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Oracle® Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide
10g Release 2 (10.2)

Part Number B14191-01
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Interpreting RMAN Message Output

Recovery Manager provides detailed error messages that can aid in troubleshooting problems. Also, the Oracle database server and third-party media vendors generate useful debugging output of their own. The discussion which follows explains how to identify and interpret the different errors you may encounter.

Identifying Types of Message Output

Output that is useful for troubleshooting failed or hung RMAN jobs is located in several different places, as explained in the following table.

Type of Output Produced By Location Description
RMAN messages RMAN Completed job information is in V$RMAN_STATUS and RC_RMAN_STATUS. Current job information is in V$RMAN_OUTPUT.

When running RMAN from the command line, you can direct output to the following places:

  • Standard output

  • A log file specified by LOG on the command line or the SPOOL LOG command

  • A file created by redirecting RMAN output (for example, UNIX > operator)

Contains actions relevant to the RMAN job as well as error messages generated by RMAN, the database server, and the media vendor. RMAN error messages have an RMAN-xxxxx prefix. Normal action descriptions do not have a prefix.
alert_SID.log Oracle database server The directory named in the BACKGROUND_DUMP_DEST initialization parameter. Contains a chronological log of errors, initialization parameter settings, and administration operations. Records values for overwritten control file records (refer to Oracle Data Guard Concepts and Administration).
Oracle trace file Oracle database server The directory specified in the USER_DUMP_DEST initialization parameter. Contains detailed output generated by Oracle server processes. This file is created when an ORA-600 or ORA-3113 error message occurs, whenever RMAN cannot allocate a channel, and when the database fails to load the media management library.
sbtio.log Third-party media management software The directory specified in the USER_DUMP_DEST initialization parameter. Contains vendor-specific information written by the media management software. This log does not contain Oracle server or RMAN errors.
Media manager log file Third-party media management software The filenames for any media manager logs other than sbtio.log are determined by the media management software. Contains information on the functioning of the media management device.

Recognizing RMAN Error Message Stacks

RMAN reports errors as they occur. If an error is not retriable, that is, RMAN cannot perform failover to another channel to complete a particular job step, then RMAN also reports a summary of the errors after all job sets complete. This feature is known as deferred error reporting.

One way to determine whether RMAN encountered an error is to examine its return code, as described in "Identifying RMAN Return Codes". A second way is to search the RMAN output for the string RMAN-00569, which is the message number for the error stack banner. All RMAN errors are preceded by this error message. If you do not see an RMAN-00569 message in the output, then there are no errors. Following is sample output for a syntax error:

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00558: error encountered while parsing input commands
RMAN-01005: syntax error: found ")": expecting one of: "archivelog, backup, backupset, controlfilecopy, current, database, datafile, datafilecopy, (, plus, ;, tablespace"
RMAN-01007: at line 1 column 18 file: standard input

Identifying Error Codes

Typically, you find the following types of error codes in RMAN message stacks:

  • Errors prefixed with RMAN-

  • Errors prefixed with ORA-

  • Errors preceded by the line Additional information:


    See Also:

    Oracle Database Error Messages for explanations of RMAN and ORA error codes

RMAN Error Message Numbers

Table 12-1 indicates the error ranges for common RMAN error messages, all of which are described in Oracle Database Error Messages.

Table 12-1 RMAN Error Message Ranges

Error Range Cause
0550-0999 Command-line interpreter
1000-1999 Keyword analyzer
2000-2999 Syntax analyzer
3000-3999 Main layer
4000-4999 Services layer
5000-5499 Compilation of RESTORE or RECOVER command
5500-5999 Compilation of DUPLICATE command
6000-6999 General compilation
7000-7999 General execution
8000-8999 PL/SQL programs
9000-9999 Low-level keyword analyzer
10000-10999 Server-side execution
11000-11999 Interphase errors between PL/SQL and RMAN
12000-12999 Recovery catalog packages

ORA-19511: Media Manager Errors

In the event of a media manager error, ORA-19511 is signalled, and the media manager is expected to provide RMAN a descriptive error. RMAN will display the error passed back to it by the media manager. For example, you might see this:

ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text:
   sbtpvt_open_input: file .* does not exist or cannot be accessed, errno = 2

The message from the media manager should provide you with enough information to let you fix the root problem. If it does not, you should refer to the documentation for your media manager or contact your media management vendor support representative for further information. ORA-19511 errors originate with the media manager, not the Oracle database. The database merely passes the message on from the media manager. The cause can only be addressed by the media management vendor.

Note that if you are still using an SBT 1.1-compliant media management layer, you may see some additional error message text. Output from an SBT 1.1-compliant media management layer is similar to the following:

ORA-19507: failed to retrieve sequential file, handle="c-140148591-20031014-06", parms=""
ORA-27007: failed to open file
Additional information: 7000
Additional information: 2
ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text:
   SBT error = 7000, errno = 0, sbtopen: backup file not found

The "Additional information" provided uses error codes specific to SBT 1.1. The values displayed correspond to the media manager message numbers and error text listed in Table 12-2. RMAN re-signals the error, as an ORA-19511 Error received from media manager layer error, and a general error message related to the error code returned from the media manager and including the SBT 1.1 error number is then displayed.

The SBT 1.1 error messages are listed here for your reference. Table 12-2 lists media manager message numbers and their corresponding error text. In the error codes, O/S stands for operating system. The errors prefixed with an asterisk are internal and should not typically be seen during normal operation.

