer with RMAN. This means that you can implement RMAN and OSB together for the backup and restore of database files directly to and from tape.

There are myriad tape management solutions available. Why consider OSB? OSB is particularly compelling if one of your main goals is database backups to tape. Because OSB is an Oracle product, it is tightly integrated with RMAN. OSB is aware of the Oracle database file format and can take advantage of block-level validation, encrypting backups as they are written to tape, integration with Oracle’s Enterprise Manager, and so on.

OSB Editions and Features

There are two different editions of OSB:

  • Oracle Secure Backup Express

  • Oracle Secure Backup

The Oracle Secure Backup Express edition is free (well, “free” when you purchase a license for the Oracle database). This edition contains core features, such as backup and restore of OS files and RMAN integration, but is limited to use on a single host with one directly attached tape device.

The Oracle Secure Backup edition requires an extra license and is well suited for tape backup and restore in a distributed server environment with heterogeneous filesystems (Linux/Unix, Windows, and network-attached storage). The Oracle Secure Backup edition contains the following additional features not available with the Express edition:

  • Backup and restore of database files in RAC environments

  • Integrated with Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control (with Oracle Database 10g Release 2 and higher)

  • Supports multiple tape drives

  • Encrypted tape backups

  • Fiber-attached device support

  • Fast backup compression (with Oracle Database 11g Release 1 and higher)

  • RMAN medium-level compression (with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 and higher)

  • Networked backup of distributed hosts and tape devices

  • Automated cartridge system library software (ACSLS) and automated rotation of tapes between multiple locations (vaulting)

If you are a small shop with just one production database server, then Oracle Secure Backup Express may satisfy your business requirements, whereas the full-fledged Oracle Secure Backup edition is more suitable for environments with multiple distributed hosts that need advanced data protection.

Note

OSB is available on most Linux/Unix platforms as well as Windows. See the MOS certification matrix for a current list ( https://support.oracle.com ).

OSB Terminology

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the architectural terms used with OSB. The following sections give a brief description of the major OSB parts, starting with administrative domains.

OSB Administrative Domain and Servers

An administrative domain is a collection of servers (hosts) that you manage as a single group for backup and restore operations. Within an OSB administrative domain, each server can be assigned one or more of the following roles:

  • Administrative (admin) server

  • Media server

  • Client server (or client host)

As shown in Figure 20-1, for each administrative domain, there is only one admin server that controls the backup, restore, and scheduling operations. An admin server manages one or more media servers and one or more clients.

Figure 20-1.
figure 1figure 1

OSB administrative domain

Full size image

A media server is a host that has at least one physical tape device connected to it. Media servers are responsible for transferring data to and from the attached tape devices.

The client host is the server on which reside the Oracle databases and filesystem data that you want to back up (and potentially restore). For a single-host environment a server can be the admin server, media server, and client host in the OSB administrative domain.

OSB Interfaces

There are four tools you can use to run and manage OSB backup and restore tasks:

  • Enterprise Manager Database Control and Grid Control or Enterprise Manager 12c Cloud Control

  • Oracle Secure Backup web tool

  • Oracle Secure Backup command-line tool (obtool)

  • Recover Manager command-line tool (rman)

Although the graphical interfaces are somewhat intuitive and easy to use, I’m a strong believer in learning how to run a tool from the command line. Doing so gives you a better understanding of the underlying architecture, knowledge that is invaluable when troubleshooting and diagnosing problems. In that vein, this chapter focuses on using obtool and rman to configure and run OSB backup and restore tasks.

Tip

For complete details on all the OSB interfaces, see the Oracle Secure Backup Administrator’s Guide and Oracle Secure Backup Reference, available at www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/secure-backup/documentation/ .

OSB Users and Classes

An OSB user is an account defined within an OSB administrative domain. These users are separate from OS users. OSB user information is stored in the OSB administrative domain server. You are required to enter a username and password when accessing OSB through its interfaces, such as obtool or Oracle Secure Backup web tool.

An OSB class is a set of privileges and rights granted to a user. Each user can be assigned to only one OSB class. OSB classes help maintain a consistent user experience across all servers in an administrative domain.

OSB Daemons

OSB uses seven different background processes (daemons) to manage the configuration, backup, and restore operations. The executables that start the daemons are in the OSB_HOME/etc directory on each of the servers. These processes are  as follows:

  • Schedule daemon (obsheduled) runs only on the admin server and manages the scheduled backups.

  • Index daemon (obixd) runs only on the admin server and manages the backup catalog for each client.

  • Apache web server daemon (obhttpd) runs only on the admin server and services the Oracle Secure Backup web tool.

  • Service daemon (observiced) runs on the admin, media, and client servers. On the admin server, it runs jobs as requested by the schedule daemon. When running on the media or client server, it allows for remote administration of the host.

  • Network data management protocol (NDMP) daemon (obndmpd) runs on the admin, media, and client servers. It provides data communication between servers in the administrative domain.

  • Robot daemon (obrobotd) runs only on the media server and helps manage communication to tape devices.

  • Proxy daemon (obproxyd) runs only on the client server and verifies user access for system backup tape (SBT) backup and restore operations.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the OSB architecture, you are ready to download and install theOSB software.

Download and Installation

You can download the OSB software from the Technology Network area of the Oracle web site ( www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/secure-backup/downloads/ ).

For the examples in this chapter, I downloaded OSB version 10.4.0.2.0 and saved the zip file osb-10.4.0.2.0_linux32_cdrom120606.zip under a staging directory stage/osb of my admin server in the OSB administrative domain. You can stage this binary file in a location of your choice on your server.

Oracle recommends installing the OSB software under the directory /usr/local/oracle/backup for Unix/Linux platforms and C:\Program Files\Oracle\Backup for the Windows platform, which are the default OSB home directories. Once you have downloaded the OSB zip file and copied it to the appropriate directory, then you may proceed to the installation steps, as shown:

  1. 1.

    To perform the OSB installation, you must log in as root.

$ su - root

  

  1. 2.

    If the uncompress utility is not available, create a link.

# ln -s /bin/gunzip /bin/uncompress

  

  1. 3.

    Go to the staging directory, and unzip the zip file that you downloaded from the Oracle Technology Network.

