Advanced Backup - Oracle RAC iDataAgent

Table of Contents

Related Topics

Full Backups

Incremental Backups

Cumulative Incremental Backups

Archive Log Backups

All Archive Logs

By Number of Days

Within a Specific Time Range

By Log Sequence Number

By System Change Number

By a Specific String Pattern

From a Specific Location

Logs Not Backed Up a Specified Number of Times

Deleting Archive Logs for a Specific Backup

Control File Backups

Command Line Backups

Running Backups using QCommands

Running RMAN Scripts from Third Party Command Line

Multi Stream Backups from Third Party Command Line

Previewing RMAN Scripts from CommCell Console

Customizing RMAN Scripts from CommCell Console

Scheduling Backups

Marking Backups with a Unique Identification Tag

For a Specific Backup

For All Backups

Enhancing Backup Performance

Validating Backups for Restore

Managing Jobs

Restarting Jobs

Controlling Jobs

Additional Options

Scheduling

Provides comprehensive information on scheduling jobs.

Job Management

Provides comprehensive information on managing jobs.

Command Line Interface

Provides comprehensive information on running jobs from the command line.

Full Backups

Full backups provide the most comprehensive protection of data.

Backups for any client start with a full backup. If the database is in NOARCHIVELOG mode, you should perform offline backup only.

You can perform a full backup of an online or offline database.

Use the following steps to run a full backup:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Select Full as the backup type and click Immediate.
  4. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.  When the backup job has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.
   Data that is backed up for any Oracle instance configured on the Oracle RAC node is lost if the configured Oracle instance is hard-deleted.

Incremental Backups

Incremental backups can be performed when the database is online.

The incremental backups will fail if the database is offline.

An incremental backup contains only data that is new or has changed since the last backup, regardless of the type. On average, incremental backups consume less media and use less resources than full backups. 

The illustration on the right clarifies the nature of full and incremental backups.

Follow steps given below to perform an incremental backup:
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Select Incremental as the backup type and click Immediate.
  4. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.  When the backup job has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

Cumulative Incremental Backups

In a cumulative level n backup, all the data changes since the most recent backup at level n-1 or lower are backed up.

For example, in a cumulative level 2 backup, data changes since the most recent level 1 backup are backed up. If no level 1 backup is available, data changes since the base level 0 backup are backed up.

Cumulative incremental backups reduce restore times because you need one incremental backup from any particular level. However, cumulative backups require more space and time because they duplicate the work done by previous backups at the same level.

By default, the incremental level for cumulative backups is 1.

Follow the steps below to perform a cumulative incremental backup:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Select Incremental as the backup type, and then type or select the incremental level in the Oracle Incremental Level box.
  4. Select the Cumulative check box and click Immediate.
  5. Click OK.

    You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.  When the backup job has completed, the Job Controller displays Completed.

Archive Log Backups

An archive log backup captures the archive redo logs generated during database transactions.

Archive log backups are useful when you want to recover database transactions that have been lost due to an operating system or disk failure. You can apply these archive logs to an online backup in order to recover a database.

By default full backups include both data and archive logs. However, you can also perform separate archive log backups.

In order to perform a backup of the archive logs:

All Archive Logs

Use the following steps to backup all archive logs. Note that this is the default option:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click All.
  2. Click OK.

By Number of Days

Use the following steps to backup archive logs older than a specified number of days.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click Older than n Days, and type or select the number of days older than which the archive logs are to be backed up.

    For example, to backup logs older than 10 days, type 10.

  2. Click OK.

Use the following steps to backup archive logs not older than a specified number of days.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click Not Older than n Days, and type or select the number of days not older than which the archive logs are to be backed up.

    For example, to backup logs not older than 10 days, type 10.

  2. Click OK.

Within a Specific Time Range

Use the following steps to backup archive logs between a specified time:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click By Log Time.
  2. In the Time Zone box, select the time zone.
  3. Select the Start Time check box and enter the start time after which the logs were generated.
  4. Select the End Time check box and enter the time before which the logs were generated.
  5. Click OK.

By Log Sequence Number

Log Sequence Number uniquely identifies an archive log. For example, if you create a database with two online log files, then the first file is assigned log sequence number 1. When the first file fills Oracle switches to the second file and assigns a log sequence number of 2; when it switches back to the first file, it assigns log sequence number 3, and so forth.

