Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

About Cloning on Autonomous Database

When you create a clone for an Autonomous Database instance, you have the option to select the clone type: a full clone, a metadata clone, or a refreshable clone:

  • Full Clone: creates a new database with the source database's data and metadata.

  • Refreshable Clone: creates a read-only full clone that can be easily refreshed with the data from the source database.

    See Use Refreshable Clones with Autonomous Database for more information.

  • Metadata Clone: creates a new database that includes all of the source database schema metadata, but not the source database data.

For a Full Clone or a Metadata Clone, you have the option to select the clone source:

  • Clone from a database instance. This creates a clone of a running database.

  • Clone from a backup. This creates a clone when you select a backup from a list of backups, or when you enter a backup point-in-time to clone.

  • Clone from the latest backup. This creates a clone where Autonomous Database uses the most recent backup data that is available to create the clone.

Note

Depending on the cloning options you choose, cloning an Autonomous Database instance copies your database files to a new instance. Depending on the size of your database and where you are cloning your database, expect the cloning operation to take significantly longer than provisioning a new Autonomous Database instance. There is no downtime associated with cloning and the cloning operation has no impact on applications running on the source.

Additional Cloning Options: Cross-Region, Unavailable Instance, Preview Version, and Cross-Tenancy

There are additional cloning options that allow you to clone to a different region or tenancy:

  • You can clone a database where the source and the cloned database are in different regions (cross-region cloning). This allows you to clone an existing database or clone a backup to create a database in a different region.

  • You can clone a database when the source Autonomous Database instance is in the Unavailable state. This allows you to create a new database from a backup and use the new database in place of the unavailable database.

  • When an upcoming release is available for preview with Autonomous Database, you can clone your existing database to use the preview version. A preview version is only available when there is an upcoming major version to release. At times no preview version will be available.

  • You can also move an Autonomous Database to a different Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compartment. See Move an Autonomous Database to a Different Compartment for more information.

  • You can clone a database where the source and the cloned database are in different tenancies (cross-tenancy cloning). This allows you to clone an existing database or clone a backup to create a database in a different tenancy, where the clone is either in a different tenancy in the same region or in a different tenancy in a different region.

    Note

    The cross tenancy cloning option is only available using the CLI or the Autonomous Database REST APIs. This option is not available using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console.

    See Cross Tenancy and Cross-Region Cloning for more information.