Create an Oracle Backup Job Definition

Back up Oracle environments with snapshots using an Oracle Backup job definition. During the initial base backup, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus creates a new vSnap volume and creates an NFS share. During incremental backups, the previously created volume is reused. The IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent mounts the share on the Oracle server where the backup is to be performed. In the case of Oracle RAC, the backup is performed from any one node in the cluster. Once complete, the IBM Spectrum Protect Plus agent unmounts the share from the Oracle server and creates a vSnap snapshot of the backup volume.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN:

  • Configure an SLA Policy. See Configure SLA Policies.
  • Review Oracle requirements. See Oracle Requirements.
  • Before an IBM Spectrum Protect Plus user can perform backup and restore operations, roles and resource groups must be assigned to the user. Grant users access to resources and backup and restore operations through the Accounts pane. See Access.

ORACLE DATABASE CONSIDERATIONS:

  • To ensure that filesystem permissions are retained correctly when IBM Spectrum Protect Plus moves Oracle data between servers, ensure that the user and group IDs of the Oracle users (e.g. oracle, oinstall, dba) are consistent across all the servers. Refer to Oracle documentation for recommended uid and gid values.
  • If an Oracle Inventory job runs at the same time or short period after an Oracle Backup job runs, copy errors may occur due to temporary mounts that are created during the Backup job. As a best practice, schedule Oracle Inventory jobs so that they do not overlap with Oracle Backup jobs.
  • Avoid configuring log backup for a single Oracle database through multiple Backup jobs. If a single Oracle database is added to multiple job definitions with log backup enabled, a log backup from one job could truncate a log before it is backed up by the next job. This might cause point-in-time restore jobs to fail.

CONSIDERATIONS:

  • Point-in-time recovery is not supported when one or more datafiles are added to the database in the period between the chosen point-in-time and the time that the preceding Backup job ran.

To create an Oracle Backup job definition:

  1. From the navigation menu, expand Manage Protection, then expand Applications. Expand Oracle, then click Backup.
  2. Select Oracle homes, databases and ASM diskgroups to back up. Use the search function to search for available instances.
  3. Click Select SLA Policy to add an SLA Policy to the job definition that meets your backup data criteria.
  4. To create the job definition using default options, click Save. The job runs as defined by your SLA Policy, or can be run manually from the Backup pane in the SLA Policy Status section.
  5. To edit options before creating the job definition, click Select Options. Set the job definition options.
  6. Enable Log Backup
  7. If selected, IBM Spectrum Protect Plus will automatically create a log backup volume and mount it to the application server. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus will then configure a scheduled job (using cron) that will perform a transaction log backup to that volume at the frequency specified through the Frequency setting.
  8. In the case of Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), IBM Spectrum Protect Plus mounts the volume and configures the cron job on each of the cluster nodes. When the schedule is triggered, the jobs internally coordinate to ensure that any one active node performs the log backup and the other nodes take no action.
  9. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus automatically manages the retention of logs in its own log backup volume. After a successful database backup, older logs are deleted automatically from this log backup volume. IBM Spectrum Protect Plus does not manage the retention of other archived log locations. Administrators must continue to manage those logs using their existing log retention policies.
  10. Select Truncate source logs after successful backup to automatically delete older archived logs that are no longer needed from the log backup destination and primary destination after every successful database backup. If the option is cleared, archived logs on the primary log destination are not deleted. Set the log retention through the Primary log retention in days option.
  11. Once log backup is enabled, point-in-time restore options will be available through the Oracle Restore page.
  12. Maximum Parallel Streams per Database
  13. Set the maximum data stream per database to the backup storage. This setting applies to each database in the job definition. Note that multiple databases can still be backed up in parallel if the value of the option is set to 1. Multiple parallel streams may improve backup speed, but high bandwidth consumption may affect overall system performance.
  14. When you are satisfied that the job-specific information is correct, click Save. The job runs as defined by your SLA Policy, or can be run manually from the Job Monitor pane.
  15. To configure additional options, click the Options field associated with the job in the SLA Policy Status section. If no additional options are currently configured for the job, the field will display Not Configured. Set the additional job options.
  16. Pre-scripts and Post-Scripts
  17. In the Pre-Script and/or Post-Script section, select an uploaded script. Select the Use Script Server check box to select a script server where the script will run. To select an Application Server where the script will run, clear the Use Script Server check box. Scripts and script servers are configured through the Jobs and Monitoring > Script pane. See Configure Scripts.
  18. Pre-scripts and post-scripts are scripts that can be run before or after a job runs at the job-level. Windows-based machines support Batch and PowerShell scripts while Linux-based machines support shell scripts.
  19. Continue job/task on script error - When enabled, if a Pre-script completes with a non-zero return code, the backup or restore is attempted and the Pre-script task status returns COMPLETED. When disabled, the backup or restore is not attempted, and the Pre-script task status returns FAILED. If a Post-script completes with a non-zero return code, the Post-script task status returns COMPLETED. When disabled, the Post-script task status returns FAILED.
  20. Exclude Resources
  21. Exclude specific resources from the backup job through single or multiple exclusion patterns. Resources can be excluded through an exact match or with wildcard asterisks specified before the pattern (*test) or after the pattern (test*). Multiple asterisk wildcards are also supported in a single pattern. Patterns support standard alphanumeric characters as well as the following special characters: - _ and *. Separate multiple filters with a semicolon.
  22. Force Base Resources
  23. Force base backups for specific virtual machines or databases in the Backup job definition. All previous backup information associated with the resource will be removed. Separate multiple resources with a semicolon.
  24. Once complete, click Save.

 


IBM Spectrum Protect Plus 10.1.2

Licensed Material - Property of IBM Corp. © IBM Corporation and other(s) 2018. IBM is a registered trademark of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. | 8/23/2018