Use the following steps to backup archive logs within a specific range of log sequence numbers:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click By Log Seq Num.
  2. Select the Start Seq Num check box and enter the start sequence number of logs to be backed up.
  3. Select the End Seq Num check box and enter the end sequence number of logs to be backed up.
  4. Click OK.

By System Change Number

System Change Number (SCN) is a stamp that defines a committed version of a database at a point in time. Oracle assigns every committed transaction a unique SCN. For example, SCNs of two successive transactions committed could be 576601 and 576799.

Use the following steps to backup archive logs within a specific range of system change numbers:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click By Sys change Num, and then specify the Start Sys Change Num and End Sys Change Num.
  2. Click OK.

By a Specific String Pattern

Use the following steps to backup archive log files whose name match a specific naming pattern. Note that if you do not specify any pattern, all the logs from the specified destination will be backed up.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click Like, and then enter the desired string pattern in the text box.

    For example, to backup all archive logs whose names start with 'arch' type 'arch%.log'.

  2. Click OK.

From a Specific Location

Use the following steps to backup archive logs from a specific path or location. Note that the path or location specified at the backup level will override the archive log location defined at the subclient level.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Click Like.
  2. Select Select Archive Log Dest check box.
  3. Click Add to select the archive log location.
  4. Click OK.

Logs Not Backed Up a Specified Number of Times

Use the following steps to backup archive logs that have failed to backup a specified number of times earlier:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Backup Archive Logs tab.
  1. Select the Not Backed Up n times check box, and type or select the number so that the logs that meet the criteria 'Not Backed Up n times' are backed up.
  2. Click OK.

Deleting Archive Logs for a Specific Backup

Once the archive logs are backed up you can choose to delete them from the destination location. This can be done by configuring the subclient to delete archive logs soon after the backup. See Enabling Log Deletion After Backup for step-by-step instructions on enabling deletion of logs.
  Always ensure that the archive logs are backed up before they are deleted to prevent data loss.

However, you can also choose to delete the archive logs for a specific backup job. Moreover, you can also specify additional criteria to delete the archive logs.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Click the Delete Archive Logs tab.
  5. Select the Delete Archive Log check box.
  6. Click Yes on the warning dialog.
  7. Type confirm in the Enter Confirmation text Dialog, and then click OK.

  1. Specify the desired criteria for archive log deletion.

  1. Click OK.

Control File Backups

The control file contains metadata about the physical structure of the database including the location of all files, the current database state etc. Each control file is associated with only one database. The control file backups are used for creating standby databases from the CommCell Console. Standby databases are used during database recovery.

The subclients need to be configured prior to running control file backups; see Enable/ Disable Control File Backups for a Specific Subclient for step-by-step instructions.

Use the following steps to backup the control file:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for control file backup, and click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  1. Click the Oracle Options tab.
  2. Select the Backup Controlfile for Standby check box.
  3. Click OK.

Command Line Backups

In addition to using CommCell Console, you can also perform backups from the Command Line Interface.

Running Backups using QCommands

You can submit RMAN scripts from the Command Line Interface using QCommands. The RMAN scripts are submitted through argument files.

When you submit RMAN scripts using QCommands:

1. Create an argument file on the RAC client. Example: Argument file for full backup argfile.txt

[client]

machine1_cn

[dataagent]

Q_ORACLE

[instance]

orcl

[subclient]

default

[backuptype]

Q_FULL
2. From the command prompt, login to the CommServe using the qlogin command. Example: To log on to CommServe server1 with user name user1:

qlogin -cs server1 -u user1

Password:
3. Run the backup operation using qoperation backup. Example: To run a full backup on RAC client client1 using the parameter file argfile1.txt:

D:\>qoperation backup -af D:\argfile.txt

Running RMAN Scripts from Third Party Command Line

Backup operations can also be performed from the third-party command line using the RMAN utility.  The RMAN executable is located in the ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.

SBT Parameters

 

Parameter Name Description Example
[CvClientName]

 

 Name of the client defined in the CommCell Console. This parameter is optional. It is primarily used in a clustered environment. [CvClientName]
client_name
[CvInstanceName] Name of the Calypso instance installed.

