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Oracle RMAN and SAP Databases

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi all,




Am mainly an Oracle DBA and had just recently return to supporting SAP customers after a 4 year absence of supporting non-SAP customers.




Anyway, I have some question on using Oracle RMAN with SAP databases. Backup softwares are Netbackup and Data Protector.




I managed to get the backup working, that is, there is no issues, Oracle RMAN backup using SAP's brarchive and brbackup works alright. My question is about using an Oracle RMAN catalog. I've read thru several SAP documentation and cannot find one where I can use a RMAN catalog.




Reading from




http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/d1/43d7cab9a04a409cc46876e36762c2/content.htm


Does that mean I cannot use a RMAN catalog? Had anyone managed to use a RMAN catalog to do the RMAN backup?





*Another question I have is, do I need Netbackup and Data Protector if I want to run RMAN backup to disk via brarchive and brbackup? Does backint requires a SBT library to use RMAN? What I mean is, I want to use RMAN but doing backup to disk instead of to tape which means I don't need the tape library installed, will backint know that this is the case and will not look for the tape library?




Any advise or feedback on this will be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.




Extracts from http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/d1/43d7cab9a04a409cc46876e36762c2/content.htm are as below:




The Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) is an Oracle backup program. You can use it as a command line interface (CLI) or as a graphical user interface (GUI) in the Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM). We support RMAN with the SAP backup tools BRBACKUP and BRARCHIVE.




RMAN uses the System Backup to Tape (SBT) interface to back up to tape devices. We implement SBT using the SAP backup library. External backup tools can implement this interface as a dynamic link library (DLL).
Integration




By integrating RMAN into BRBACKUP, you can add security and flexibility to important functions in existing backup strategies and tools:




· The recovery catalog is not used. The backup information is stored in the control file. After the backup, the control file is also backed up. In a restore, the control file is restored first, followed by the data files.




· The integration of RMAN into BRBACKUP also guarantees integration into the SAP Structure linkComputing Center Management System (CCMS).




· BRBACKUP tape management functions as previously (that is, as when using the SAP backup library).




· You can still use the BACKINT interface with external tools.




· All previous SAP backup strategies are supported while using RMAN. Nevertheless, RMAN is not supported for standby database backups and split-mirror backups.




· The following components are delivered with the standard Oracle8 installation:




¡ RMAN with the Oracle SBT interface




¡ Backup library and backup tool Networker from Legato




¡ Legatou2019s BACKINT interface implementation (as of Oracle 8.0.5)




The SAP installation also delivers the SAP backup library with BRBACKUP and BRARCHIVE.


Edited by: newbie01.sap on Jun 11, 2010 10:50 AM

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

stefan_koehler
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Hello,

> Does that mean I cannot use a RMAN catalog? Had anyone managed to use a RMAN catalog to do the RMAN backup?

Correct - if you are using the BR*Tools and RMAN you are not able to use a RMAN catalog with it.

You can do manual catalog syncs, but the BR*Tools are not supporting a catalog database.

>Does backint requires a SBT library to use RMAN?

Check this documentation (Point "RMAN Backups Without Backup Library"): http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/3f/9d800e1aec11d2b42c00609419997a/content.htm

> Any advise or feedback on this will be very much appreciated.

We are also using RMAN for taking backup of all our oracle database (SAP and non-SAP), but without any BR*Tools.

That is also possible - check sapnote #105047 (Part "50. Recovery Manager (RMAN)").

As you mentioned, that you are a fulltime DBA you should have enough knowledge to use RMAN without BR*Tools.

Regards

Stefan

Answers (3)

Answers (3)

Former Member
0 Kudos

Stefan,

Will BR*Tools mind if I also use a block change tracking file?

stefan_koehler
Active Contributor
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Hi Patrick,

yes, that works. However please be aware of the bitmap limitation in block change tracking file (Oracle documentation: Backing Up the Database).

Regards

Stefan

symon_braunbaer
Participant
0 Kudos

Hello, just the question once again:

Correct - if you are using the BR*Tools and RMAN you are not able to use a RMAN catalog with it -> did anything change until now ? I am asking, as maybe something might have changed for 2 years...

stefan_koehler
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Hi Symon,

> did anything change until now ?

Nope - unfortunately still the same annoying procedure (i can not imagine any complexity by introducing three additional BR*Tools parameters for a RMAN catalog and connecting to it).

SAPnote #1113677 got it as well.


A recovery catalog is not directly supported by BR*Tools.

Regards

Stefan

Former Member
0 Kudos

Can I really not use an RMAN catalog with SAP databases that use brtools?

stefan_koehler
Active Contributor
0 Kudos

Hi Patrick,

you can use a RMAN catalog database, but you have to do the catalog syncs manually after the BR*Tools were executed. The BR*Tools itself have no RMAN catalog (database) implementation.

Regards

Stefan

Former Member
0 Kudos

Hi,

This question has been answered by Stefan Koehler. Not sure why the thread is not updated by his response. I am hoping to give him the max points actually.

It was a very good response which is as below:

Subject: Re: Oracle RMAN and SAP Databases

Message: Hello,

> Does that mean I cannot use a RMAN catalog? Had anyone managed to use a RMAN catalog to do the RMAN backup?

Correct - if you are using the BR*Tools and RMAN you are not able to use a RMAN catalog with it.

You can do manual catalog syncs, but the BR*Tools are not supporting a catalog database.

>Does backint requires a SBT library to use RMAN?

Check this documentation (Point "RMAN Backups Without Backup Library"): http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/3f/9d800e1aec11d2b42c00609419997a/content.htm

> Any advise or feedback on this will be very much appreciated.

We are also using RMAN for taking backup of all our oracle database (SAP and non-SAP), but without any BR*Tools.

That is also possible - check sapnote #105047 (Part "50. Recovery Manager (RMAN)").

As you mentioned, that you are a fulltime DBA you should have enough knowledge to use RMAN without BR*Tools.

Regards

Stefan