# cd /stage/osb

# unzip osb-10.4.0.2.0_linux32_cdrom120606.zip

  

  1. 4.

    If the OSB home directory does not exist, create the directory.

# mkdir -p /usr/local/oracle/backup

  

  1. 5.

    Go to the OSB home directory, and run the setup script.

# cd /usr/local/oracle/backup

# /stage/osb/osb-10.4.0.2.0_linux32_cdrom120606/setup

The following output is displayed:

Welcome to Oracle's setup program for Oracle Secure Backup. This

program loads Oracle Secure Backup software from the CD-ROM to a

filesystem directory of your choosing.

This CD-ROM contains Oracle Secure Backup version 10.4.0.2.0_LINUX32.

Please wait a moment while I learn about this host... done.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

    1. linux32

       administrative server, media server, client

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Loading Oracle Secure Backup installation tools... done.

Loading linux32 administrative server, media server, client... done.

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

Oracle Secure Backup has installed a new obparameters file.

Your previous version has been saved as install/obparameters.savedbysetup.

Any changes you have made to the previous version must be

made to the new obparameters file.

Would you like the opportunity to edit the obparameters file

Please answer 'yes' or 'no' [no]:

  

  1. 6.

    Because you are not modifying the obparameters file, accept the default parameters by pressing the Enter key. The following output is displayed:

Loading of Oracle Secure Backup software from CD-ROM is complete.

You may unmount and remove the CD-ROM.

Would you like to continue Oracle Secure Backup installation with

'installob' now?  (The Oracle Secure Backup Installation Guide

contains complete information about installob.)

Please answer 'yes' or 'no' [yes]:

  

  1. 7.

    Press the Enter key to proceed with running the installob. The following output is displayed:

Welcome to installob, Oracle Secure Backup's installation program.

For most questions, a default answer appears enclosed in square brackets.

Press Enter to select this answer.

Please wait a few seconds while I learn about this machine... done.

Have you already reviewed and customized install/obparameters for your

Oracle Secure Backup installation [yes]?

  

  1. 8.

    Press Enter to proceed with the OSB installation. The following output is displayed:

Oracle Secure Backup is already installed on this machine (BLLNX4).

Would you like to re-install it preserving current configuration data[no]?

  

  1. 9.

    If OSB is already installed, and you are performing an OSB upgrade, enter yes to retain the previous configuration. The following output is displayed:

Oracle Secure Backup's Web server has been loaded, but is not yet configured.

Choose from one of the following options. The option you choose defines

the software components to be installed.

Configuration of this host is required after installation completes.

You can install the software on this host in one of the following ways:

    (a) administrative server, media server and client

    (b) media server and client

    (c) client

If you are not sure which option to choose, please refer to the Oracle

Secure Backup Installation Guide. (a,b or c) [a]?

  

  1. 10.

    Press Enter to accept the default value a, which is to configure the server as the admin server, media server, and client. The following output is displayed:

Beginning the installation.  This will take just a minute and will produce

several lines of informational output.

Installing Oracle Secure Backup on BLLNX4 (Linux version 2.6.9-67.EL)

You must now enter a password for the Oracle Secure Backup admin user.

Oracle suggests you choose a password of at least eight characters in length,

containing a mixture of alphabetic and numeric characters.

Please enter the admin password:

Re-type password for verification:

  

  1. 11.

    Enter the password twice for the admin user. The following output is displayed:

You should now enter an email address for the Oracle Secure Backup 'admin'

user. Oracle Secure Backup uses this email address to send job summary

reports and to notify the user when a job requires input. If you leave this

blank, you can set it later using the obtool's 'chuser' command.

Please enter the admin email address: juan.cruz@xyz.com

  

  1. 12.

    Enter the e-mail address for the admin user. The following output is displayed:

    generating links for admin installation with Web server

    checking Oracle Secure Backup's configuration file (/etc/obconfig)

    protecting the Oracle Secure Backup directory

    creating /etc/rc.d/init.d/observiced

    activating observiced via chkconfig

    upgrading the administrative domain (where required)

****************************** N O T E ******************************

On Linux systems Oracle recommends that you answer no to the next two

questions. The preferred mode of operation on Linux systems is to use

the /dev/sg devices for attach points as described in the 'ReadMe'

and in the 'Installation and Configuration Guide'.

Is BLLNX4 connected to any tape libraries that you'd like to use with

Oracle Secure Backup [no]?

Is BLLNX4 connected to any tape drives that you'd like to use with

Oracle Secure Backup [no]?

  

  1. 13.

    Because I am installing OSB on a Linux server, I accept the default and type no for both prompts. The following final output is displayed, showing the installation summary:

Installation summary:

    Installation  Host                OS          Driver     OS Move    Reboot

        Mode      Name                Name      Installed?  Required?  Required?

    admin         BLLNX4              Linux     no          no         no

Oracle Secure Backup is now ready for your use.

  

  1. 14.

    After the OSB software is installed, launch it by running the following OS command:

# /etc/observiced

Note

To remove OSB, as root, run the uninstallob shell script, located in the OSB_HOME/install directory. Replace the OS variable OSB_HOME to the usr/local/oracle/backup directory for Unix/Linux platforms, and to the C:\Programs Files\Oracle\Backup directory for Windows platforms.

Command-Line Access to OSB

All the examples in this chapter use either obtool or RMAN to access OSB and perform tasks such as creating backups and restoring files. This section focuses on connecting to the obtool utility. The first time you run the obtool utility, you will be prompted for the password of the admin user, which is the default OSB user created when you installed OSB. When prompted, use the password you specified when installing the OSB software:

$ obtool

Oracle Secure Backup 10.4.0.2.0

login:

To launch the obtool utility and log in to a specific user, use the u option, as shown (you will learn how to maintain OSB users in the next section):

$ obtool -u apress_oracle

To verify the OSB user that you are logged in as, issue the id command:

ob> id

apress_oracle

To view a list of obtool help topics, enter the following command:

ob> help topics

Help is available on the following topics:

advanced        .. advanced and seldom-used commands

backups         .. data backup operations

backupwindow    .. backup window definition

browser         .. file system browser

checkpoint      .. checkpoint management

class           .. user class rights

To exit the obtool utility, issue either the exit or quit command, like so

ob> exit

However, to log out the current user, issue the logout command, as follows:

ob> logout

OSB Configuration

Once OSB is installed and running, you can run a simple backup command. However, for an environment in which security is a top priority, you may want to change the OSB default settings first. Imagine that tight security is strictly enforced for your production database, and a single OSB user account is used to back up both production and test databases. You are in a vulnerable situation, because a DBA on your testing team can restore the backup of your production database to another server and access the data from there. To increase security and better manage your tape backups, I recommend creating new user accounts and assigning specific roles as well as creating media families and database backup storage selectors. These topics are discussed in the next several sections.

