|
When Oracle released Application Server 10g, if provided a backup tool
that has gotten little press. In the Oracle Press book, Oracle
Application Server 10g Administration Handbook I only mentioned the tool
but did not discuss how to use it. That was because I was working
on the AS10g Beta and didn't have it to test. Well now it is
out and I'm a convert! You can even reinstall an
infrastructure on another server and restore your backup over it to
recreate a failed infrastructure. COOL!
The Backup and Recovery Tool is actually a Perl script that backs
up all of the configuration files for a tier. If the tier is an
infrastructure tier and contains a metadata repository database, it will
back that up also.
Configuration files are static and you can perform a hot backup of any
tier while it is running. The only time they change is when you
change the configuration (deploy an app, change a container, etc).
For this reason, you only need to take a new backup when you make
changes, although most all my clients take night backups. The
problem is the database. If you do not have the skills to script a
hot backup, you must shutdown the database, which requires that you so
shut down the application server.
Enter the Backup and Recovery Tool.
The tool is located on the AS10g REPCA and Utilities disk. Look in the
utilities directory under backup. Copy the tar file into a
directory in the instance ORACLE_HOME. In Unix untar the file or
unzip it in Windows.
I placed mine in the ORACLE_HOME/backup_restore directory. The
first step is to update the configuration file. Change to the config
directory and edit the config.inp file. Use a text editor such as
TextPad in windows to insure that extra CR's are not placed at the end
of each line. All you need to change is:
1. The ORACLE_HOME for that instance.
2. The directory to write out the script's log file.
3. The directory to back the configuration file to.
If you are backing up the Infrastructure:
4. The directory to backup the database to.
Make sure you instance environment is set and run the configuration
script.
$ bkp_restore.pl -m configure
You may have to fully qualify the Perl interpreter as below.
c:\oracle\infra904\perl\5.6.1\bin\
MSWin32-x86\perl.exe bkp_restore.pl -m
configure
This script examines your instance and adds parameters to the config.inp.
Now backup the instance configuration:
$ bkp_restore.pl -v -m backup_config
The -v provides a verbose listing of the files as they backup. All
of the configuration files will be backed up to the location you
defined. If any errors are encountered, they will be logged in the
log directory you defined in the config.inp.
Now backup the database.
$ bkp_restore.pl -v -m backup_online
The script will use RMAN to create a hot backup of the metadata
repository. If you don't know RMAN there are a number of good
books that explain it. If you need to restore the database, you
can use the tool or startup RMAN and manually restore.
Planning Considerations
1. Each backup creates a file with the date in the file name.
You can restore to a specific date by specifying a file to restore from.
2. If you run the tool daily then you will need to add to your log
purge script a command to purge old backups.
3. The database is backed up using RMAN. You need to learn
RMAN to insure that you can recover the database and maintain your
backups. RMAN can determine which logs and backups are no longer
needed, etc but YOU have to manage it. The tool also supports
incremental database backups.
4. The tool must be configure and run for each instance on a
server.
5. If your metadata repository is installed in a back-end
database, you cannot use the Backup and Recovery Tool to back up the
database. You can still use the tool to back up the configuration
files for the infrastructure and you can separately use RMAN (or a
script) to backup the database.
This just scratches the surface of the tool's capabilities.
You can modify the script to include you application created files in
the backup, etc. Read the documentation before trying to implement
the Backup and Recovery Tool.
*************
Want to get rid of that extra database, learn how to install your
Metadata Repository into a backend database using the Oracle REPCA
utility. It's easy!
http://www.dbazine.com/garmany4.shtml
Need Oracle
App Server Support?
I'm now offering personal app server mentoring for Oracle DBAs who
must quickly learn the intricate details of Oracle9iAS. You can
have an Oracle expert right at your fingertips, anytime day or night.
We work with dozens of App Server Oracle databases every year, so we
know exactly how to quickly assist you with any Oracle9iAS or Oracle
Application Server 10g question.
Call 252-431-0049 for a custom evaluation.
Regards,
John Garmany
Burleson Oracle Consulting
Kittrell, NC, USA, 27544
www.dba-oracle.com
www.remote-dba.net
|