This parameter is optional.

In cases of multiple instances of the software, the first installed instance would be 'Instance001'.

 [CvInstanceName]
Instance001
[CvOraSID] Name of the Oracle System ID (SID). This parameter is used during multi stream backups and also when the Oracle instance name is different from Oracle SID. [CVOraSID]
 DB1
[-hn] RAC control host name for the backup/restore job. [-hn]
dbserve10.mycompany.com
[CVOraRacDBName] Oracle RAC database name for the backup/restore job. [CVOraRacDBName]
asmdb
[CvOraRacDBClientName] Oracle RAC database client name for cross machine and/or duplicate database restore job. If you are restoring the database to a computer that is not part of the RAC pseudo client (cross machine restore), you need to define the environmental variable CVOraRacDBClientName to specify a client that is part of the RAC pseudo client. [CvOraRacDBClientName]
dbserve99

Use the following steps to run backups from the third-party command line:

1. Create an RMAN script file on the RAC client. Example: RMAN script file backup.txt
2. From the RMAN command prompt on the RAC client, add the environmental variables for the RAC client and instance on which the iDataAgent is installed. Example:

allocate channel ch1 type 'sbt_tape'

PARMS="ENV=(CvClientName=<client_name>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>, -hn=<hostname>)"
  On RAC clients for Unix, add the SBT_LIBRARY path. Example:

allocate channel ch1 type 'sbt_tape'

connect <sql_connect_string>

PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>/Base/libobk.so,

ENV=(CvClientName=<client_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>)"

 

The SBT_LIBRARY path for the various platforms are listed below:

  • AIX with 64 bit Oracle - <Client Agent Install Path>/Base64/libobk.a(shr.o)
  • HP UX PA RISC 64 bit Oracle - <Client Agent Install Path>/Base64/libobk.sl
  • Solaris with 64 bit Oracle -<Client Agent Install Path>/Base64/libobk.so
  • Linux on System Z with 64 bit Oracle - <Client Agent Install Path>/Base64/libobk.so
  • All Other Unix platforms -<Client Agent Install Path>/Base/libobk.so
3. Add the RMAN script for backup to the file backup.txt on the RAC client. Example: RMAN script file backup.txt

run {

allocate channel ch1 type 'sbt_tape'

PARMS="BLKSIZE=262144,

SBT_LIBRARY=/opt/calypso/Base/libobk.so,

ENV=(CvClientName=<client_name>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>)";

backup database;

release channel ch1;

}
4. Connect to the target database. rman target sys/sys@<databasename>
5. Execute the RMAN script. @backup.txt

Multi Stream Backups from Third Party Command Line

The Oracle RAC iDataAgent allows you to perform parallel backups across multiple RAC nodes as a matter of design. Unlike other agents, this agent requires just one subclient and one storage policy per type used (i.e., data, log) along with the requisite number of allocated streams to perform parallel backups. As such, you can load-balance your backups across all or selected nodes of your RAC database and thereby take advantage of the strengths of each node.

Oracle third party command line operations running on multiple streams will share the same Job ID in the Job Manager. If all the streams return failure, then the job is marked as failed. However, if one of the streams fail, it is submitted to the other stream for completion.

Use the following steps to run multi stream backups from the third party command line:

1. From the RMAN command prompt on the RAC client, set the number of automatic channels for a specific device type.

Note that to utilize the PARALLELISM option, set the initial parameter in pfile or spfile. Eg., BACKUP_TAPE_IO_SLAVES=TRUE

 In the below example, RMAN allocates two channels for the device type when using automatic channels.

CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE 'SBT_TAPE' PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO BACKUPSET;
2. If you are using the OEM application with multiple channels, include the RMAN settings in the Oracle Enterprise Manager. Example:

Unix:

SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>

/Base64/libobk.so,

BLKSIZE=262144,ENV=(

CvClientName=<rac_client_name>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>)

 

Windows:

ENV=(CvClientName=<

CvClientName=<rac_client_name>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>,

BLKSIZE=262144)
3. Create RMAN script file to run the backup operation with a single job ID, and save it in the desired <location_path>/<file_name>. For example, D:\backup1.txt.