Table 12-2 Media Manager Error Message Ranges

Cause No. Message
sbtopen 7000

7001

7002*

7003

7004

7005

7006

7007

7008

7009

7010

7011

7012*

Backup file not found (only returned for read)

File exists (only returned for write)

Bad mode specified

Invalid block size specified

No tape device found

Device found, but busy; try again later

Tape volume not found

Tape volume is in-use

I/O Error

Can't connect with Media Manager

Permission denied

O/S error for example malloc, fork error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtopen

sbtclose 7020*

7021*

7022

7023

7024*

7025

Invalid file handle or file not open

Invalid flags to sbtclose

I/O error

O/S error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtclose

Can't connect with Media Manager

sbtwrite 7040*

7041

7042

7043

7044*

Invalid file handle or file not open

End of volume reached

I/O error

O/S error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtwrite

sbtread 7060*

7061

7062

7063

7064

7065*

Invalid file handle or file not open

EOF encountered

End of volume reached

I/O error

O/S error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtread

sbtremove 7080

7081

7082

7083

7084

7085

7086*

Backup file not found

Backup file in use

I/O Error

Can't connect with Media Manager

Permission denied

O/S error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtremove

sbtinfo 7090

7091

7092

7093

7094

7095*

Backup file not found

I/O Error

Can't connect with Media Manager

Permission denied

O/S error

Invalid argument(s) to sbtinfo

sbtinit 7110*

7111

Invalid argument(s) to sbtinit

O/S error


Interpreting RMAN Error Stacks

Sometimes you may find it difficult to identify the useful messages in the RMAN error stack. Note the following tips and suggestions:

  • Read the messages from the bottom up, because this is the order in which RMAN issues the messages. The last one or two errors displayed in the stack are often the most informative.

  • When using an SBT 1.1 media management layer and presented with SBT 1.1 style error messages containing the "Additional information:" numeric error codes, look for the ORA-19511 message that follows for the text of error messages passed back to RMAN by the media manager. These should identify the real failure in the media management layer.

  • Look for the RMAN-03002 or RMAN-03009 message (RMAN-03009 is the same as RMAN-03002 but includes the channel ID), immediately following the error banner. These messages indicate which command failed. Syntax errors generate RMAN-00558.

  • Identify the basic type of error according to the error range chart in Table 12-1 and then refer to Oracle Database Error Messages for information on the most important messages.

Interpreting RMAN Errors: Example

You attempt a backup of tablespace users and receive the following message:

Starting backup at 29-AUG-02
using channel ORA_DISK_1
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of backup command at 08/29/2002 15:14:03
RMAN-20202: tablespace not found in the recovery catalog
RMAN-06019: could not translate tablespace name "USESR"

The RMAN-03002 error indicates that the BACKUP command failed. You read the last two messages in the stack first and immediately see the problem: no tablespace usesr appears in the recovery catalog because you mistyped the name.

Interpreting Server Errors: Example

Assume that you attempt to recover a tablespace and receive the following errors:

RMAN> RECOVER TABLESPACE users;

Starting recover at 29-AUG-01
using channel ORA_DISK_1

starting media recovery
media recovery failed
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of recover command at 08/29/2001 15:18:43
RMAN-11003: failure during parse/execution of SQL statement: alter database recover if needed tablespace USERS
ORA-00283: recovery session canceled due to errors
ORA-01124: cannot recover data file 8 - file is in use or recovery
ORA-01110: data file 8: '/oracle/oradata/trgt/users01.dbf'

As suggested, you start reading from the bottom up. The ORA-01110 message explains there was a problem with the recovery of datafile users01.dbf. The second error indicates that the database cannot recover the datafile because it is in use or already being recovered. The remaining RMAN errors indicate that the recovery session was cancelled due to the server errors. Hence, you conclude that because you were not already recovering this datafile, the problem must be that the datafile is online and you need to take it offline and restore a backup.

Interpreting SBT 2.0 Media Management Errors: Example

Assume that you use a tape drive and receive the following output during a backup job:

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
ORA-19624: operation failed, retry possible
ORA-19507: failed to retrieve sequential file, handle="/tmp/foo", parms=""
ORA-27029: skgfrtrv: sbtrestore returned error
ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text:
  sbtpvt_open_input:file /tmp/foo does not exist or cannot be accessed, errno=2

The error text displayed following the ORA-19511 error is generated by the media manager and describes the real source of the failure. Refer to the media manager documentation to interpret this error.

Interpreting SBT 1.1 Media Management Errors: Example

Assume that you use a tape drive and receive the following output during a backup job:

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03009: failure of backup command on c1 channel at 09/04/2001 13:18:19
ORA-19506: failed to create sequential file, name="07d36ecp_1_1", parms=""
ORA-27007: failed to open file
SVR4 Error: 2: No such file or directory
Additional information: 7005
Additional information: 1
ORA-19511: Error received from media manager layer, error text:
   SBT error = 7005, errno = 2, sbtopen: system error

The main information of interest returned by SBT 1.1 media managers is the error code in the "Additional information" line:

Additional information: 7005

Referring to Table 12-2, "Media Manager Error Message Ranges", you discover that error 7005 means that the media management device is busy. So, the media management software is not able to write to the device because it is in use or there is a problem with it.


Note:

The sbtio.log contains information written by the media management software, not the Oracle database server. Hence, you must consult your media vendor documentation to interpret the error codes and messages. If no information is written to the sbtio.log, contact your media manager support to ask whether they are writing error messages in some other location, or whether there are steps you need to take to have the media manager errors appear in sbtio.log.

Identifying RMAN Return Codes

One way to determine whether RMAN encountered an error is to examine its return code or exit status. The RMAN client returns 0 to the shell from which it was invoked if no errors occurred, and a nonzero error value otherwise.

How you access this return code depends upon the environment from which you invoked the RMAN client. For example, if you are running UNIX with the C shell, then, when RMAN completes, the return code is placed in a shell variable called $status. The method of returning exit status is a detail specific to the host operating system rather than the RMAN client.