Configuring Users and Classes

When OSB is installed, the default user account created, named admin, has all the privileges relating to OSB. For security reasons, you should create separate OSB user accounts to access the different environments, such as production, test, and development. Also, assign these users to specific classes (roles), such as admin, operator, oracle, user, or reader. Monitor them to limit their rights to modify OSB administrative domain configurations and perform backup and restore operations. Limiting rights ensures that a particular OSB user can back up the test database but has no rights to perform other tasks, for example, restoring the production database.

To determine the rights of the admin class, issue the l sclass command, as shown:

ob> lsclass -l admin

Here is some sample output:

admin:

    browse backup catalogs with this access:         privileged

    access Oracle database backups:                  all

    access file system backups:                      all

    display administrative domain's configuration:   yes

    modify own name and password:                    yes

    modify administrative domain's configuration:    yes

    modify catalog:                                  yes

    perform file system backups as self:             yes

    perform file system backups as privileged user:  yes

    list any jobs owned by user:                     yes

    modify any jobs owned by user:                   yes

    perform file system restores as self:            yes

    perform file system restores as privileged user: yes

    receive email requesting operator assistance:    yes

    receive email describing internal errors:        yes

    receive email regarding expired passphrase keys: yes

    query and display information about devices:     yes

    manage devices and change device state:          yes

    list any job, regardless of its owner:           yes

    modify any job, regardless of its owner:         yes

    perform Oracle database backups and restores:    yes

Note

To display the complete syntax of an OSB command, issue the help command, followed by the OSB command.

To create an OSB user, issue the m kuser command. In the following example the OSB user apress_oracle is created and assigned oracle rights:

ob> mkuser --class oracle apress_oracle --preauth BLLNX3:oracle+cmdline+rman

The cmdline attribute in the -preauth option grants the oracle OS user preauthorized access to obtool utility, whereas the rman attribute grants Oracle Database SBT backups via RMAN. If no +rman preauthorization is defined for the server hosting the target database that you want to back up, then the RMAN backup fails, with ORA-19511 error, as shown:

ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text:

   sbt__rpc_cat_query: Query for piece u8lr5bs6_1_1 failed.

(Oracle Secure Backup error: 'no preauth config found for OS user (OB tools) oracle').

If you want to view all OSB users, issue the l suser command:

ob> lsuser

Table 20-1 describes the various OSB commands used to maintain OSB user accounts.

Table 20-1. OSB Commands for Maintaining OSB Users
Full size table

Configuring Media Families

The media family classifies and defines the characteristics of the tape volume, such as the volume ID, volume expiration, and write window. The volume ID, which is used by OSB to uniquely identify the tape volume, consists of the name of the media family affixed with a six-digit sequence number generated by OSB. For example, if the name of the media family is APRESS_BACKUP, then the first volume ID is APRESS_BACKUP-000001, the second is APRESS_BACKUP-000002, and so on.

There are two types of volume expiration policies: time managed and content managed. The tape volumes in a time-managed media family can expire after surpassing the expiration time; in a content-managed media family, they expire when all the backup pieces on the volume are marked as deleted. For filesystem backups, you must use a time-managed media family to let OSB manage the volume expiration. For RMAN backups, you must use content-managed media family to let RMAN manage the expiration of the backup pieces on the tape volume instead of OSB. This avoids inconsistency between the RMAN metadata and the contents of the tapes.

To create a time-managed media family, issue the m kmf command. In the following example the media family APRESS_OS has 7 days of write period and 14 days of retention period. This means that the volumes of the media family APRESS_OS will expire and are ready for recycling after 21 days, as the first backup piece is created on the tape volume:

ob> mkmf --writewindow 7days --retain 14days APRESS_OS

To create a content-managed media family, issue the mkmf, as shown. Because the default volume expiration policy is content managed, you can omit the --contentmanaged option.

ob> mkmf --contentmanaged APRESS_RMAN

Table 20-2 describes OSB commands used to maintain media families.

Table 20-2. OSB Commands for Maintaining Media Families
Full size table

To increase security and better manage your tape backups, you may create separate media families for different environments, such as production, test, and development. In this way, the backups of the production database and test database are not sharing the same tape volumes.

Configuring Database Backup Storage Selector

The default media family for RMAN backup is RMAN-DEFAULT. To use a different media family when running RMAN backup, create a database backup storage selector, using the mkssel command. Here, the database backup storage selector, named BLLNX3-DB11R2.ssel, assigns the media family APRESS_RMAN for RMAN backups on the Oracle database DB11R2, hosted on the client server BLLNX3:

ob> mkssel --host BLLNX3 --dbname DB11R2 --family APRESS_RMAN BLLNX3-DB11R2.ssel

Note

If an RMAN backup matches the Oracle database or client host defined on a database backup storage selector, then you don’t have to pass the OS environment variable OB_MEDIA_FAMILY parameter when allocating the RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE.

Table 20-3 offers descriptions of OSB commands related to maintaining the database backup storage selector.

Table 20-3. OSB Commands for Maintaining the Database Backup Storage Selector
Full size table

Database Backup

In Chapter 18, you learned how to use RMAN to back up database files to disk. In the following sections, you will use OSB and RMAN to create backups on tape. There are two ways to configure RMAN for a backup to tape:

  • Allocate a channel

  • Configure a channel

The first option is to allocate an RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE inside the run{} block. In this example the media family APRESS_RMAN is passed as a parameter to the environment variable OB_MEDIA_FAMILY. The tape volumes will have a volume ID of APRESS_RMAN, affixed with a six-digit sequence number generated by OSB.