When creating the RMAN script, the CvClientName and CvOraSID parameters can be used optionally for backup jobs.

If you use both the RMAN PARALLELISM configure parameter and set multiple streams from RMAN script, the backup job will utilize double the number of streams. For example, if PARALLELISM is set to 2 and 2 streams are set from RMAN script, the backup job will utilize 4 streams.

RMAN script to run backup using two channels for node 1 and two channels for node 2.

run

{allocate channel ch1 type 'sbt_tape'

PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>

/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,

ENV=(CvClientName=<rac_client_name1>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>)";

 

allocate channel ch2 type 'sbt_tape'

PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>

/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,

ENV=(CvClientName=<rac_client_name1>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>)";

 

allocate channel ch3 type 'sbt_tape'

connect <connect_string>

PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>

/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,

ENV=(CvClientName=<rac_client_name2>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>)";

 

allocate channel ch4 type 'sbt_tape'

connect <connect_string>

PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=<software_install_path>

/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,

ENV=(CvClientName=<rac_client_name2>,

CVOraRacDBName=<rac_database_name>,

CvInstanceName=<instance_name>,

-hn=<host_name>)";

 

setlimit channel ch1 maxopenfiles 8;

setlimit channel ch2 maxopenfiles 8;

backup

incremental level = 0

filesperset = 8

database include current controlfile;

}

 Example:

rman target sys/sys@racdb5 << EOF

run {

allocate channel ch1 type 'sbt_tape'PARMS=

"SBT_LIBRARY=/oracle/calypso/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,ENV=(CvClientName=rac1,CVOraRacDBName=racdb,CvInstanceName=Instance001,-hn=rac1.devemc.Bull Calypso.com)";

allocate channel ch2 type 'sbt_tape'PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/oracle/calypso/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,ENV=
(CvClientName=rac1,CVOraRacDBName=racdb,CvInstanceName=Instance001,-hn=rac1.devemc.Bull Calypso.com)";

allocate channel ch3 type 'sbt_tape' connect sys/sys@racdb6PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/oracle/calypso/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,ENV=
(CvClientName=rac2,CVOraRacDBName=racdb,CvInstanceName=Instance001,-hn=rac1.devemc.Bull Calypso.com)";

allocate channel ch4 type 'sbt_tape' connect sys/sys@racdb6PARMS="SBT_LIBRARY=/oracle/calypso/Base/libobk.so,BLKSIZE=262144,ENV=
(CvClientName=rac2,CVOraRacDBName=racdb,CvInstanceName=Instance001,-hn=rac1.devemc.Bull Calypso.com)";

setlimit channel ch1 maxopenfiles 8;

setlimit channel ch2 maxopenfiles 8;

backup

incremental level = 0

filesperset = 8

database

include current controlfile;

}

EOF
4. Connect to the target database. rman target sys/sys@<databasename>
5. Navigate to the saved location and execute the RMAN script. @<file_path>backup1.txt

Previewing RMAN Scripts from CommCell Console

Prior to running a backup operation from the CommCell Console, you can preview the corresponding RMAN script for the backup job. This is useful to determine whether the selected backup options will yield the desired result in the script. You can also manually copy and save the generated RMAN script to your computer and later execute the script from the command line.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Click Script Preview.
  4. Click OK.

Customizing RMAN Scripts from CommCell Console

In addition to previewing the RMAN script, you can also modify the script from the CommCell Console. This is useful when you want to include the RMAN commands that are not supported by the software.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> configured for archive log backup, and then click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  1. Click the Custom rman script tab.
  2. Select the Customize script check box.
  3. Edit the RMAN script as required, and then click OK.

Scheduling Backups

Follow the steps given below to schedule a backup:

Follow the steps given below to schedule a backup:
1..
  • From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  • Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
2.
  • Select the Backup type.
  • Click Schedule to schedule the backup for a specific time.
  • Click Configure to set the schedule for the backup job. The Schedule Details dialog displays.
3. Select the appropriate scheduling options.  For example:
  • Click Weekly.
  • Check the days you want the run the backup job.
  • Change the Start Time to 9:00 PM.
  • Click OK to close the Schedule Details dialog.
  • Click OK to close the Backup Options dialog.

