Re: Where does dbca get its info

Anno Domini 20-3-2005 3:36, Ujang M Zainudin sprak aldus:

>Dear all,
>
>I am writing a unix script to do a cold backup (and restore) of oracle
>instances. The backup script is supposed to be able to shutdown the
>instance and copy all related files to a tape.
>
>At this point, the backup script is doing what it is supposed to do
>and i am happy with that. The next step is to delete the database
>using DBCA and try to restore them again from the tape. So I wrote a
>restore script. I just copy back whatever files in the tape to their
>original locations. The script is smart enough to reenter the
>listener.ora and tnsnames.ora entries. And when I did the restore,
>the instance is up and running. It seems fine to me.
>
>However, when I tried to delete the instance again for another round
>of testing, the instance name somehow is not registered in DBCA. So
>now I cannot delete it using that tool. Of course, I could remove all
>the files manually to clean it up. But my question is, where does the
>DBCA tools get its info. Which files is it reading that I did not
>update in my restore script?
>
>I have used 'grep' to search the common oracle and database
>directories for any hint of where the dbca keep its things but so far
>I could not find it. Please help.
>
>Regards
>Ujang
>
>

You would use dbca only to create a new instance or deleting it one I would think; not in backup/restore procedures. At least, I have never heard of it.

But I would not use dbca once the database is in place. If you are able to backup your database to tape and restore it successfully, everything is fine. If you always intend to restore your database there is no real need to delete it with dbca. You can as an alternative just shutdown the instance and remove the datafiles and admin directory using UNIX scripting or overwriting them at restore.

I recommend using RMAN to do backup and restore instead. It is much more flexible and allmost foolproof. Instead of scripting different actions which have to be performed in order and which must include all datafiles, you can backup restore and clone databases with virtually one command. Incremental backups are possible and you can even set up retention policies. Use a catalog database to keep track of your backups. Received on Sun Mar 20 2005 - 01:46:02 CST