RMAN> run {

  allocate channel t1 device type sbt_tape parms 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=APRESS_RMAN)';

  backup database;

}

You can configure multiple channels for SBT_TAPE, equivalent to the number of available physical tape devices. However, if you allocate two channels and only have one physical tape device, the other channel will just wait for the tape resource to become available. You can also use the C ONFIGURE command to set the RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE, as shown:

RMAN> configure channel device type sbt_tape

          parms 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=APRESS_RMAN)';

RMAN> backup device type sbt_tape database;

For discussion on monitoring the backup jobs you have submitted, see the section “OSB Job Monitoring,” later in this chapter. Table 20-4 provides descriptions of other OSB media management parameters.

Note

If no media family is explicitly passed when allocating/configuring the RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE, or no database backup storage selector is defined for the specific host or database, OSB will use the default media family RMAN-DEFAULT, which is created when OSB is installed.

Table 20-4. OSB Media Management Parameters
Full size table

Database Restore

For RMAN restore and recover, you have to allocate an RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE. In the following example the RMAN channel for SBT_TAPE is allocated inside the run{} block:

RMAN> run {

  allocate channel t1 device type sbt_tape;

  restore database;

  recover database;

}

Another option is to run the CONFIGURE command. Unlike the previous example, you must include the PARMS clause in the CONFIGURE command (if you don’t use the PARMS clause, a syntax error is returned):

RMAN> configure channel device type sbt_tape

          parms 'ENV=(OB_MEDIA_FAMILY=APRESS_RMAN)';

RMAN> restore device type sbt_tape database;

RMAN> recover device type sbt_tape database;

Suppose you have a scenario in which the production server is completely gone, owing to a catastrophic event, but, luckily, you have an off-site tape backup of the database. Additionally, you are not using an RMAN recovery catalog, and control file autobackup is disabled. You discover that the latest backup of the control file is corrupted, but you are able to restore the control file from a backup taken 2 days ago. After mounting the database, you realize that the latest RMAN backups, taken yesterday, are not on the list when you issue the RMAN LIST BACKUP command (because the control file restored was from 2 days ago and has no knowledge of yesterday’s RMAN backup).

In this situation the control file restored from a backup taken 2 days ago has no information on the backup pieces created on tape yesterday. To make the RMAN repository (control file, in this scenario) aware of the backup pieces on tape, do the following:

  1. 1.

    Configure a channel for tape.

  2. 2.

    Make the RMAN repository aware of the backup piece via the CATALOG command.

Next, issue the CATALOG DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE BACKUPPIECE command, followed by the name of the backup piece. In this example, one backup piece is cataloged:

RMAN> catalog device type sbt_tape backuppiece '15o2qns3_1_1';

Here is the sample output for the previous command.

channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: sid=159 devtype=SBT_TAPE

channel ORA_SBT_TAPE_1: Oracle Secure Backup

cataloged backuppiece

backup piece handle=15o2qns3_1_1 recid=5559 stamp=813392789

If you have multiple backup pieces that you want to catalog, you must issue the CATALOG DEVICE TYPE SBT_TAPE BACKUPPIECE command for each individual backup piece. The key to cataloging the RMAN backup pieces on tape is that you must know their exact names.

Note

As mentioned in Chapter 19, for disk-based backups, you can easily make the RMAN repository aware of multiple backup pieces via the CATALOG START WITH <directory> command. However, this technique only works for disk-based backups and not tape backups.

What if you don’t know the names of the back pieces? One way to figure out their names is to check the RMAN log file generated during the RMAN backup. In the snippet of the RMAN log file shown here, the RMAN backup piece is silr06fk_1_1:

channel t1: finished piece 1 at 25-FEB-2013 02:46:43piece handle=15o2qns3_1_1 tag=TAG20130225T021218 comment=API Version 2.0,MMS Version 10.4.0.2

channel t1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:34:24

But, what if the RMAN log file is not available? You can issue the lspiece command, using the obtool utility. Here, the output is filtered to display only the backup pieces for the hostname BLLNX3, which hosts the database DB11R2:

The following is the snippet of the output of the L SPIECE command:

ob> lspiece -d MYDB

    POID Database   Content    Copy Created      Host             Piece name

   17350 MYDB       full          0 02/25.07:12  BLLNX1           15o2qns3_1_1

This listing shows information such as the creation date and backup piece name. In this example the missing RMAN backup piece is 15o2qns3_1_1. After you catalog the missing RMAN backup pieces, you can proceed with the RMAN restore and recovery.

Filesystem Backup

Like any backup job, you need to define the three Ws and one H. What data do I back up? When do I run the backup? Where do I store the backup? How should the backup run? To accomplish the 3 Ws and 1 H using OSB, you need to create a data set file as well configure a backup window, a schedule, and a trigger.

Creating Data Set Files

Data setfiles define the directories and files on the client hosts that you want to back up. In the following example the data set file specifies to include all files under the directory home/oracle on the client host BLLNX1, except for files under the directory /home/oracle/temp and Oracle database-related files:

include host BLLNX1

include path /home/oracle {

   exclude path /home/oracle/temp

   exclude oracle database files

}

To create a data set file named bllnx1_home-oracle.ds, perform the following steps, using the obtool utility, as shown:

  1. 1.

    Issue the mkds command, followed by the name of the data set file.

ob> mkds bllnx1_home-oracle.ds

  

  1. 2.

    The vi editor is invoked, and a data set template is displayed.

  2. 3.

    Comment out or remove all existing lines, and add the following lines:

include host BLLNX1

include path /home/oracle {

   exclude oracle database files

   exclude path /home/oracle/temp

}

  

  1. 4.

    Save the file by pressing the Esc key and typing : and wq!

  2. 5.

    The following prompt is displayed. Press the Enter key to confirm the changes.

Apply your changes, if any [yes]?

You just created a data set file. Table 20-5 gives a list of other data set commands.

Table 20-5. Data Set Commands
Full size table

Configuring Backup Windows

The backup window defines the range of time in which the scheduled backups are allowed to run. The default backup window is daily, 00:00–24:00. If no backup window is defined, the scheduled backups are not going to run at all.

