Configuring RMAN to Make Backups to a Media Manager

Prerequisites for Using a Media Manager with RMAN

Before you can begin using RMAN with a media manager, you must install it and make sure that RMAN can communicate with it. Instructions for this procedure should be available in the media manager vendor's software documentation.

In general, you should begin by installing and configuring the media management software on the target host or production network. Ensure that you can make non-RMAN backups of operating system files on the target database host. This step makes later troubleshooting much easier, by confirming that the basic integration of the media manager with the target host has been successful. Refer to your media management documentation to learn how to back up files to the media manager outside of RMAN.

Then, obtain and install the third-party media management module for integration with the database server. This module contains the media management library that the Oracle database loads and uses when accessing the media manager. It is generally a third-party product which must be purchased separately. Contact your media management vendor for details.

Locating the Media Management Library: The SBT_LIBRARY Parameter

When allocating or configuring channels for RMAN to use to communicate with a media manager, specify the SBT_LIBRARY parameter to provide the path to the media management software library. When RMAN actually allocates channels to communicate with a media manager, it attempts to load the library indicated by the SBT_LIBRARY parameter.

If you do not provide a value for this parameter, RMAN looks in a platform-specific default location. On UNIX, the default library filename is $ORACLE_HOME/lib/libobk.so, with the extension name varying according to platform: .so, .sl, .a, and so forth. On Windows the default library location is %ORACLE_HOME%\bin\orasbt.dll.

If the database is unable to locate a media management library in the location specified by the SBT_LIBRARY parameter or the default location, then RMAN issues an ORA-27211 error and exits.

Whenever channel allocation fails, the database writes a trace file to the USER_DUMP_DEST directory. The following shows sample output:

SKGFQ OSD: Error in function sbtinit on line 2278
SKGFQ OSD: Look for SBT Trace messages in file /oracle/rdbms/log/sbtio.log
SBT Initialize failed for /oracle/lib/libobk.so

Testing Whether the Media Manager Library Is Integrated Correctly

After you have confirmed that the database server can load the media management library, test to make sure that RMAN can back up to the media manager. The process for testing the media management library is described in the following sections:

• Configuring Media Management Software for RMAN Backups

• Testing ALLOCATE CHANNEL on the Media Manager

• Testing a Backup to the Media Manager

PARMS='ENV=(NSR_DATA_VOLUME_POOL=oracle_tapes)'

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03009: failure of allocate command on c1 channel at 11/30/2001 13:57:18
ORA-19554: error allocating device, device type: SBT_TAPE, device name: 
ORA-27211: Failed to load Media Management Library
Additional information: 25

RUN
{
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt 
    PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/mediavendor/lib/libobk.so ENV=(NSR_SERVER=tape_srv,NSR_GROUP=oracle_tapes)';
  BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE;
}

Configuring SBT Channels for Use with a Media Manager

This section describes how to configure channels specifically for use with a media manager. For an overview of configured channels and how they are used, refer to the section "Configuring Channels". The following setup procedure references the sections in "Configuring Channels" where it is appropriate.

To configure channels for use with a media manager:

1. Configure a generic channel of DEVICE TYPE sbt as described in "Configuring Channel Settings for a Device Type". In the configuration enter all parameters that you tested in the section "Testing a Backup to the Media Manager". For example, assume that your media vendor requires PARMS settings as follows:

   RMAN> CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE sbt 
     PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/mediavendor/lib/libobk.so ENV=(NSR_SERVER=tape_svr,NSR_CLIENT=oracleclnt,NSR_GROUP=ora_tapes)' 
     FORMAT "BACKUP_%U";
   
   

2. After configuring the channel, test by backing up something small, such as the control file:

   RMAN> BACKUP DEVICE TYPE sbt CURRENT CONTROLFILE;
   
   

3. Check your configuration by running the following command:

   RMAN> SHOW CHANNEL FOR DEVICE TYPE sbt;
   
   

4. Configure the default device to sbt so that RMAN sends all backups to the media manager. For example:

   RMAN> CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO sbt;
   

1. After configuring the default device, make a test backup to determine whether it is really going to the media manager:

   RMAN> BACKUP CURRENT CONTROLFILE;
   

1. Check your configuration by running the following command:

   RMAN> SHOW DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE;
   
   

2. If you use more than one tape device, then you must specify the channel parallelism as described in "Configuring Channel Parallelism". Assume that you want to back up to your media manager using two tape drives in parallel. In this case, you can run the following commands:

   RMAN> CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE sbt PARALLELISM 2;       
   RMAN> BACKUP DATABASE;