Advanced - SAP for Oracle Configuration

When defining your subclient for various backup operations, you need to choose the SAP interface to be used for the backup. You can use the following SAP backup interfaces for SAP for Oracle iDataAgent:

RMAN_UTIL

The Rman_util interface is used when you need to perform an incremental backup of the online database. When you select this option, you actually allow the Oracle RMAN utility to control the backup operation.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Click Content tab.
Select Rman_util to perform incremental backup of online database.
Click OK to save your settings.

util_file

The util_file interface is used when you need to perform a full backup of the SAP for Oracle data files as File System data. When selecting this option for online backup, the Oracle database is locked till the full backup operation is completed.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Click Content tab.
Select util_file to perform a full backup of SAP for Oracle data.
Click OK to save your settings.

util_file_online

The util_file_online interface is similar to the util_file interface. you can use this interface to perform a full or selective online full backup operations. When selecting this option for online backup, the Oracle database locks each table space that is being backed up and releases it once that table space backup is completed.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Subclient and click Properties.
Click Content tab.
Select util_file_online to perform a full or selective online backup operations.
Click OK to save your settings.

Optimizing Performance

In order to recover a database during the event of a failure or data loss, you need to ensure that you always have the latest and consistent copy of the SAP for Oracle database data. To do this, you need to plan and decide on the backups to be performed. It is always recommended that you create separate subclients for each of these backups.

Although you can re-configure the content of the Default Subclient to backup specific objects, we strongly recommend against it because this would disable the capability of the Default Subclient to serve as a catch-all entity for client data, thus increasing the likelihood that some data will not get backed up.

Make sure that the database used for creating the subclient is up and running. This ensures that the system accesses the most recent configuration of the database.

Creating subclient for Offline Backups

During an offline backup, the database is shutdown and is not available for use. Since incremental backups require access to various tablespaces and datafiles, it is always recommended that you perform a full backup of the database when it is offline. The full backup includes all the datafiles, tablespaces, and control file of the SAP for Oracle database. Note that, offline backups do not include the archived log files.

Offline backups can be performed when the database is in offline or online mode. If the database is online, it shuts down the database, performs the backup and then brings up the database back.

In order to backup the Oracle database when it is offline, you need to create a separate user-defined subclient for offline backup.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Instance and navigate to All Tasks | New Subclient.
Click General tab and type the name (up to 32 characters) of the subclient.
Click the Content tab and select the following options:
- Data - Specifies that data files will be backed up.
- Offline Database - Establishes the backup as an offline database backup.
Select the backup interface for offline backup.

Select Rman_util if you need to perform an incremental backup of the data.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click OK to save the subclient configuration.

Creating Subclient for online Backups

In some environments, it may not be possible to bring down the entire database to perform an offline backup. In such situations, you can choose online backups, where the database will be up and running during the backup.

You can perform either a full backup or incremental backup of the Oracle database when it is online. Since full backups includes all the datafiles, tab spaces and logs, it is very time consuming, hence you can plan for a full online backup less frequently (say, on weekly basis). On the other hand, incremental backups includes the data and logs that has been changed after the last full backup, they are faster and can be performed more frequently (say, on a daily basis). However, if you require to include the logs for the backups, ensure that the database is in ARCHIVELOG mode.

Incremental backups do not require database downtime and hence are extremely useful when you need to perform a point-in-time restore of the Oracle database.

Creating Subclient to backup Online Databases

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Instance. Navigate to All Tasks | New Subclient.
Click General tab and type the name (up to 32 characters) of the subclient.
Click the Content tab and select the following options:
- Data - Specifies that data files will be backed up.
- Online Database - Establishes the backup an online database backup.
Select the backup interface for online backup.

Select Rman_util if you need to perform an incremental backup of the data.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click OK to save the subclient configuration.

Creating Subclient to Backup Individual DataFiles/Tablespaces

You need to create a separate subclient that includes the datafiles for backing up a subset of the Oracle online database, which undergoes changes frequently and perform a full or incremental backup on that subclient at frequent intervals.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Instance. Navigate to All Tasks | New Subclient.
Click the General tab and type the name (up to 32 characters) of the subclient.
Click the Content tab and select the following options:
- Data - Specifies that data files will be backed up.
- Online Subset - Establishes the backup of a subset of database objects. The database tree displays the subsets that are available in the database. Click the objects in the tree to include the subset objects for the subclient.
Select the backup interface for the backup of individual datafiles/ Tablespaces.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click OK to save the subclient configuration.

Creating Subclient for Selective Online Full Backups

You can perform a Selective Online Full backup, wherein the backup data is copied to a selective copy (during an auxiliary copy operation) from which it can be restored.

