Re: RMAN Connect Problem

In article <39dc56a4_at_news.iprimus.com.au>,   "Howard J. Rogers" <howardjr_at_www.com> wrote:
> If you set ORACLE_SID correctly before trying to start RMAN, things
 should
> work fine.
>
> Whenever you say 'connect somebody/password', Oracle always has to ask
> itself -'well, what the bloody hell does he want e to connect
 *to*??!' Now,
> you either have to tell it explicitly what you want to connect to (by
 means
> of the tnsnames alias that you are including in the example connect
 string
> described below -in your case, orcl'). Or, it gives up in disgust
 and says
> to itself, 'well, if he won't tell me, I suppose I'll just have see
 what
> ORACLE_SID is set to, and use that'.
>
> The problem is that, if you want to start using tnsnames aliases, you
 have
> to have tnsnames.ora configures correctly (and a whole host of other
 things,
> too).
>
> So, explicitly set Oracle_sid first, and then run RMAN and see what
 happens.
> If it works, then you know that tnsnames need to be looked at as a
 long-term
> solution.
>
> Incidentally, full marks for trying to run RMAN without a catalogue,
 but in
> the nicest possible way, you want your head tested. RMAN is a
 bastard of a
> utility, and one of its saving graces is that, having once done
 battle with
> the syntax and come up with a backup script that actually works, you
 can
> save that script for later use -but you can only store scripts if you
 are
> using a catalogue. In short, RMAN is a high-end backup utility, and
 if you
> can't afford to be in the high-end (because of disk space constraints,
> amongst other things) I frankly wouldn't be bothering with it. Use
 it as it
> was intended to be used, or not at all, is my motto. Just a thought.
>
> Regards
> HJR
>
> "JS" <ghp_at_videotron.ca> wrote in message
> news:qmSC5.8927$DX4.267957_at_wagner.videotron.net...
> > I am trying to connect to target database with "rman80 target
> > system/manager_at_orcl nocatalog" command. RMAN reads the control file
> > correctly, but then gives me ora error message saying that TNS
 cannot
> > resolve the service name. Yet, when I start SQL Plus or Server
 Manager, I
 do
> > not need to supply any connect string other than userid and
 password as
> > shown above, Oracle80 mounts and opens correctly. The GUI
 Recovery/Backup
> > Manager supplied with Oracle 8 Personal Edition also works, but it
 is
> > totally automatic. Can anybody inform me how to get RMAN to connect
 with
 the
> > target database without setting up a different database to hold the
 recovery
> > catalog? (I am very short on disk space). Thanks in advance.
> > John
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

Howard is correct -- use the RMAN utility as it was intended or leave it alone. RMAN was designed to allow recovery of down instances and if you are not creating a catalog if the instance dies RMAN can't help you. Likewise if you DO have a catalog but the catalog is in the same instance as the data you are also out of luck.

Don't use RMAN unless you have, in my opinion, another server, small though it may be, to house a separate instance for RMAN. This way if your main server dies, due to disk, memory or other hardware failure, you can restore it via RMAN since the necessary information is housed on a different machine and is still accessable.

--
David Fitzjarrell
Oracle Certified DBA


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