Simple Offline oracle database backup using RMAN

SQL>Shutdown immediate;

SQL>Startup mount;

$ rman target  orcl                     (orcl is the SID or connect string alias)

Take a full database backup and save it on /home/oracle

RMAN> run {
 allocate channel t1 type disk;
 backup database format '/home/oracle/%d_%u_%s';
 release channel t1;
 }

if you are running Oracle 10g, you can use the compressed clause

RMAN> run {
 allocate channel t1 type disk;
 backup as compressed backupset database format '/home/oracle/%d_%u_%s';
 release channel t1;
 }

It will give you a 5 time decrease in space

To find out information about your latest backup operation

RMAN> list backupset
2> ;


List of Backup Sets
===================

BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
1 Full 2.16G DISK 00:05:50 17-MAR-08
BP Key: 1 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20080317T112227
Piece Name: D:\BACKUPS\ORCL_02JBG37K_2
List of Datafiles in backup set 1
File LV Type Ckp SCN Ckp Time Name
---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ----
1 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\SYSTEM01.DBF
2 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\UNDOTBS01.DBF
3 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\SYSAUX01.DBF
4 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\USERS01.DBF
5 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\EXAMPLE01.DBF
6 Full 5068690 17-MAR-08 D:\ORACLE\PRODUCT\10.2.0\ORADATA\ORCL\FLOW_1.DBF

BS Key Type LV Size Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
2 Full 6.80M DISK 00:00:05 17-MAR-08
BP Key: 2 Status: AVAILABLE Compressed: NO Tag: TAG20080317T112227
Piece Name: D:\BACKUPS\ORCL_03JBG3IO_3
Control File Included: Ckp SCN: 5068690 Ckp time: 17-MAR-08
SPFILE Included: Modification time: 17-MAR-08
 

You can validate the backupset to make sure that the physical backup that you made is not corrupted

RMAN> validate backupset 1
2> ;

allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: sid=158 devtype=DISK
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting validation of datafile backupset
channel ORA_DISK_1: reading from backup piece D:\BACKUPS\ORCL_02JBG37K_2
channel ORA_DISK_1: restored backup piece 1
piece handle=D:\BACKUPS\ORCL_02JBG37K_2 tag=TAG20080317T112227
channel ORA_DISK_1: validation complete, elapsed time: 00:06:45
 

You can also backup the entire database using default setting as follows

# Whole database and archivelogs.
RMAN>BACKUP AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;
 

TO RECOVER

$rman target orcl   ---  SID is orcl in this case, use your SID

RMAN> startup nomount;  -- assuming that the spfile exists

RMAN>restore controlfile from autobackup;  -- assuming the controlfile are lost

RMAN> Alter database mount;

RMAN> restore database;  -

-- you may need to reset the logs

RMAN> Alter database open reset logs;