The advantage of this type of backup is that both data and logs use the same storage policy, which means that they reside together on the same media. They are completely self-contained for restore and long term archiving purposes. Also, the data aging rules for selective online full backups are different from regular full backups, as both data and logs are aged together under the same storage policy.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Instance. Navigate to All Tasks | New Subclient.
Click the General tab and type the name (up to 32 characters) of the subclient.
Click the Content tab and select the Selective Online Full.
Select util_file_online as SAP interface for online backup.
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a separate Storage Policy is selected for Selective Online Full backups.
Click OK to save the subclient configuration.

Creating Subclient for Log Backups

Archive logs are required 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.

Though online full backups can include both data and logs, because of their importance in recovering data, it is recommended that you create separate subclients for backing up archive log files.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the Instance. Navigate to All Tasks | New Subclient.
Click the General tab and type the name (up to 32 characters) of the subclient.
Click the Content tab and select the Backup Archive Log option. The archived redo log files will be backed up when you enable this option. These logs can be applied to the database in order to recover it to a point-in-time.
Select util_file or util_file_online as SAP interfaces:
Click Storage Device tab. Ensure that a Storage Policy is selected.
Click OK to save the subclient configuration.

Registering the Client with SAP SLD

Once installed, you may register the client iDataAgent software in the SAP Software Landscape Directory (SLD) as recommended by SAP.

This is an optional procedure that can be run on any SAP for Oracle client and can be used to register any other client if needed.

Create an XML File using the backint program.

On UNIX the backint program needs to be run as a root user and in the <iDataAgent> directory.

On Windows, the backint program needs to be run from a command prompt in the base directory as the domain administrator.

This creates an xml file racer_oracle.xml in the same directory.

backint <-f createsldxml> <short_client_name> <oracle>

Example:

backint -f createsldxml racer oracle

Make sure that the Java JRE version 1.5 and above is accessible.

# java -version

java version "1.5.0_21"

Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment,

Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_21-b01)

Java HotSpot(TM)

64-Bit Server VM (build 1.5.0_21-b01, mixed mode)

Run the adjacent command.
A return code of 200 implies a successful registration of SAP for Oracle client racer in the SLD.

java -cp sldreg.jar sldreg <SLD_HOST_NAME> <PORT_NUMBER> <USER_NAME> <PASSWORD> <XML_FILE>

Example:

# java -cp sldreg.jar sldreg 155.56.49.26 80 3rd_party isvconnect08 racer_oracle.xml

Retcode:200

Command Line Operations

You can add, modify, or delete several configurable properties for the SAP for Oracle iDataAgent from the command line interface.

Command line configuration enables you to:

configure the same properties across multiple clients simultaneously.
reuse the same configurations for additional entities.

The following sections describe the available command line configurations:

Log on to the Commserve

To run command line operations you must first login to the CommServe as follows:

From Command prompt, navigate to <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base and run the following command:
qlogin -cs <commserve name> -u <user name>
For example, to log on to CommServe 'server1' with username 'user1':
qlogin -cs server1 -u user1

Configure Instances

Get Instance Properties

Download the GetInstance_Properties_Template.xml file and save it on the computer from where the command will be executed.
Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execute -af GetInstance_Properties_Template.xml -instanceName xxxxx -clientName xxxxx

Create an Instance

Download the CreateInstance_Template.xml file and save it on the computer from where the command will be executed.
Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execute -af CreateInstance_Template.xml -instanceName xxxxx -clientName xxxxx

Modify an Instance

Download the ModifyInstance_Template.xml file and save it on the computer from where the command will be executed.
Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execute -af ModifyInstance_Template.xml -instanceName xxxxx -clientName xxxxx

Configure Subclients

Creating SAP Oracle Selective Online Full Subclient

Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execscript -sn QS_CreateSAPOracleSubclient.sql -si client1 -si instance1 -si sp1 -si AUTO
Enable the Selective Online Full option for Subclient
qoperation execscript -sn SetSubClientProperty.sql -si 'c=client1' -si 'a=Q_SAP_ORADB' -si 'i=instance1' -si 'b=default' -si 's=AUTO' -si 'Oracle Online Selective Full' -si '1' -si '2'

Creating SAP Oracle Offline Subclient

Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execscript -sn QS_CreateSAPOracleSubclient.sql -si client1 -si instance1 -si sp1 -si AUTO
Enable the offline option for Subclient
qoperation execscript -sn SetSubClientProperty.sql -si 'c=client1' -si 'a=Q_SAP_ORADB' -si 'i=instance1' -si 'b=default' -si 's=AUTO' -si 'Oracle Backup Mode' -si '2'