For production servers, you may want the backups to run daily between 1 am and 5 am. when there is minimal database traffic. To define a range of time for your backup window, perform the following steps:

  1. 1.

    Remove the existing backup window (daily, 00:00–24:00), as it overlaps the backup window you want to create, by issuing the r mbw command, like so

ob> rmbw daily

  

  1. 2.

    Issue the lsbw command.

ob> lsbw

There are no backup windows. This result indicates that the daily backup window is already removed.

  1. 3.

    To create the backup window, issue the a ddbw command. The following example defines the backup window as daily, from 01:00 to 05:00:

ob> addbw --times '01:00-05:00' ,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat,sun

Table 20-6 presents a list of other backup window commands.

Table 20-6. Backup Window Commands
Full size table

Configuring Backup Schedules and Triggers

The backup schedule defines what data to back up, where to store the backup, and how the backup runs, whereas the triggers define when the backup is scheduled to run. For what data to back up, set the specific data sets. For where to store the backup, set the specific tape drives. If no specific tape drive is selected, then any available tape drive will be used. For how the backup runs, set the job priority and backup encryption options. The lower the value of the job priority number, the greater the preference given to the job by the scheduler. The default value for the job priority is 100; the default value for the encryption option is no.

The following example uses the MKSCHED command to create a backup schedule named bllnx1_home-oracle.sched for the data set bllnx1_home-oracle.ds:

ob> mksched --dataset bllnx1_home-oracle.ds bllnx1_home-oracle.sched

After creating the backup schedule, create a trigger to define when to run the scheduled backup. This example uses the C HSCHED command to define a trigger for the schedule bllnx1_home-oracle.sched to run daily at 02:00 (2 am). The –a option means the addtrigger, the –d option means day, the –t option means time, and the –f option means media family.

ob> chsched -a -d daily -t 02:00 -f APRESS_OS bllnx1_home-oracle.sched

To display the information on the backup schedules, issue the l ssched command, like so:

ob> lssched -l bllnx1_home-oracle.sched

bllnx1_home-oracle.sched:

    Type:                   backup

    State:                  enabled

    Dataset:                bllnx1_home-oracle.ds

    Encryption:             no

    UUID:                   1ea82008-bfdd-102d-a743-0002a530c867

    Trigger 1:

        Day/date:           daily

        At:                 02:00

        Backup level:       full

        Media family:       APRESS_OS

You just scheduled a backup, named bllnx1_home-oracle.sched, that is going to run daily at 2 am. For details on monitoring a backup job, see the section “OSB Job Monitoring,” later in this chapter.

To remove a backup schedule, issue the r msched command, as shown:

ob> rmsched bllnx1_home-oracle.sched

Performing On-Demand Filesystem Backups

To run a one-time backup on a specific client host, use the backup command. In this example the data set file is bllnx1_home-oracle.ds, which was created earlier:

ob> backup --dataset bllnx1_home-oracle.ds --go

If you omit the -go option, the backup request is still in the queue. You can issue the lsbackup command to display the backup requests that are queued, as follows:

ob> lsbackup

Item #   Save data

1        dataset bllnx1_home-oracle.ds

To forward the backup request to the OSB scheduler, issue the following b ackup command with the --go option, as shown:

ob> backup --go

To back up the OSB catalog of the admin server manually, issue the following b ackup command:

ob> backup --dataset OSB-CATALOG-DS --family OSB-CATALOG-MF --go

For discussion on monitoring the backup jobs you have submitted, see the section “OSB Job Monitoring,” later in this chapter.

Note

By default, OSB-CATALOG-SCHED is scheduled to run daily at 1 am to back up the OSB catalog, using the data set file OSB-CATALOG-DS.

Filesystem Restore

There are three options for restoring from a filesystem backup:

  • Catalog-based restore

  • Raw restore

  • obtar command

In a catalog-based restore, you provide the directory and file, which you can browse from the OSB catalog. With both the raw restore and the obtar command, you give the volume ID and file number. The volume ID is the unique name (containing the media family) assigned to a tape volume; the file number is the number of the backup image on the tape volume. Both the catalog-based restore and raw restore are performed using the obtool utility, whereas the obtar commands are issued at the OS prompt.

Performing Catalog-Based Restore

Fora catalog-based restore, you can browse the OSB catalog to determine and verify the files you want to restore. In the following example, you want to restore the file /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh, of the client host BLLNX1. To restore the files using the OSB catalog, perform the following steps:

  1. 1.

    Set the host variable to BLLNX1, which is the source host.

ob> set host BLLNX1

  

  1. 2.

    Issue the cd command to navigate to the directory.

ob> cd /home/oracle/scripts

  

  1. 3.

    Issue the ls command to verify the files in the directory.

ob> ls -l rmanbkup.sh

-rwxr-xr-x   oracle.oinstall  782      2010/01/13.18:14 rmanbkup.sh        (0)

  

  1. 4.

    Issue the restore command.

ob> restore '/home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh' --go

For details on monitoring a restore job, see the section “OSB Job Monitoring,” later in this chapter.

Performing a Raw Restore

To restore data using the raw restore, you must know where to extract the data from; you must provide the file’s volume ID and file number (you know that backups use a particular media family, which can make the search a bit easier).

Here, you are going to restore the file /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh from a tape volume that has the media family APRESS_OS.

  1. 1.

    Issue the l svol command with the -contents option, to display the contents of the volumes associated with the media family APRESS_OS:

ob> lsvol --contents --family APRESS_OS --nobarcode

VOID    OOID Seq Volume ID          Family      Created     Attributes

2845    2845   1 APRESS_OS-000001   APRESS_OS   10/21.04:41 open; closes 10/28.04:41

        BSOID  File Sect  Level  Host                  Size Created     Attributes

        31250     1 1         0  BLLNX1            208.6 MB 10/21.04:41

        31258     2 1         0  BLLNX1            208.8 MB 10/21.06:04

        31260     3 1         0  BLLNX1            210.1 MB 10/21.12:23

        31261     4 1         0  BLLNX1            210.1 MB 10/21.12:34

  

  1. 2.

