Obtain a Dump of the Database

Use any dump utility to obtain a dump of the database.

When the dump is complete, you, as the administrator, must determine the desired dump point based on information obtained from the primary database when the dump was taken. The dump utility may provide the dump point. The scenarios in later sections use the Oracle RMAN utility.

In Oracle, use backup database plus archivelog to dump the primary database, and restore database and recover database to apply the dump to the replicate database. To obtain the dump point from one RMAN backup set, use the list backup Oracle command. This is an example of the output from list backup:

RMAN>list backup;
List of Backup Sets
===================


BS Key  Size       Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
8       125.58M    DISK        00:00:04     16-MAY-11
        BP Key: 8   Status: AVAILABLE  Compressed: NO  Tag: TAG20110516T125049
        Piece Name: /ralinuxsh5/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_2/dbs/0bmcflp9_1_1

  List of Archived Logs in backup set 8
  Thrd Seq     Low SCN    Low Time  Next SCN   Next Time
  ---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- ---------
  1    1       1018110    14-MAY-11 1058201    15-MAY-11
  1    2       1058201    15-MAY-11 1103370    15-MAY-11
  1    3       1103370    15-MAY-11 1142662    16-MAY-11
  1    4       1142662    16-MAY-11 1148674    16-MAY-11
  1    5       1148674    16-MAY-11 1150375    16-MAY-11
  1    6       1150375    16-MAY-11 1150477    16-MAY-11

BS Key  Type LV Size       Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
9       Full    1.08G      DISK        00:00:15     16-MAY-11
        BP Key: 9   Status: AVAILABLE  Compressed: NO  Tag: TAG20110516T125054
        Piece Name: /ralinuxsh5/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_2/dbs/0cmcflpe_1_1
  List of Datafiles in backup set 9
  File LV Type Ckp SCN    Ckp Time  Name
  ---- -- ---- ---------- --------- ----
  1       Full 1150485    16-MAY-11 /work2/oracle11.1/oradata/or11sh1/system01.dbf
  2       Full 1150485    16-MAY-11 /work2/oracle11.1/oradata/or11sh1/sysaux01.dbf
  3       Full 1150485    16-MAY-11 /work2/oracle11.1/oradata/or11sh1/undotbs01.dbf
  4       Full 1150485    16-MAY-11 /work2/oracle11.1/oradata/or11sh1/users01.dbf
  5       Full 1150485    16-MAY-11 /work2/oracle11.1/oradata/or11sh1/example01.dbf

BS Key  Type LV Size       Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---- -- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
10      Full    9.36M      DISK        00:00:04     16-MAY-11
        BP Key: 10   Status: AVAILABLE  Compressed: NO  Tag: TAG20110516T125054
        Piece Name: /ralinuxsh5/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_2/dbs/0dmcflq1_1_1
  SPFILE Included: Modification time: 14-MAY-11
  SPFILE db_unique_name: OR11SH1
  Control File Included: Ckp SCN: 1150507      Ckp time: 16-MAY-11

BS Key  Size       Device Type Elapsed Time Completion Time
------- ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------------
11      18.50K     DISK        00:00:04     16-MAY-11
        BP Key: 11   Status: AVAILABLE  Compressed: NO  Tag: TAG20110516T125118
        Piece Name: /ralinuxsh5/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_2/dbs/0emcflq6_1_1

  List of Archived Logs in backup set 11
  Thrd Seq     Low SCN    Low Time  Next SCN   Next Time
  ---- ------- ---------- --------- ---------- ---------
  1    7       1150477    16-MAY-11 1150513    16-MAY-11
  1    8       1150513    16-MAY-11 1150568    16-MAY-11

The required dump point is one substracted from the maximum value in the "Next SCN" column in the last Archived Logs backup set. In this example, the last set is set 11 and the maximum value for "Next SCN" in set 11 is 1150568. Therefore, the dump point in this example is 1150567.

See the Oracle documentation for more information on the RMAN utility and the list backup command.