PowerProtect Data Manager 19.9 Oracle RMAN Agent User Guide

Add a protection policy for Oracle database protection

Use the PowerProtect Data Manager UI to add a protection policy to protect the Oracle databases.

1. In the left navigation pane, select Protection > Protection Policies.
   The Protection Policies window appears.
2. Click Add.
   The Add Policy wizard appears.
3. On the Type page, specify the new protection policy group fields, and then click Next:

   • Name—Type a descriptive name for the protection policy, for example, Oracle Prod Databases.

     NOTE The name that you specify becomes part of the DD MTree entry.
   • Description—Type a short description for the protection policy, for example, Oracle Prod Daily Backups.
   • Type—Select Oracle.
4. On the Purpose page, select from the following options to indicate the purpose of the new protection policy group, and then click Next:

   • Centralized Protection—Select this option to use PowerProtect Data Manager to centrally manage all stages of the protection policy.

     Centralized protection means that PowerProtect Data Manager schedules the backups and manages the life cycle of the copies.

     Click Set Credentials to specify new credentials or select existing credentials from the list. Authentication requirements provides details about the authentication requirements for an Oracle database.

     NOTE Policy-level credentials are mandatory. Credentials that you set at the asset level and host level take precedence over the credentials that you set at the protection policy level. Asset-level credentials have the highest precedence.

   • Self-Service Protection—Select this option to use Oracle to create local backup protection. PowerProtect Data Manager creates a protection policy and manages extra stages.

     Self-service protection means that DBAs schedule the backups but PowerProtect Data Manager discovers and manages the life cycle of the copies.

   • Exclusion—Select this option when the protection policy contains Oracle assets that you want to exclude from data protection operations.
5. On the Assets page, select the unprotected assets that you want to add to the backup of this protection policy group. The window enables you to filter by asset name to locate the required assets.
   You can also change the assets view to display all assets discovered by PowerProtect Data Manager or a hierarchical view with the assets in a tree structure underneath the application host. For example, a hierarchical view might be helpful when you have added multiple Oracle databases, so that you can more easily identify which assets belong to which database.
6. Click Next.

   If you selected Exclusion on the Purpose page, the Summary page appears. Proceed to Step 15.

   If you selected Centralized Protection or Self-Service Protection on the Purpose page, the Objectives page appears for creating the protection policy backup configuration.

7. On the Objectives page, select a policy-level Service Level Agreement (SLA) from the Set Policy Level SLA list, or select Add to open the Add Policy Service Level Agreement wizard and create a new policy-level SLA.
   Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.
8. Complete the required steps for the specified type of protection policy group:

   • For Centralized Protection:

     1. Click Add under Primary Backup.

        The Add Primary Backup dialog appears.

     2. On the Target pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog, specify the following fields:

        • Storage Name—Select a backup destination from the list of existing DD systems, or select Add to add a system and complete the details in the Storage Target dialog.

        • Storage Unit—Select whether this protection policy should use a New storage unit on the selected DD system, or select an existing storage unit from the list. Hover over a storage unit to view the full name and statistics for available capacity and total capacity, for example, testvmplc-ppdm-daily-123ab (300 GB/1 TB).

          When you select New, a new storage unit in the format policy name hostname unique identifier is created in the storage system upon policy completion, for example, testvmplc-ppdm-daily-123cd.

          NOTE The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage system.
        • Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.

        • Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to enable retention locking for these backups on the selected system. PowerProtect Data Manager uses Governance mode for retention locking, which means that the lock can be reverted at any time if necessary. Toggling the Retention Lock slider on or off applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

        • SLA—Select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list, or select Add to create an SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement wizard.

          Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.

     3. On the Schedules pane of the Add Primary Backup dialog:

        1. Specify the following fields to schedule the full backup of this protection policy:

           • Create a Full backup every—Specify how often to create a full backup.

           • Retain for—Specify the retention period for the full backup.

             You can extend the retention period for the latest primary backup copy by using the Extend Retention schedule. For example, your regular schedule for daily backups can use a retention period of 30 days, but you can apply extended retention to keep the full backups taken on Mondays for 10 weeks. Step 9 provides instructions.

             NOTE For database backups, PowerProtect Data Manager chains the dependent backups together. For example, the incremental or transaction log backups are chained to their base full backup. The backups do not expire until the last backup in the chain expires. This ensures that all incremental and transaction log backups are recoverable until they have all expired.

           • Start and End—The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the full backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started.

             NOTE Any backups started before the End Time occurs continue until completion.

        2. Click Add Backup if you want to add an incremental cumulative, incremental differential, or log backup, and then specify the following fields to schedule the backup of this protection policy:

           NOTE When you select this option, the backup chain is reset.

           • Create a <backup_type> backup every—For <backup_type>, select Incremental Cumulative, Incremental Differential, or Log from the drop-down list, and then specify the interval at which the backup job runs within the window that you specify. The backup interval depends on the backup interval of the full backup schedule:

             • If the full backup schedule is hourly or daily, the backup interval of subsequent backup levels can be between 1 and 12 hours or between 1 and 60 minutes.
             • If the full backup schedule is weekly or monthly, the backup interval of subsequent backup levels can be daily, between 1 and 12 hours, or between 1 and 60 minutes.

