Oracle RMAN Commands

A practical guide to essential Oracle RMAN (Recovery Manager) commands for performing database backups, recovery operations, maintenance tasks, validation, and cataloging. Commands are grouped by function for quick reference and are compatible with Oracle 11gR2 (11.2.0.4) and higher.

Show RMAN Settings

SHOW ALL; -- Displays all current RMAN settings
SHOW ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY; -- Shows archive log deletion policy
SHOW ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES; -- Number of archive log backup copies configured
SHOW AUXNAME; -- Shows auxiliary database info
SHOW BACKUP OPTIMIZATION; -- Shows if backup optimization is enabled
SHOW CHANNEL; -- Displays normal and auxiliary channel configuration
SHOW CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP; -- Indicates if control file autobackup is on
SHOW CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT; -- Shows control file autobackup format
SHOW DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES; -- Number of backup copies for datafiles
SHOW DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE; -- Disk or tape as default device
SHOW RETENTION POLICY; -- Displays configured retention policy
SHOW ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM; -- Displays current encryption algorithm
SHOW ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE/TABLESPACE; -- Shows encryption status
SHOW EXCLUDE; -- Tablespaces excluded from backup
SHOW MAXSETSIZE; -- Maximum size for a backup set
SHOW SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME; -- Path to snapshot control file
SHOW COMPRESSION ALGORITHM; -- Displays current compression algorithm

Backup Commands

BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE; -- Manual control file backup
BACKUP TABLESPACE USERS INCLUDE CURRENT CONTROLFILE; -- Backs up tablespace + control file
BACKUP SPFILE; -- Backs up server parameter file
BACKUP NOT BACKED UP SINCE TIME 'SYSDATE-1' DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG; -- Resumes interrupted backup
BACKUP DATABASE FORCE; -- Forces backup even if identical files exist
BACKUP DATABASE; -- Complete database backup
BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOGS; -- Backs up DB + all archived logs
BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL; -- Archives all logs
BACKUP DATAFILE 5 TAG dbfile_5_bkp; -- Backup a specific datafile with tag

Catalog Commands

CATALOG DATAFILECOPY '/u01/oracle/users.bkp'; -- Adds user-managed file to RMAN
CATALOG BACKUPPIECE 'ertt2lu4_1_1'; -- Adds specific backup piece to catalog
CATALOG START WITH '/backups/source_bkp' NOPROMPT; -- Catalogs directory backups
CATALOG RECOVERY AREA; -- Catalogs all files in recovery area

Report Commands

REPORT NEED BACKUP; -- Shows which files need backup
REPORT SCHEMA; -- Displays all datafiles
REPORT OBSOLETE; -- Shows obsolete backups based on retention policy

List Commands

LIST BACKUP; -- Lists all RMAN backups
LIST BACKUP BY FILE; -- Lists backup files individually
LIST BACKUPSET; -- Lists backup sets only
LIST COPY; -- Lists image copies only
LIST BACKUPSET TAG 'full_database_backup'; -- Lists backups by tag
LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE; -- Lists all DB + archived log backups
LIST INCARNATION; -- Shows all DB incarnations
LIST RESTORE POINT; -- Lists restore points

Crosscheck Commands

CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET; -- Crosscheck all backup sets
CROSSCHECK COPY OF DATABASE; -- Crosscheck all database copies
CROSSCHECK BACKUPSET 10, 12; -- Crosscheck specific backup sets
CROSSCHECK BACKUPPIECE TAG = 'monthly_backup'; -- Crosscheck by tag
CROSSCHECK CONTROLFILECOPY '/backups/control01.ctl'; -- Crosscheck control file copy
CROSSCHECK BACKUP OF DATAFILE '/u01/oracle/system01.dbf' COMPLETED AFTER 'SYSDATE-7'; -- Date-based crosscheck
CROSSCHECK BACKUP; -- Crosscheck all disk/tape backups

Delete Commands

DELETE BACKUP; -- Deletes archived logs + backups
DELETE COPY; -- Deletes all image copies
DELETE BACKUPPIECE 9; -- Deletes specific backup piece
DELETE COPY OF CONTROLFILE LIKE '/backups/%'; -- Deletes specific control file copies
DELETE BACKUP TAG='double_bkp_prod'; -- Deletes backups with specific tag
DELETE BACKUP OF TABLESPACE SYSAUX DEVICE TYPE SBT; -- Deletes SBT backup of SYSAUX

Change Commands

CHANGE BACKUPSET 6 UNAVAILABLE; -- Marks a backup set as unavailable
CHANGE BACKUPSET 6 AVAILABLE; -- Reverts status to available
CHANGE BACKUP TAG 'initial_db_bkup' KEEP FOREVER; -- Archives a backup permanently
CHANGE BACKUP TAG 'inital_db_backup' NOKEY; -- Reverts from archival to normal
CHANGE BACKUPSET 12 KEEP UNTIL TIME 'SYSDATE+60'; -- Retains for 60 more days

Validate Commands

VALIDATE BACKUPSET 5; -- Validates specific backup set
VALIDATE DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; -- Checks physical corruption
VALIDATE CHECK LOGICAL DATABASE ARCHIVELOG ALL; -- Checks logical corruption
VALIDATE DATABASE; -- Validates all datafiles
VALIDATE RECOVERY AREA; -- Validates recovery area
VALIDATE SPFILE; -- Validates SPFILE