Active duplication cloning using RMAN in 11G

You can create a duplicate database using the RMAN duplicate command. The duplicate database has a different DBID from the source database and functions entirely independently. Starting from 11g you can do duplicate database in 2 ways.

1. Active database duplication
2. Backup-based duplication

Active database duplication copies the live target database over the network to the auxiliary destination and then creates the duplicate database. Only difference is that you don't need to have the pre-existing RMAN backups and copies. The duplication work is performed by an auxiliary channel. This channel corresponds to a server session on the auxiliary instance on the auxiliary host.

As part of the duplicating operation, RMAN automates the following steps: 

1. Creates a control file for the duplicate database 
2. Restarts the auxiliary instance and mounts the duplicate control file 
3. Creates the duplicate datafiles and recovers them with incremental backups and archived redo logs. 
4. Opens the duplicate database with the RESETLOGS option 

For the active database duplication, RMAN does one extra step .i.e. copy the target database datafiles over the network to the auxiliary instance

Source(TARGET) instance information:

Instance name=DLINK

hostname=mydbt4db2

datafile location=/u03/oradata/DLINK, /u02/oradata/DLINK

Redolog file location=/u03/oradata/DLINK

Archive log file location=/u02/oradata/arch

Auxiliary instance information:

Instance name=TLINK

hostname=mydbt4db4

datafile location=/u03/oradata/TLINK, /u02/oradata/TLINK

Redolog file location=/u03/oradata/TLINK

Archive log file location=/u02/oradata/arch_TLINK

Note: Before proceeding with active duplication ,rman should be fully configured on

Source side with or without catalog database.

1 )Define ORACLE_SID and other required settings for auxiliary instnace

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ vi .bash_profile

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ . .bash_profile

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ echo $ORACLE_HOME

/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ echo $ORACLE_SID

TLINK

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ echo $TNS_ADMIN

/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/network/admin

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$

1.b)Create required directory structure at auxiliary side

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ mkdir -p /u02/oradata/TLINK

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ mkdir -p /u03/oradata/TLINK

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ mkdir -p /u02/oradata/arch_TLINK

2)  Creating initialization Parameter file for the Auxiliary instance(TLINK)

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ vi initTLINK.ora

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ more initTLINK.ora

db_name='TLINK'

memory_target=200M

db_block_size=8192

control_files ='/u02/oradata/TLINK/control1.ctl','/u03/oradata/TLINK/control2.ctl'

compatible ='11.2.0'

log_archive_dest=/u02/oradata/arch_TLINK

log_file_name_convert='/u03/oradata/DLINK','/u03/oradata/TLINK'

db_file_name_convert='/u03/oradata/DLINK','/u03/oradata/TLINK','/u02/oradata/DLINK','/u02/oradata/TLINK'

3) Create password file at auxiliary side(TLINK)

[oracle@mydbt4db4 ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ orapwd file=orapw$ORACLE_SID password=sys force=y

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ ls -ltr orapw*

-rw-r----- 1 oracle oinstall 1536 Nov 26 13:44 orapwTLINK

4) Start auxiliary instance

 [oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ sqlplus '/as sysdba'

SQL*Plus: Release 11.2.0.1.0 Production on Mon Nov 26 13:50:00 2012

Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Connected to an idle instance.

SQL> startup nomount;

ORACLE instance started.

5) Configure listener at auxiliary side

[oracle@mydbt4db4 dbs]$ cd $TNS_ADMIN

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ vi listener.ora

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ more listener.ora

TLINK =

  (DESCRIPTION_LIST =

    (DESCRIPTION =

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = mydbt4db4.redLINKtech.com)(PORT = 1526))

    )

  )

SID_LIST_TLINK =

  (SID_LIST =

    (SID_DESC =

      (ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1)

      (SID_NAME = TLINK)

    )

  )

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ lsnrctl start TLINK

6) Configure listener at TARGET(source) side

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ cd $TNS_ADMIN

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ vi listener.ora

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ more listener.ora

DLINK =

  (DESCRIPTION_LIST =

    (DESCRIPTION =

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = mydbt4db2.redLINKtech.com)(PORT = 1525))