    According to the output shown, you want to restore from a backup taken on 10/21.06:04 (i.e., October 21, at 6:04 am). The corresponding file number is 2, and the volume ID is APRESS_OS-000001. Issue the following restore command. The -R option indicates a raw restore operation and does not use an OSB catalog, whereas the –F option means the file number, and the –v option means the volume ID.

ob> restore -R -F 2 -v APRESS_OS-000001 /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh --go

For discussion on monitoring the restore job you have submitted, see the section “OSB Job Monitoring section” later in this chapter.

Performing an obtar Restore

When you run the OSB restores, they are actually translated to obtar commands in the background. The obtar commands are issued at the OS level. The obtar command is seldom used to perform restore operations, as you need to give the volume ID and file number, which are not readily available, especially if you have no access to the OSB catalog.

In the following example, let’s assume that the file you want to restore, /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh, is in a tape that has the volume ID Home-MF-000098. If you didn’t know the specific volume ID), you would have to repeat steps 1–3 until you could confirm that the file you wanted to restore was in that particular volume ID.

  1. 1.

    Issue the loadvol command to load manually the tape that has the volume ID Home-MF-000098 to an available tape drive. Here, I am using the tape drive vdrive8.

ob> loadvol -D vdrive8 --volume Home-MF-000098

  

  1. 2.

    Run the obtar –zz to display all OSB labels on the volume ID Host_Home-MF-000098. Identify the file number for the corresponding date and time of the backup that you want to extract from. In this example the volume ID is Host_Home-MF-000098, and the file number is 1, which you will use in the next step.

# obtar -zzvf vdrive8 -e Host_Home-MF-000098

Volume label:

    Volume tag:         2ed9dbd024ce10397df0004e238fbd3

    Volume UUID:        dd56f352-5028-1030-a8f5-0004e238fbd3

    Volume ID:          Host_Home-MF-000098

    Volume sequence:    1

    Volume set owner:   root

    Volume set created: Sun Feb 03 02:11:00 2013

    Volume set closes:  Sun Feb 10 02:11:00 2013 (no writes after this time)

    Volume set expires: Sun Feb 24 02:11:00 2013

    Media family:       Host_Home-MF (permanent)

    Original UUID:      dd56f352-5028-1030-a8f5-0004e238fbd3

Archive label:

    File number:        1

    File section:       1

    Owner:              root

    Client host:        BLLNX1

    Backup level:       0

    S/w compression:    no

    Archive created:    Sun Feb 03 02:11:00 2013

    Encryption:         on

    Algorithm:          aes192

  

  1. 3.

    To check whether /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh is in file 1 in the tape volume ID Home-MF-000098, which is loaded in the vdrive8, issue the obtar command with the -t option.

$ obtar -t -f vdrive8 -F 1

  

  1. 4.

    To perform the restore operation using the obtar command, issue the following command with the -x option. The -F option means the file number, and the -k option avoids overwriting the existing file.

$ obtar -F 1 -x -f vdrive8 -k /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh

  

  1. 5.

    Because you are restoring using the obtar command, which is executed at the OS level, you can’t monitor the restore job using the obtool utility. However, one way to verify whether the file is restored is to issue the ls OS command.

$ ls -l /home/oracle/scripts/rmanbkup.sh

OSB Job Monitoring

You submitted a backup or restore operation for an Oracle database, using RMAN, or for filesystem data, using Oracle Enterprise Manager, Oracle Secure Backup web tool, or obtool utility, and you want to check whether the job is active, pending, or completed. To check the status of an OSB job, issue the lsjob command and the catxcr command to show the details about the operation of a job.

Listing Jobs

To display the jobs that are still running, issue the lsjob command with the -active, or -a, option. For other job states, use the --complete, or -c, option for completed jobs; --pending, or -p, for pending jobs; --inputrequest, or -i, for jobs currently requesting input; and --all, or -A, to display all jobs, regardless of the job state. For example, to list active jobs, issue this command:

ob> lsjob --active

For RMAN jobs, use the --dbname, or -d, option to limit the output for a specific Oracle database. If you know the database ID, you can use the --dbid, or -I, option instead. This example uses the dbname parameter:

ob> lsjob --active --dbname MYDB

In the following output the State column indicates that the job is still running. Once the job is done without error, the State column displays completed successfully.

Job ID           Sched time  Contents                       State

---------------- ----------- ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------

rmansbt/380.1    none        incremental backup             running since 2013/02/25.08:54

For filesystem jobs, use the --host, or -h, option to limit the output for a specific client host, as follows:

ob> lsjob --active --host BLLNX1

Job ID           Sched time  Contents                       State

---------------- ----------- ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------

admin/134.1      none        backup BLLNX1                  running since 2013/02/25.09:04

To monitor active jobs, use the lsjob command. If there are several active jobs running, you can filter the output by providing the job ID. However, if the job is already completed, you can use the same command, but you need to remove the -a option and give the corresponding job ID. I usually run the lsjob command with the following options:

ob> lsjob -a -l -j -o -R -L -C

The prior command displays detailed information on the status of the job. Here is some sample output:

admin/134:

    Type:                   dataset BLLnx1_home_bslopuz.ds

    Level:                  full

    Family:                 Host_Home-MF

    Encryption:             off

    Scheduled time:         none

    Introduction time:      2013/02/25.09:04

    Earliest exec time:     any

    Last update time:       2013/02/25.09:04

    Expire time:            never

    State:                  processed; host backup(s) scheduled

    Priority:               100

    Privileged op:          no

    Run on host:            (administrative server)

    Requires:               any device

    Attempts:               1

    Log:

        2013/02/25.09:04:42 Dataset processed; host backups scheduled.

admin/134.1:

    Type:                   backup BLLNX1

    Level:                  full

    Family:                 Host_Home-MF

    Encryption:             on

    Scheduled time:         none

    Introduction time:      2013/02/25.09:04

    Earliest exec time:     any

    Last update time:       2013/02/25.09:04

    Expire time:            never

    State:                  running since 2013/02/25.09:04

    Priority:               100

    Privileged op:          no

    Run on host:            BLLNX3

    Requires:               host BLLNX1 and family Host_Home-MF and any device

    Attempts:               1

    Processed:              64.0 KB

    Files:                  32

    Log:

        2013/02/25.09:04:42 Job created.