Creating Log Only Subclient

Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execscript -sn QS_CreateSAPOracleSubclient.sql -si client1 -si instance1 -si sp1 -si AUTO
Disable the Data option for Subclient
qoperation execscript -sn SetSubClientProperty.sql -si 'c=client1' -si 'a=Q_SAP_ORADB' -si 'i=instance1' -si 'b=default' -si 's=AUTO' -si 'Oracle Backup Mode' -si '1' �si �2�
Disable the Delete Archive Log option
qoperation execscript -sn SetSubClientProperty.sql -si 'c=client1' -si 'a=Q_SAP_ORADB' -si 'i=instance1' -si 'b=default' -si 's=AUTO' -si 'Archive Log Deleting' -si '0' -si '2�

List Schedule Policy Association

Download the sched_policy_association_template.xml file and save it on the computer from where the command will be executed.
Execute the following command from the <Software_Installation_Directory>/Base folder after substituting the parameter values.
qoperation execute �af sched_policy_association_template.xml �taskName mypolicy

Parameter	Description of Parameter Values
taskName	Name of the Schedule Policy to be associated.

Modifying an Instance or Subclient

Certain properties of Agents, Instances, and Subclients can be modified to accommodate changes to your configuration, data, or desired backup behavior.

It is recommended that that you do not modify the properties of an instance or subclient when a job is in progress for that specific instance or subclient. If a job is in progress, either wait for the job to complete or kill the job from the Job Controller.

The following table describes the properties that can be configured from these levels.

Option	Description	Related topics
Change the User Account Details	You must have administrator privileges to access the Oracle application and perform backup and restore operations. In the case of backup and restore operations from the CommCell Console, the user credentials to access the Oracle application are provided initially when you create the instance. You can be modify the user credentials from CommCell Console. Always use the following user name to perform backup and restore operations from the CommCell Console for the associated instance: On Unix clients, use <SID_name>adm On Windows clients, use <client_name>/<SID_name>adm On Unix clients: From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance Click Properties. Click General tab and type the user name in the ORACLE USER field. Click OK to save your settings. On Windows clients: From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click General tab and then click Change. Enter the impersonate user name and password in Impersonate NT User dialog. Click OK to save your settings.
Change the Designated Home Directory	You can change the Home Directory from the instance level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click General tab and type the path in ORACLE HOME field or click Browse to locate the path. Click OK to save your settings.
Change the Path to Oracle Files	You can change the path to the Oracle data and control files from the instance level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click General tab and enter the path to the Oracle files in the SAP Data Path field or click Browse to locate the path. Click OK to save your settings.
Change Connect Details	You can view and modify the connect string details for an instance. You might need to change the connect string details in any of the following situations: To connect to the Oracle database as a different user. To modify the password for the user. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click Details tab and enter the target database connect string in the Connect String field. Click OK to save your settings.
Change the Path to the SAPEXE Folder	You can view and change the path to the SAP EXE folder from the instance level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click Details tab and type the path to the SAP EXE folder in the SAP EXE Folder (Required) field or click Browse to locate the path. Click OK to save your settings.
Change Storage Policies	You can configure storage policies from the instance level or subclient level. You might need to modify the storage policies in any of the following situations: To include a different media for the backup operation. To use a storage policy with a different retention criteria. You can change the storage policies for command line backup and log backup from the instance level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click Storage Device tab and do any of the following: Click Command Line Backup tab and select from the list of existing storage policies for command line backups. Click Log Backup tab and select from the list of existing storage policies for log backups. Click OK to save your settings. You can change the storage policies for data backup from the subclient level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device tab. Click Data Storage Policy tab and select a data storage policy to associate with this subclient. Click OK to save your settings.	Refer to Storage Policies.
Rename a Subclient	You can rename an existing subclient. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click General tab and type the new name in the Subclient Name field Click OK to save your settings.
Archive Delete	This option is available only when you select the Backup Archive Log option. When you select this option, the archived redo log files will be deleted once they are backed up. Any archived redo log files that do not match the format indicated by the LOG_ARCHIVE_FORMAT environment variable are not deleted. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click the Content tab and select the Backup Archive Log option. Select Archive Delete.
Archive Log Second Copy	When taking log backups, you can also choose to create a second copy of the archive logs and then delete the original archive logs. If your first copy of the logs are missing, you can use this second copy to recover a database. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click the Content tab and select the Archive Log Second Copy.
Enable/Disable Log Switch	You can enable/disable the log switch for a SAP for Oracle backup from the subclient level. When performing archive log backups, a log switch is initiated wherein the current redo log file is closed (even if it is not filled up completely) and the next redo log file is used for writing. The closed redo log file is then archived during the log phase. However, you can disable the log switch if required. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click the Content tab and select the Backup Archive Log option. Select the Disable Switch Current Log option to specify that log switch is disabled for current redo log files. Click OK to save your settings.
Configure Data Transfer Options	You can efficiently configure the available resources for transferring data secured by data protection operations from the subclient level. This includes the following: Enable or disable Data Compression either on the client or the MediaAgent. Configure the transfer of data in the network using the options for Network Bandwidth Throttling and Network Agents. You can configure the data transfer options. From the CommCell Browser,right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Click Data Transfer Option tab. Choose the appropriate software compression option for this subclient. Select Throttle Network Bandwidth and set the required bandwidth. Click OK.	Refer to Data Compression and Network Bandwidth Throttling.
View Data Paths	You can view the data paths associated with the primary storage policy copy of the selected storage policy or incremental storage policy. You can also modify the data paths including their priority from the subclient level. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Select Storage Policy from the drop-down menu. Click Data Paths.
Set the number of Streams	You can set the number of streams for log backup from the instance level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the SAP for Oracle Instance. Click Properties. Click Storage Device tab. Click Log Backup tab and select Number of Data Backup Streams. Click OK. Similarly, you can set the number of streams for data backup from the subclient level. From the CommCell Browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Storage Device. Click Data Transfer Option tab. Select Number of Data Backup Streams. Click OK.
Configure a Subclient for Pre/Post Processing of Data Protection	You can add, modify or view Pre/Post processes for the subclient. These are batch files or shell scripts that you can run before or after certain job phases. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Pre/Post Process. Click one of the following phases and type the full path of the process that you want to execute during that phase. Alternatively, click Browse to locate the process (applicable only for paths that do not contain any spaces). PreBackup Process PostBackup Process Click OK. Select Run Post Scan Process for all attempts to run a post scan process for all attempts . Select Run Post Backup Process for all attempts to run a post backup process for all attempts. For subclients on Windows platforms, Run As displays Not Selected. If you want to change the account that has permission to run these commands, click Change. In the User Account dialog box, select Use Local System Account, or select Impersonate User and enter the user name and password. Click OK. If you selected Local System Account, click OK to the message advising you that commands using this account have rights to access all data on the client computer.	Refer to Pre/Post Processes.
Configure Activity Control	You can enable backup and restore operations from the agent and subclient level. However, you can enable restore operations only from the agent level. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Activity Control, select or clear option(s) as desired. Click OK.	Refer to Activity Control.
Configure User Security	You can configure user security from the agent or subclient level. You can perform the following functions: Identify the user groups to which this CommCell object is associated. Associate this object with a user group. Disassociate this object from a user group. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Security. Select the appropriate user groups to which you want to associate to the CommCell object from the Available Groups pane, and then move the user group to the Associated Groups pane. Click OK.	Refer to User Administration and Security.
Enable/Disable Data Encryption	You can enable data encryption from the subclient level. Encryption must be enabled at the client level prior to configuring any instances residing on that client. From the CommCell browser, right-click the subclient. Click Properties. Click Encryption. Select the desired encryption. Click OK.	Refer to Data Encryption.
View Software Version and Installed Updates	The Version tab, at the Agent level displays the software version and post-release service packs and updates installed for the component. From the CommCell browser, right-click the agent. Click Properties. Click Version. Click OK.
CommCell Configuration Report	The CommCell Configuration Report provides the properties of the CommServe, MediaAgents, clients, agents, subclients, and storage policies within the CommCell based on the selected filter criteria. From the CommCell browser, click Reports icon. Select CommCell Configuration. Click Run.	Refer to CommCell Configuration.