    )

  )

SID_LIST_DLINK =

  (SID_LIST =

    (SID_DESC =

      (ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1)

      (SID_NAME = DLINK)

    )

  )

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ lsnrctl start DLINK

7)Create password file at TARGET(DLINK) side

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs

[oracle@mydbt4db2 dbs]$ orapwd file=orapw$ORACLE_SID password=sys force=y

[oracle@mydbt4db2 dbs]$ ls -ltr orapw*

-rw-r----- 1 oracle oinstall 1536 Nov 26 02:29 orapwDLINK

[oracle@mydbt4db2 dbs]$

8) Configure tns alias at auxiliary(TLINK) to connect TARGET database(DLINK).

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ cd $TNS_ADMIN

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ vi tnsnames.ora

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ more tnsnames.ora

to_dLINK=

        (DESCRIPTION=

                (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db2.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1525))

            (CONNECT_DATA=

                (SID=DLINK)

            )

        )

to_tLINK=

        (DESCRIPTION=

                (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db4.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1526))

            (CONNECT_DATA=

                (SID=TLINK)

            )

        )

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ tnsping to_dLINK

TNS Ping Utility for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on 26-NOV-2012 14:15:40

Copyright (c) 1997, 2009, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:

Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias

Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db2.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1525)) (CONNECT_DATA= (SID=DLINK)))

OK (70 msec)

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ tnsping to_tLINK

TNS Ping Utility for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on 26-NOV-2012 14:15:51

Copyright (c) 1997, 2009, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:

Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias

Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db4.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1526)) (CONNECT_DATA= (SID=TLINK)))

OK (50 msec)

9) Configure tns alias at Target(DLINK) to connect auxiliary  instance (TLINK).

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ cd $TNS_ADMIN

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ vi tnsnames.ora

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ more tnsnames.ora

to_tLINK=

        (DESCRIPTION=

                (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db4.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1526))

            (CONNECT_DATA=

                (SID=TLINK)

            )

        )

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$ tnsping to_tLINK

TNS Ping Utility for Linux: Version 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on 26-NOV-2012 02:27:09

Copyright (c) 1997, 2009, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

Used parameter files:

Used TNSNAMES adapter to resolve the alias

Attempting to contact (DESCRIPTION= (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=mydbt4db4.redLINKtech.com)(PORT=1526)) (CONNECT_DATA= (SID=TLINK)))

OK (180 msec)

[oracle@mydbt4db2 admin]$

10. Start RMAN and Connect to the Database Instances

Start RMAN and connect to the source database as TARGET, the duplicate database instance as AUXILIARY, and, if applicable, the recovery catalog database. You can start the RMAN client on any host so long as it can connect to all of the database instances. If the auxiliary instance requires a text-based initialization parameter file, then this file must exist on the same host that runs the RMAN client application.

In this bulletin we are doing duplicate database from the auxiliary server. Look at the example :

[oracle@mydbt4db4 admin]$ rman

Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on Mon Nov 26 14:53:24 2012

Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

RMAN> connect target sys/sys@to_dLINK

connected to target database: DLINK (DBID=2903807241)

RMAN> connect auxiliary sys/sys@to_tLINK

connected to auxiliary database: TLINK (not mounted)

11)  Run the DUPLICATE database command

The simplest case is to use active database duplication to duplicate the database to a different host and use the different directory structure. Look at the example :

RMAN> DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE

2> to 'TLINK'

3> FROM ACTIVE DATABASE;

Starting Duplicate Db at 26-NOV-12

using target database control file instead of recovery catalog

configuration for DISK channel 2 is ignored

allocated channel: ORA_AUX_DISK_1

channel ORA_AUX_DISK_1: SID=96 device type=DISK

contents of Memory Script:

{

   sql clone "create spfile from memory";

}

executing Memory Script

.

.

.

.

contents of Memory Script:

{

   Alter clone database open resetlogs;

}

executing Memory Script

database opened

Finished Duplicate Db at 26-NOV-12

RMAN>