           • Retain for—Specify the retention period for the backup.

             CAUTION If you set a shorter retention period for an incremental or log backup than for the corresponding full backup, then data loss might occur and you might be unable to recover the point-in-time copies.

           • Start and End—The activity window. Specify a time of day to start the backup, and a time of day after which backups cannot be started.

             NOTE Any backups started before the End Time occurs continue until completion.

     4. Click Save to save the changes and return to the Objectives page.

        The Objectives page updates to display the name and location of the target storage system under Primary Backup.

        NOTE

        After completing the backup schedule, you can change any schedule details by clicking Edit under Primary Backup.

        When a new asset is added to an existing policy, you must run an ad hoc full backup for the newly added asset.

        When a new asset is added to a protection policy during a scheduled backup window, the backup starts right away. However, if an asset is added to a protection policy outside of the scheduled backup window, the backup does not start until the next time that backups are configured to run.

        If a new asset is added to a protection policy that has a weekly or monthly backup schedule and the current time is within the scheduled Start and End times, the backup runs right away, regardless of the date. If the current time is not within the scheduled Start and End times, the backup does not start until the next time that backups are configured to run.

   • For Self-Service Protection:

     1. Click Add under Primary Retention.

        The Add Primary Retention dialog appears.

     2. On the Target pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog, specify the following fields:

        • Storage Name—Select a backup destination from the list of existing DD systems, or select Add to add a system and complete the details in the Storage Target dialog.

        • Storage Unit—Select whether this protection policy should use a New storage unit on the selected DD system, or select an existing storage unit from the list. Hover over a storage unit to view the full name and statistics for available capacity and total capacity, for example, testvmplc-ppdm-daily-123ab (300 GB/1 TB).

          When you select New, a new storage unit in the format policy name hostname unique identifier is created in the storage system upon policy completion, for example, testvmplc-ppdm-daily-123cd.

          NOTE The Space field indicates the total amount of space, and the percentage of available space, on the storage system.
        • Network Interface—Select a network interface from the list, if applicable.

        • Retention Lock—Move the Retention Lock slider to the right to enable retention locking for these backups on the selected system. PowerProtect Data Manager uses Governance mode for retention locking, which means that the lock can be reverted at any time if necessary. Toggling the Retention Lock slider on or off applies to the current backup copy only, and does not impact the retention lock setting for existing backup copies.

        • SLA—Select an existing service level agreement that you want to apply to this schedule from the list, or select Add to create an SLA within the Add Backup Service Level Agreement wizard.

          Add a Service Level Agreement provides instructions.

     3. On the Retention (Self Service) pane of the Add Primary Retention dialog, change any required retention times.

        By default, all backup types have the same retention time. To change the retention times for specific backup types, clear Set the same retention time for all backup types and change the Retain <backup_type> For field values as required.

        CAUTION If you set a shorter retention period for an incremental or log backup than for the corresponding full backup, then data loss might occur and you might be unable to recover the point-in-time copies.

     4. Click Save to save the changes and return to the Objectives page.

        The Objectives page updates to display the name and location of the target storage system under Primary Retention.

        NOTE After completing the backup retention setting, you can change the setting by clicking Edit under Primary Retention.
9. Optionally, extend the retention period for the latest primary backup copy:
   Extended retention provides more information.
   1. Click Extend Retention next to Primary Backup or Primary Retention. An entry for Extend Retention is created below Primary Backup or Primary Retention.
   2. Under Extend Retention, click Add. The Add Extended Retention dialog appears.
   3. Retain the next scheduled full copy every—Specify the preferred recurrence for the extended retention backup schedule.
   4. Repeat on—Depending on the frequency of the backup schedule, specify the day of the week, the date of the month, or the date of the year that the extended retention backup will occur.
   5. Retain for—Specify the retention period for the backup. You can retain an extended retention for a maximum of 70 years.
   6. Click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
10. Optionally, replicate the backups to a remote storage system:
    1. Click Replicate next to Primary Backup, Primary Retention, or Extend Retention. An entry for Replicate is created to the right of the primary or extended retention backup schedule.
       NOTE PowerProtect Data Manager supports replicating an extended retention backup only if the primary backup already has one or more replication stages. Also, for replication of an extended retention backup, you can only select the DDs that are used by the replication stages based on the primary stage.

       For example, if there are 6 DDs available (DD001-DD006), and the primary backup is on DD0001:

       • Replicate1 based on the primary backup is replicated to DD002
       • Replicate2 based on the primary backup is replicated to DD003
       • Extended retention backup is backed up to DD001
       • Replicate3 based on the extended retention backup must be replicated to DD002 or DD003.
    2. Under Replicate, click Add. The Add Replication dialog appears.
       NOTE To enable replication, ensure that you add a remote DD system as the replication location. Add protection storage provides detailed instructions about adding a remote DD system.
    3. Complete the schedule details in the Add Replication dialog.

