RMAN Commands Cheat Sheet - Oracle Backup & Recovery Quick Reference

RMAN Commands Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) backup and recovery commands.

Connect to RMAN

# Connect to target database
rman target /

# Connect with catalog
rman target / catalog rman/password@catdb

# Connect to remote database
rman target sys/password@orcl

# Connect to auxiliary for duplication
rman target / auxiliary sys/password@clone

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Backup Commands

Full Database Backup

-- Full database backup
BACKUP DATABASE;

-- Full backup with archivelog
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;

-- Full backup, delete archived logs after backup
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG DELETE INPUT;

-- Compressed backup
BACKUP AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET DATABASE;

-- Backup to specific location
BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT '/backup/%d_%T_%s_%p.bkp';

Tablespace & Datafile Backups

-- Backup specific tablespace
BACKUP TABLESPACE users, example;

-- Backup specific datafile
BACKUP DATAFILE 4;
BACKUP DATAFILE '/u01/oradata/orcl/users01.dbf';

-- Backup current controlfile
BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE;

-- Backup spfile
BACKUP SPFILE;

Incremental Backups

-- Level 0 (base) backup
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 0 DATABASE;

-- Level 1 differential (default)
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 DATABASE;

-- Level 1 cumulative
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE DATABASE;

-- Block change tracking (enable first)
ALTER DATABASE ENABLE BLOCK CHANGE TRACKING
  USING FILE '/u01/oradata/orcl/bct.dbf';

Archive Log Backups

-- Backup all archive logs
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL;

-- Backup and delete
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT;

-- Backup specific sequence range
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 100 UNTIL SEQUENCE 200;

-- Backup archive logs from last 24 hours
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM TIME 'SYSDATE-1';

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Restore Commands

Database Restore

-- Restore database (from mount)
RESTORE DATABASE;

-- Restore to specific time
RESTORE DATABASE UNTIL TIME "TO_DATE('2024-01-15 10:00:00','YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS')";

-- Restore to SCN
RESTORE DATABASE UNTIL SCN 1234567;

-- Restore specific tablespace
RESTORE TABLESPACE users;

-- Restore specific datafile
RESTORE DATAFILE 4;

Controlfile Restore

-- Restore controlfile from backup
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP;

-- Restore from specific backup piece
RESTORE CONTROLFILE FROM '/backup/ctl_backup.bkp';

Spfile Restore

-- Restore spfile from autobackup
RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP;

-- Restore to specific location
RESTORE SPFILE TO '/u01/app/oracle/dbs/spfileorcl.ora' FROM AUTOBACKUP;

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Recover Commands

-- Recover database
RECOVER DATABASE;

-- Recover to specific time
RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL TIME "TO_DATE('2024-01-15 10:00:00','YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS')";

-- Recover to SCN
RECOVER DATABASE UNTIL SCN 1234567;

-- Recover specific tablespace
RECOVER TABLESPACE users;

-- Recover datafile
RECOVER DATAFILE 4;

-- Open database after point-in-time recovery
ALTER DATABASE OPEN RESETLOGS;

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List Commands

-- List all backups
LIST BACKUP;

-- List database backups
LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE;

-- List backups summary
LIST BACKUP SUMMARY;

-- List archive log backups
LIST BACKUP OF ARCHIVELOG ALL;

-- List specific backup by tag
LIST BACKUP TAG 'daily_full';

-- List expired backups
LIST EXPIRED BACKUP;

-- List incarnations
LIST INCARNATION;

-- List failures (12c+)
LIST FAILURE;

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Report Commands

-- Report files needing backup
REPORT NEED BACKUP;

-- Report files needing backup (> 2 days)
REPORT NEED BACKUP DAYS 2;

-- Report obsolete backups
REPORT OBSOLETE;

-- Report database schema
REPORT SCHEMA;

-- Report unrecoverable files
REPORT UNRECOVERABLE;

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Crosscheck & Delete

Crosscheck

-- Crosscheck all backups
CROSSCHECK BACKUP;

-- Crosscheck archive logs
CROSSCHECK ARCHIVELOG ALL;