        2013/02/25.09:05:06 Dispatching job to run on BLLNX3.

In the previous output  the lsjob command displays all active jobs using the -a option. Besides the job ID, scheduled time, contents, and job state, the -l option shows more information, such as the RMAN backup piece, media family, encryption status, priority number, host on which the job runs, and number of times OSB attempted to run the job. The --subjobs, or -j, gives the subordinate job (subjob), which is admin/134.1. The --progress, or -o, option indicates the progress of the active job, which is 64.0KB processed. The --requires, or -R, option provides resources required to run each job, which are the media family Host_Home-MF and any device. The --log, or -L, option offers the log associated with the job, which is the log information following the output. The --times, or -C, option illustrates all relevant times for each job, such as introduction time, earliest execution time, last update time, and expire time.

Showing Job Transcripts

In addition to using the lsjob command to help monitor the OSB job, you can issue the catxcr command to gather detailed information on the operation of the job. The --folow, or -f, option shows the transcript as the file grows, which is valuable when monitoring active jobs. The --msgno, or -m, gives the number for each line in the transcript. The --level, or -l, option indicates the message level, which is useful for generating additional messages for debugging or troubleshooting; for example,

ob> catxcr -f -m -l 0 rmansbt/394

The following is a snippet of the output for the prior command. Line 463 shows that the status is 0, which means that the OSB job rmansbt/394.1 is successfully completed. For additional information on status codes, see samples/obexit.h in your OSB home directory.

rmansbt/394.1:  462: Backup statistics:

rmansbt/394.1:  463: status 0

rmansbt/394.1:  464: devices vdrive3

rmansbt/394.1:  467: devices 1

rmansbt/394.1:  468: volumes RMAN-MYDB-002368

rmansbt/394.1:  471: voltags 335d86802195102b12300065b61a636

rmansbt/394.1:  474: file 13

rmansbt/394.1:  475: host BLLNX1

rmansbt/394.1:  476: encryption on aes192

rmansbt/394.1:  477: start_time  Wed Feb 27 2013 at 05:36:39 (1361961399)

rmansbt/394.1:  478: end_time    Wed Feb 27 2013 at 06:08:30 (1361963310)

rmansbt/394.1:  479: backup_time Wed Feb 27 2013 at 05:36:39 (1361961399)

rmansbt/394.1:  480: dev_kbytes 1619848

rmansbt/394.1:  481: dev_iosecs 1849

rmansbt/394.1:  482: dev_iorate 897.1 KB/S

rmansbt/394.1:  483: wrt_iosecs 1911

rmansbt/394.1:  484: wrt_iorate 868.0 KB/S

rmansbt/394.1:  485: physical_blks_written 3239680

rmansbt/394.1:  486: write_errors 0

rmansbt/394.1:  487: physical_blks_read 0

rmansbt/394.1:  488: read_errors 0

rmansbt/394.1:  489: error_rate 0%

rmansbt/394.1:  490:     06:08:30 RLYX: exit status 0; checking allocs...

rmansbt/394.1:  491:     06:08:30 RLYX: from mm__check_all: 1

Note

For details on OSB job transcript backup statistics, refer to the Oracle Secure Backup Administrator’s Guide.

Monitoring OSB Logs

In addition to analyzing the OSB job details and transcript, you can investigate the OSB logs. This is especially useful when troubleshooting OSB issues. Table 20-7 lists the logs of the different OSB daemons and describes their contents.

Table 20-7. Log Files of OSB Daemons
Full size table

Table 20-8 lists the pathnames of the log files for the different OSB daemons., Replace the OS variable {OSBhome} to the /usr/local/oracle/backup directory for Unix/Linux platforms, and to the C:\Programs Files\Oracle\Backup directory for the Windows platform.

Table 20-8. OSB Daemons and Logs
Full size table

For example, while the RMAN backup job is running, you can run the following OS command to monitor the obproxyd.log on the server hosting the Oracle database:

# tail -f /usr/tmp/obproxyd.log

From another terminal, on which you are connected to the OSB admin server or media server, you can run this OS command to monitor the observiced.log, as shown.

# tail -f /usr/tmp/observiced.log

Virtual Test Devices

You may relate to the expression “experience is the best teacher.” You have read this chapter, and you want to try the OSB commands and examples yourself. However, you don’t have a physical tape device connected to any test servers in your environment. In this situation, where can you install and experiment with OSB? Well, you can configure a virtual test device solely for testing purposes.

Caution

You should not implement virtual test devices in a production environment. Oracle Support does not provide support for virtual test devices.

To configure a virtual test device, perform the following steps. In this example the hostname of the media server is BLLNX3.

  1. 1.

    Log in as the oracle OS user at your designated media server of the OSB administrative domain.

$ su - oracle

  

  1. 2.

    At the OSB media server, create a directory that hosts the virtual storage elements and virtual tape devices. Make sure you have enough disk space on the mount point on which you are going to create the directory.

$ mkdir /osb_vdevices

  

  1. 3.

    Log in as admin user to the obtool utility, and provide the corresponding password.

$ obtool -u admin

 Password:

  

  1. 4.

    Configure the virtual tape library by running the following m kdev command, using the -t option to specify the device as a tape library and the -v option to specify it as a virtual tape library. The -S option specifies the number of storage elements. The -I option specifies the number of export and import elements. The -o option specifies that the tape device is logically available to OSB. The -B option with the yes value specifies that the bar code reader is present. The -a option attaches the virtual library vlib1 to the directory /osb_vdevices/vlib1 of the host BLLNX3.

ob> mkdev -t library -v -S20 -I2 -o -B yes -a BLLNX3:/osb_vdevices/vlib1  vlib1

  

  1. 5.

