Validating Backups

Regular backup validation is recommended to ensure that backups are complete and corruption-free. You can use the reval_start command of the bkup_api utility to validate backups.

During backup validation, the backup sets that are associated with the specified database are read and checked for corruption. Internally, the RMAN restore validate command is used to stream data from the backup to the database server for validation purposes. This process acts like a normal restore, except that the data is discarded after the validation without writing to any data files.

Use the following procedure to perform backup validation:

Note:

Oracle recommends that you perform this procedure at least monthly.

Connect as the opc user to a compute node that is associated with the database deployment. Then, start a command shell as the root user.

For detailed instructions, see Connecting to a Compute Node Through Secure Shell (SSH).
Enter the bkup_api command to perform backup validation:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api reval_start --dbname=dbname
```
where dbname is the database name of the database that is the subject of the backup validation operation.

In the command output, take note of the backup request unique identifier (UUID).
You can use this bkup_api command to check the status of the backup validation:
```
# /var/opt/oracle/bkup_api/bkup_api --uuid=UUID --dbname=dbname
```
In the preceding command:
- UUID is the backup request UUID from the output of the bkup_api command to perform backup validation.
- dbname is the database name of the database that is the subject of the backup validation operation.