Oracle RMAN Interview Preparation Guide
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Oracle RMAN frequently Asked Questions by expert members with experience in RMAN. So get preparation for the Oracle RMAN job interview questions

50 RMAN Questions and Answers:

1 :: How to setup the RMAN tape backups?

RMAN Target / run{Allocate channel ch1 device type sbt_tape maxpiecesize 4gFormat'%D_%U_%T_%t';sql 'alter system switch logfile';Backup database;backup archivelog from time 'sysdate-7';Backup Format '%D_CTLFILE_P_%U_%T_%t' Current controlfile;release channel ch1;}This is backup script for Tivoli Backup Server

2 :: Tell me Is it possible to take Catalog Database Backup using RMAN?

Yes, you can perform backup of catalog database using RMAN with below steps:
1. Start the RMAN with NOCATALOG option.
2. Run the recovery catalog database in ARCHIVELOG mode.
3. set the retention policy to a REDUNDANCY value greater than 1.
4. Backup the database onto two separate media(disk and tape), You can use BACKUP COPIES 2.
5. Donot use another recovery catalog as the repository for these backups.
6. configure the controlfile autoback feature to ON.

3 :: How to clone the database using RMAN software? Give brief steps? When do you use crosscheck command?

Two commands available in RMAN to clone database: 1) Duplicate 2) Restore.

4 :: What are the steps required to perform in $ORACLE_HOME for enabling the RMAN backups with netbackup or TSM tape library software?

To take a rman backup with TSM tape library as follows
1.Install TDPO (default path /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/)
2.Once u installed the TDPO,automatically one link is created from TDPO directory to /usr/lib. Now we need to Create soft link between OS to ORACLE_HOME ln -s /usr/lib/libiobk64. a $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libobk.a(very imporatant)
3.Uncomment and Modify tdpo.opt file which in /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin/tdpo.opt as followsDSMI_ORC_CONFIG /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/dsm.optDSMI_LOG /home/tmp/oracleTDPO_NODE backupTDPO_PSWDPATH /usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64
4.create dsm.sys file in same path and add the entriesSErvername TCPPort 1500 passwordacess prompt nodename backup enablelanfree yesTCPSERVERADDRESS
5.Create dsm.opt file add an entrySErvername 5. Then take backupRMAN>run { allocate channel t1 type 'sbt_tape' parms 'ENV=(TDPO_OPTFILE=/usr/tivoli/tsm/client/oracle/bin64/tdpo.opt)'; backup database include current controlfile; release channel t1; }

6 :: List some of the RMAN catalog view names which contains the catalog information?

RC_DATABASE_INCARNATION,
RC_BACKUP_COPY_DETAILS,
RC_BACKUP_CORRUPTION,
RC_BACKUP-DATAFILE_SUMMARY to name a few

8 :: Explain the encryption options available with RMAN?

RMAN offers three encryption modes:
transparent mode,
password mode,
and dual mode

9 :: What are things which play major role in designing the backup strategy?

Cold backup: shutdown the database and copy the datafiles with the help of
O.S. command. this is simply copying of datafiles just like any other text file
copy.
Holt backup: backup process starts even though database in running. The
process to take a hot backup is
1) sql> alter database begin backup;
2) copy the datafiles.

3) after copying
sql> alter database end backup;
Begin backup clause will generate the timestamp. it'll be used in backup
consistency i.e. when begin backup pressed, it'll generate the timestamp. During
restore, database will restore the data from backup till that timestamp and
remaining backup will be recovered from archive log.

10 :: What is RAID?
What is RAID0?
What is RAID1?
What is RAID 10?

RAID: It is a redundant array of independent disk
RAID0: Concatenation and stripping
RAID1: Mirroring