    Configure the virtual tape devices by running the following m kdev command, using the -t option to specify the device as a tape device and the -v option to specify it as a virtual tape device. The -o option specifies that the tape device is logically available to OSB. The -l option specifies the name of the associated tape library. The -d option specifies the data transfer element (DTE). The -a option attaches the virtual tape vdrive1 to the directory /osb_vdevices/vdrive1 of the host BLLNX3. To configure additional virtual tape devices, run the same mkdev command. However, for the second virtual tape device, change the name vdrive1 and the directory /osb_vdevices/vdrive1 to vdrive2 and /osb_vdevices/vdrive2, respectively.

ob> mkdev -t tape -v -o -l vlib1 -d1 -a BLLNX3:/osb_vdevices/vdrive1  vdrive1

  

  1. 6.

    Run the i nsertvol command to insert a volume to the tape library manually. The -L option specifies the library name, which is vlib1. Because there are 20 storage elements defined when the virtual library is created, issue unlabeled 1-20 to insert 20 new volumes.

ob> insertvol -L vlib1 unlabeled 1-20

  

  1. 7.

    Issue the l svol command to display the volumes in the tape library vlib1.

ob> lsvol -l -L vlib1

Oracle Database Backup in the Cloud

Perhaps your company is traditionally dependent on tape for off-site backups of your Oracle database. However, with the continuous accessibility, better reliability, and cost savings offered by Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module, you can back up your Oracle database to the cloud (Internet storage) through Amazon Web Services (AWS), using Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

To install and configure the Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module, perform the following steps:

  1. 1.

    Obtain your Oracle Technology Network account username and password. You can register for a free account by going to the Technology Network area of the Oracle web site ( http://otn.oracle.com ).

  2. 2.

    Obtain your AWS access key ID and secret access key at aws.amazon.com by selecting the My Account/Console tab and choosing Security Credentials under the drop-down menu. You can create your Amazon account at www.amazon.com .

  3. 3.

    Download the S3 backup installer, osbws_installer.zip, from www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/secure-backup/secure-backup-s3-484709.html .

  4. 4.

    Unzip the osbws_installer.zip.

$ unzip osbws_installer.zip

  

  1. 5.

    Set and verify the OS environment variables ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID.

$ . oraenv

ORACLE_SID = [MYDB] ?

The Oracle base for ORACLE_HOME=/usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1 is /usr/oracle

$ env | grep ORACLE

ORACLE_SID=MYDB

ORACLE_BASE=/usr/oracle

ORACLE_HOME=/usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1

  

  1. 6.

    Run the installer to extract the Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module library and to create the library configuration file and the Oracle wallet where the S3 credentials are to be stored. Make sure to replace the appropriate values for your AWS access key ID and secret access key as well as your Oracle Technology Network username and password. If your server is behind a firewall, provide the appropriate values for the proxyHost and proxyPort. Otherwise, you can omit the proxyHost and proxyPort.

$ORACLE_HOME/jdk/bin/java -jar osbws_install.jar \

 -AWSID ***** -AWSKey ***** \

 -otnUser ***** -otnPass ***** \

 -walletDir $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/osbws_wallet \

 -configFile $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/osbws$ORACLE_SID \

 -libdir $ORACLE_HOME/lib \

 -proxyHost www-proxy.us.oracle.com\

 -proxyPort 80

Here is the sample output:

Oracle Secure Backup Database Web-Service Install Tool, build 2011-02-04.0001

AWS credentials are valid.

S3 user already registered.

Registration ID: *****

S3 Logging Bucket: oracle-log-bernard--1

Validating log bucket location ...

Validating license file ...

Create credential oracle.security.client.connect_string1

OSB web-services wallet created in directory /usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1/dbs/osbws_wallet.

OSB web-services initialization file /usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1/dbs/osbwsMYDB created.

Downloading OSB Web Services Software Library from file osbws_linux32.zip.

Downloaded 15060954 bytes in 30 seconds. Transfer rate was 502031 bytes/second.

Download complete.

Extracted file /usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1/lib/libosbws12.so

Note

Installation of OSB is not required to install and run Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module.

After you extract the Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module library, you can run the following RMAN backup script to store the backups of your Oracle database directly to Amazon S3, as shown.

run {

allocate channel t1 device type sbt_tape parms='SBT_LIBRARY=/usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1/lib/libosbws12.so,ENV=(OSB_WS_PFILE=/usr/oracle/product/12.1.0/db_1/dbs/osbwsMYDB)';

backup database;

}

The following is a snippet of the RMAN log, indicating that the RMAN channel t1 is connected via the Oracle Secure Backup Web Services Library, as follows:

allocated channel: t1

channel t1: SID=124 device type=SBT_TAPE

channel t1: Oracle Secure Backup Web Services Library

OSB Software Upgrades

You have an older version of OSB installed, and you want to upgrade to the current release. To perform an OSB upgrade, follow the same procedure used for installing OSB. However, before performing the upgrade, make sure to back up the OSB catalog in the admin server and stop the OSB daemons and services at all hosts in the administrative domain. Also, upgrade the admin server first, then the media servers and client hosts.

Table 20-9 provides a list of OS-specific commands for starting and stopping OSB services. You must have root privilege on Linux/Unix or be a member of the Administrators group for Windows to run these commands.

Table 20-9. OSB Service Shutdown and Startup Commands
Full size table

Summary

OSB is a tool you can use to back up and restore OS files to and from tape. OSB is a full-featured tape management utility. OSB can be integrated with RMAN to facilitate the backup of database files directly to tape. This provides you with extra data protection in the event that the entire server or data center experiences a failure.

OSB is available in two editions: Oracle Secure Backup Express and Oracle Secure Backup. The Express version is available for use without extra licensing costs and is suitable for small shops with one server and one physical tape device. The full-fledged Oracle Secure Backup edition is appropriate for distributed servers across multiple platforms (Linux/Unix, Windows).

You can access OSB through graphical tools such as Enterprise Manager and Oracle Secure Backup web tool or through command-line tools such as obtool. This chapter focused on demonstrating how to use the command-line obtool for backup and restore operations.

In addition to storing the backups of your Oracle database on tape for off-site storage, you can install and configure Oracle Secure Backup Cloud Module to store the backups of your Oracle database directly to Amazon S3. However, because of network performance and security concerns, some companies may not adapt the backup to cloud technology.

This chapter concludes coverage of backup and recovery. The next chapter focuses on automating jobs and database troubleshooting.