       By default, all replicated copies have the same retention time. To change the retention times for specific replicated copies, clear Set the same retention time for all replicated copies and click Edit to change the Retain for field values as required.

       CAUTION If you set a shorter retention period for an incremental or log backup than for the corresponding full backup, then data loss might occur and you might be unable to recover the point-in-time copies.

       Click Save to save the changes and return to the Objectives page.

       NOTE The schedule frequency can be every day, week, month, or x hours for replication of the primary backup, and every day, week, month, year, or x hours for replication of the extended retention backup. For daily, weekly, and monthly schedules, the numeric value cannot be modified. For hourly, however, you can edit the numeric value. For example, if you set Create a Full backup every 4 hours, you can set a value of 1 to 12 hours.
11. Optionally, add a cloud stage for a primary, replication, or extended retention backup schedule for the purpose of moving backups from DD storage to cloud tier:
    1. Click Cloud Tier next to Primary Backup or Extend Retention or, if adding a cloud stage for a replication schedule that you have added, click Cloud Tier under Replicate. An entry for Cloud Tier is created to the right of the primary or extended retention backup schedule, or below the replication schedule.
    2. Under the entry for Cloud Tier, click Add.
       The Add Cloud Tier Backup dialog appears, with summary schedule information for the parent node to indicate whether you are adding this cloud tier stage for the primary backup schedule, the extended retention backup schedule, or the replication schedule.
    3. Complete the schedule details in the Add Cloud Tier Backup dialog, and then click Save to save your changes and return to the Objectives page.
       Add a cloud tier schedule to a protection policy provides detailed instructions for adding a cloud stage for a primary, replication, or extended retention backup schedule.
    NOTE In order to move a backup or replica to cloud tier, schedules must have a retention time of 14 days or more. Also, discovery of a DD system configured with a cloud unit is required.
12. Click Next.
    The Options page appears.
13. On the Options page, select the additional options that are required for the policy:

    • Archive Logs—Select the appropriate option for the deletion of archived logs:

      • Do not delete—Select this option to prevent the deletion of archived logs during backups. To delete the archived logs, the database administrator must run the delete command manually.
      • Delete immediately after backup—Select this option to enable the deletion of archived logs immediately after all the backup types that are performed through the protection policy.

      • Delete older than (days)—Select this option to enable the deletion of the available archived logs that are older than the specified number of days, for all the backup types that are performed through the protection policy. Set the number of days after which the archived logs are deleted.

    • Files Per Set—Specify the maximum number of files that RMAN can include in a backup set. The value must be an integer between 1 and 64, inclusive.

      NOTE

      As an alternative to setting the options Files Per Set, Maximum Open Files, Block Size, and Section Size on the Options page, you can set the parameters FILESPERSET, MAXOPENFILES, BLOCK_SIZE, and SECTION_SIZE, respectively, in the configuration file rman_agent.cfg. Configuration file requirements for connection to local databases provides details about the configuration file.

      The configuration file parameter settings take precedence over the option settings in the PowerProtect Data Manager UI. These parameter and option settings apply only to centralized backups. The Files Per Set and Section Size settings apply only to full, incremental cumulative, and incremental differential backups—not to log backups.

    • Maximum Open Files—Specify the maximum number of input files that a backup or copy can have open at a given time. The value must be an integer greater than 0.
    • Block Size—Specify the number of KB of data that the Oracle database reads for the backup operation. The value must be a multiple of the minimum physical block size of the Oracle database. The value must be <n>K, where <n> is an integer between 1 and 1024 inclusive. K means kilobytes.

    • Section Size—Specify the size in KB, MB, or GB of each backup section in a multisection backup. In the backup set, each backup piece contains the blocks from one file section. The specified value must be <n>K or <n>M or <n>G, where <n> is an integer greater than 0. K means kilobytes, M means megabytes, and G means gigabytes.

      If you specify a section size that is larger than the size of the file, then RMAN does not use a multisection backup for the file. If you specify a small section size that would produce more than 256 sections, then RMAN increases the section size to a value that results in exactly 256 sections.

    • Troubleshooting—Select this option to enable the debug logs for troubleshooting purposes.
14. Click Next.
    The Summary page appears.
15. Review the protection policy group configuration details. You can click Edit next to any completed window's details to change any information. When completed, click Finish.
    An informational message appears to confirm that PowerProtect Data Manager has saved the protection policy. When the new protection policy group is created, PowerProtect Data Manager automatically performs a full backup. Subsequent backups are performed according to the specified schedule.
16. Click OK to exit the window, or click Go to Jobs to open the Jobs window to monitor the backup of the new protection policy group.
17. When PowerProtect Data Manager and the client are updated from an older version and the target DD or storage unit of the Oracle database associated protection policy is changed:
    • If the objective of the protection policy includes replication, perform a replication from the Protection Policies page. Select Protection > Protection Policies > Protect Now and select Replicate now, then change the primary target.
    • For a self-service protection policy, complete the procedure for the required top-level directory changes in Performing self-service backups of Oracle databases.