The backup job will execute as per the schedule.

Marking Backups with a Unique Identification Tag

You can configure tags for backups to uniquely identify a particular backup copy. These tags can be used later during restore operation to restore from a specific backup. Note that the tag defined at the backup job level will override the tag defined at the subclient level.

For a Specific Backup

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  1. Click the Oracle Options tab.
  2. In the Oracle Tag box, type the tag name.

    For Example, weekly_backup.

  3. Click OK.

For All Backups

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient>, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Backup Arguments tab.
  4. In the Oracle Tag box, type the tag name.
  5. Click OK.

Enhancing Backup Performance

Backup performance can be increased by setting the RMAN Disk Ratio value for distributing the backup load across disks. By default, the RMAN disk ratio is not set.

For example, consider data files distributed across 10 disks that supply data at 10 bytes/second and a tape drive that needs 40 bytes/second to keep streaming. In this case, you can set the disk ratio value to 4, which will direct RMAN to include data files from 4 disks in each backup set.

Backup performance can also be enhanced by setting additional configurations at the subclient level. See Enhancing Backup Performance for more details.

Use the following steps to set the RMAN disk ratio:
  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient> and click Backup.
  3. Click Advanced.
  1. Click the Oracle Options tab.
  2. Select the Enable Rman Disk Ratio check box.
  3. Type the number of disks in the Rman Disk Ratio box.
  4. Click OK.

Validating Backups for Restore

You can validate previously run backups to ensure the integrity of the data for successful restores.

Use the following steps to validate the backup jobs of a subclient:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the <Subclient>, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Backup Arguments tab, and then click the Options tab.
  4. Select the Validate check box.
  5. Click OK.

Managing Jobs

Jobs can be managed in a number of ways. The following sections provide information on the different job management options available:

Restarting Jobs

Jobs that fail to complete successfully are automatically restarted based on the job restartability configuration set in the Control Panel. Keep in mind that changes made to this configuration will affect all jobs in the entire CommCell.

To Configure the job restartability for a specific job, you can modify the retry settings for the job. This will override the setting in the Control Panel. It is also possible to override the default CommServe configuration for individual jobs by configuring retry settings when initiating the job. This configuration, however, will apply only to the specific job.

Backup jobs for this Agent are resumed from the point-of-failure.

Configure Job Restartability at the CommServe Level

  1. From the CommCell Browser, click Control Panel icon.
  2. Select Job Management.
  3. Click Job Restarts tab and select a Job Type.
    • Select Restartable to make the job restartable.
    • Change the value for Max Restarts to change the maximum number of times the Job Manager will try to restart a job.
    • Change the value for Restart Interval (Mins) to change the time interval between attempts for the Job Manager to restart the job.
  4. Click OK.

Configure Job Restartability for an Individual Job

  1. From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  2. Right-click the Subclient and select Backup.
  1. Click Advanced.
  2. In the Advanced Backup Options dialog box, click the Job Retry tab.
  3. Select Enable Total Running Time and specify the maximum elapsed time before a job can be restarted or killed.

    Select Kill Running Jobs When Total Running Time Expires to kill the job after reaching the maximum elapsed time.

  4. Select Enable Number Of Retries and specify the number of retries.
  5. Click OK.

Controlling Jobs

The following controls are available for running jobs in the Job Controller window:

Suspend

 Temporarily stops a job. A suspended job is not terminated; it can be restarted at a later time.

Resume

 Resumes a job and returns the status to Waiting, Pending, Queued, or Running. The status depends on the availability of resources, the state of the Operation Windows, or the Activity Control setting.

Kill

 Terminates a job.

Suspending a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Suspend.
  2. The job status may change to Suspend Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. The job status then changes to Suspended.

Resuming a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Resume.
  2. As the Job Manager attempts to restart the job, the job status changes to Waiting, Pending, or Running.

Killing a Job

  1. From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and select Kill.
  2. Click Yes when the confirmation prompt appears if you are sure you want to kill the job. The job status may change to Kill Pending for a few moments while the operation completes. Once completed, the job status will change to Killed and it will be removed from the Job Controller window after five minutes.