Deleting an Instance or Subclient

The following sections describe the steps involved in deleting an instance or subclient.

When you delete an instance or backupset, the associated data is logically deleted and you can no longer access the corresponding data from CommCell Console for recovery purposes.

Refer to the troubleshooting article on Recovering Data Associated with Deleted Clients and Storage Policies for information on how to recover data if you accidentally delete an entity.

Deleting an Instance

Consider the following before deleting an instance:

When you delete a specific instance all job schedules and job histories that pertain to any of the levels within the deleted instance are deleted.
You cannot delete an instance if it is being backed up. Attempts to delete an instance under such conditions cause the deletion to fail. If a backup is in progress, either wait for the backup to complete or kill the backup job using the Job Manager. Once the backup is no longer in progress, you can delete the instance level.
You cannot delete an instance if there is only one instance present for an agent. To delete the final instance, you must remove the agent software from the client computer.

From the CommCell Browser, right-click the instance that you want to delete, click All Tasks and then click Delete.
Click Yes to confirm the deletion. (Clicking No cancels the deletion and retains the node.)
Type the requested phrase in the Enter Confirmation Text dialog box and click OK. This should delete the instance.

Deleting a Subclient

Consider the following before deleting a subclient:

You cannot delete a default subclient.
Schedules associated with the subclient are also automatically deleted.

From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | <Agent> | <Backup Set>.
Right-click the <subclient> that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
A confirmation message is displayed, asking if you want to delete the subclient.
Click No to cancel the deletion and retain the subclient, or click Yes to continue the deletion.