-- Crosscheck specific backup
CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET 123;

-- Crosscheck copy
CROSSCHECK COPY;

Delete Commands

-- Delete expired backups
DELETE EXPIRED BACKUP;

-- Delete obsolete backups
DELETE OBSOLETE;

-- Delete specific backup
DELETE BACKUPSET 123;

-- Delete backup older than 7 days
DELETE BACKUP COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-7';

-- Delete archived logs older than 7 days
DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL COMPLETED BEFORE 'SYSDATE-7';

-- Skip confirmation
DELETE NOPROMPT OBSOLETE;

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Configure Commands

-- Show current configuration
SHOW ALL;

-- Configure retention policy
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 2;
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS;

-- Configure backup destination
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT '/backup/%d_%T_%s_%p.bkp';

-- Configure parallelism
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 4;

-- Configure compression
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'MEDIUM';

-- Configure controlfile autobackup
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/backup/%F';

-- Configure backup optimization
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;

-- Configure encryption
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE ON;

-- Clear configuration to default
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY CLEAR;

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Catalog Commands

-- Catalog backup piece
CATALOG BACKUPPIECE '/backup/backup.bkp';

-- Catalog all backups in directory
CATALOG START WITH '/backup/';

-- Catalog datafile copy
CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/u01/copy/users01.dbf';

-- Uncatalog expired backup
UNCATALOG EXPIRED BACKUP;

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Validate Commands

-- Validate database
VALIDATE DATABASE;

-- Validate specific datafile
VALIDATE DATAFILE 4;

-- Validate backupset
VALIDATE BACKUPSET 123;

-- Check logical corruption
VALIDATE CHECK LOGICAL DATABASE;

-- Preview restore (check availability)
RESTORE DATABASE PREVIEW;
RESTORE DATABASE PREVIEW SUMMARY;

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Duplicate Database

-- Duplicate to new database
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO newdb;

-- Duplicate from active database
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO newdb FROM ACTIVE DATABASE;

-- Duplicate to point in time
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO newdb
  UNTIL TIME "TO_DATE('2024-01-15 10:00:00','YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS')";

-- Duplicate with file relocation
DUPLICATE TARGET DATABASE TO newdb
  DB_FILE_NAME_CONVERT '/u01/oradata/prod', '/u02/oradata/clone'
  SPFILE
    SET DB_UNIQUE_NAME='newdb';

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Block Recovery

-- Recover corrupt blocks
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 4 BLOCK 100;

-- Recover range of blocks
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 4 BLOCK 100,101,102;

-- Recover from backup
BLOCKRECOVER DATAFILE 4 BLOCK 100 FROM BACKUPSET;

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Scripting & Automation

-- Run script
@/scripts/backup.rman

-- Create stored script (in catalog)
CREATE SCRIPT daily_backup {
  BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG DELETE INPUT;
}

-- Execute stored script
RUN { EXECUTE SCRIPT daily_backup; }

-- Delete script
DELETE SCRIPT daily_backup;

-- Print script
PRINT SCRIPT daily_backup;

Run Block Example

RUN {
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  BACKUP DATABASE FORMAT '/backup/%d_%T_%s_%p_%c.bkp';
  RELEASE CHANNEL c1;
  RELEASE CHANNEL c2;
}

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Common Backup Tags

-- Tag backups for easy identification
BACKUP DATABASE TAG 'weekly_full';
BACKUP INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 DATABASE TAG 'daily_inc';
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL TAG 'arch_backup';

-- Restore/recover using tag
RESTORE DATABASE FROM TAG 'weekly_full';

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Format Specifiers

Specifier	Description
%d	Database name
%D	Current day (DD)
%M	Current month (MM)
%Y	Current year (YYYY)
%T	Date (YYYYMMDD)
%s	Backup set number
%p	Piece number
%c	Channel number
%U	Unique filename
%F	Unique format (c-IIIIIIIIII-YYYYMMDD-QQ)

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Related Resources

• RMAN Backup Guide
• RMAN Recovery Guide
• ORA-19815: Flash Recovery Area Full
• ORA-01578: Block Corrupted