Additional Options

The following table describes the available additional options to further refine your backup operations:

Option Description Related topics
Startup Options

The Startup Options are used by the Job Manager to set priority for resource allocation. This is useful to give higher priority to certain jobs. You can set the priority as follows:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and click Startup tab.
  3. Select the Change Priority checkbox.
  4. Enter a priority number - 0 is the highest priority and 999 is the lowest priority.
  5. Select the Start up in suspended State check box to start the job in a suspended state.
  6. Click OK.
 Refer to Job Priority and Priority Precedence.
Alerts

This option enables users or user groups to get automatic notification on the status of the data protection job. Follow the steps given below to set up the criteria to raise notifications/alerts:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Alert tab.
  3. Click Add Alert.
  4. From the Add Alert Wizard dialog box, select the required threshold and notification criteria and click Next.
  5. Select the required notification types and click Next.
  6. Select the recipients and click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Click OK.
 Refer to Alerts.
Vault Tracker

This feature provides the facility to manage media that is removed from a library and stored in offsite locations. Depending on your VaultTracker setup, select the required options. Use the following steps to access and select the VaultTracker options.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the VaultTracking tab.
  3. Select the required options.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to VaultTracker  or  VaultTracker Enterprise.
Extended Data Retention

This option allows you to extend the expiration date of a specific job. This will override the default retention set at the corresponding storage policy copy. Follow the steps given below to extend the expiration date:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select one of the following options:
    • Infinite - Select this option to extend the expiration date by infinite number of days
    • Number of day - Select this option to specify the number of days to extend the expiration date and then enter the number of days.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Extended Retention Rules.
Allow Other Schedules to Use Media Set

The Allow Other Schedules to use Media Set option allows jobs that are part of the schedule or schedule policy and using the specific storage policy to start a new media. It also prevents other jobs from writing to the same set of media.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select the Allow Other Schedules To Use Media Set check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Creating an Exportable Media Set.
Mark Media Full

This option marks the media as full, two minutes after the successful completion of the data protection job. This option prevents another job from writing to this media. Follow the steps given below:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select Media tab.
  3. Select the Mark Media Full on Success check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Start New Media.
Start New Media

The Start New Media option enables you to start the data protection operation on a new media. This feature provides control over where the data physically resides. Use the following steps to start the data protection operation on a new media:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Media tab.
  3. Select the Start New Media check box.
  4. Click OK.
 Refer to Start New Media.
Data Path Options

Data Protection operations use a default Library, MediaAgent, Drive Pool, and Drive as the Data Path. You can use this option to change the data path if the default data path is not available. Follow the steps given below to change the default data path:

  1. From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | <Instance>.
  1. Right-click the Subclient in the right pane and click Backup.
  2. Click Advanced and select the Data Path tab.
  3. Select the MediaAgent and Library.
  4. Select the Drive Pool and Drive for optical and tape libraries.
  5. Click OK.
 Refer Change Data Path.
CommCell Readiness Report The CommCell Readiness Report provides you with vital information, such as connectivity and readiness of the Client, MediaAgent and CommServe. It is useful to run this report before performing the data protection or recovery job. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | CommServe | CommCell Readiness.
  3. Click the Client tab and click the Modify button.
  4. In the Select Computers dialog box, clear the Include All Client Computers and All Client Groups check box.
  5. Select the client from the Exclude list.
  6. Click the Include > button.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click the MediaAgent tab.
  9. Clear the Include All MediaAgents checkbox.
  10. Select the MediaAgent from the Exclude list.
  11. Click Include >.
  12. Click Run.

    The generated report is displayed.

Refer to CommCell Readiness Report.
Backup Job Summary Report The Backup Job Summary Report provides you with information about all the backup jobs that are run in last 24 hrs for a specific subclient. You can get information such as status, time, data size etc. for each backup job. It is useful to run this report after performing the backup. Follow the steps given below to generate the report:
  1. From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
  2. Navigate to Reports | Jobs | Job Summary.
  3. Click Data Management on the General tab in the right pane.
  4. Select the Computers tab.
  5. Click Subclient and select the Edit tab.
  6. Navigate to Client Computers | <RAC Client> | File System | <BackupSet> | <Subclient>.
  7. Click Run.
 Refer to Backup Job Summary Report.