When you create a standby database from Recovery Appliance, you connect to the standby (auxiliary instance) and to the Recovery Appliance catalog, and run the RMAN DUPLICATE command with the FOR STANDBY option.

1. On the target host, prepare the auxiliary instance by performing the following tasks:

   • Create the directories in which the standby database files will be stored.

   • Create an initialization parameter file for the auxiliary instance.

     The mandatory parameters are DB_NAME and DB_CREATE_FILE_DEST.

   • Create a password file for the auxiliary database. This password file will be overwritten during the duplicate operation in step 3.

   • Establish Oracle Net connectivity between the protected database and the auxiliary instance.

   • Start the auxiliary instance in NOMOUNT mode.

2. Start RMAN and connect as CATALOG to the Recovery Appliance catalog and as AUXILIARY to the auxiliary instance.

   In the following example, ra_rman_user is the Recovery Appliance user that the protected database my_ptdb uses to authenticate with the Recovery Appliance. ra1 is the net service name of the target Recovery Appliance that is configured in the Oracle wallet. stdby is the net service name of the auxiliary instance.

   %rman
   RMAN> CONNECT CATALOG ra_rman_user@ra1;
   RMAN> CONNECT AUXILIARY "sys@stdby AS SYSDBA";
   

3. Create the standby database using the DUPLICATE command. Configure one or more auxiliary channels that correspond to the Recovery Appliance backup module.

   The following example configures three auxiliary channels and creates a standby database for the protected database my_ptdb .

   RUN
   {
      ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c1 DEVICE TYPE sbt_tape 
        PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/lib/libra.so,
        ENV=(RA_WALLET=location=file:/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/dbs/ra
        credential_alias=ra-scan:1521/zdlra5:dedicated)' FORMAT'%U_%d';
     ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c2 DEVICE TYPE sbt_tape 
        PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/lib/libra.so,
        ENV=(RA_WALLET=location=file:/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/dbs/ra
        credential_alias=ra-scan:1521/zdlra5:dedicated)' FORMAT'%U_%d';
     ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL c3 DEVICE TYPE sbt_tape 
        PARMS='SBT_LIBRARY=/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/lib/libra.so,
        ENV=(RA_WALLET=location=file:/u01/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1/dbs/ra
        credential_alias=ra-scan:1521/zdlra5:dedicated)' FORMAT'%U_%d';
     DUPLICATE DATABASE my_ptdb FOR STANDBY DORECOVER;
   }
   

1. Create a parameter file (pfile) for the auxiliary instance. The pfile contains only the DB_NAME initialization parameter which is set to the SID of the duplicate database.

   The following pfile, called init_dup.ora and located in the /home/oracle directory, sets the DB_NAME parameter. Replace dup_db with the SID of your duplicate database:

   *.db_name = 'dup_db'

2. Use a text editor and create a Shell script (called dup_db.sh in this example) with the contents shown below and with the following modifications:

   • Replace the value of the ORACLE_HOME variable with the Oracle home directory of your auxiliary instance.

   • Replace the value of the logdir variable with the directory in which you want to store log files.

   • Replace the following placeholders (shown in Italics) with values appropriate to your duplication scenario:

     dup_db: system identifier (SID) and service name of the auxiliary instance

     tgt_db: SID and service name of the target database

     sys_pswd: password for the SYS user of the target database

     vpc_user: name of the VPC user

     vpc_user_pswd: password for the VPC user vpc_user

     ra_scan: Single Client Access Name (SCAN) of the Recovery Appliance

     ra_servicename: service name of the Recovery Appliance metadata database

     system_pswd: password for the SYSTEM user in the target database

   • If you want to store the duplicate database control file using a name and location that is different from +REDO/ORACLE_SID/CONTROLFILE/cf3.ctl, then replace the value of control_files in the dup_aux_db function with a value that is appropriate for your duplication scenario.

   • If you want to store the duplicate data files in a directory that is different from +DATA, then replace the value of db_create_file_dest in the dup_aux_db function with a value that is appropriate for your duplication scenario.

   #!/bin/bash
   export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0.4/dbhome_2
   export ORACLE_BASE=/uo1/app/oracle
   export ORACLE_SID=dup_db
   export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/bin:$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$ORACLE_HOME/Opatch
   export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib:$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib:/lib:/usr/lib;
   export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
   export logdir=/home/oracle/log
   export dt='date +%y%m%d%H%M%S'
   export NLS_DATE_FORMAT='DD-MM-YYYY HH24:MI:SS'
   
   function drop_aux_db {
   export ORACLE_SID=dup_db
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus -s '/ as sysdba' <<EOF2
   set pagesize 999 linesize 999 heading off feedback off
   select name, open_mode from v\$database;
   shutdown immediate;
   startup mount exclusive restrict;
   drop database;
   exit;
   EOF2
   }
   
   echo "Backup the target database"
   function backup_source_db {
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/rman target sys/sys_pswd@tgt_db catalog
   vpc_user/vpc_user_pswd@ra_scan:1521/ra_serivcename:dedicated <<EOF
   RUN {
   backup as backupset cumulative incremental level 1 database include current
   controlfile plus archivelog not backed up delete input;}
   exit;
   EOF
   }
   
   sleep 120
   
   echo "List the backup of the target database"
   function check_source_db_backup {
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/rman target sys/sys_pswd@tgt_db catalog vpc_user/vpc_user_pswd@ra_scan:1521/ra_serivcename:dedicated <<EOF
   LIST BACKUP OF DATABASE COMPLETED AFTER '(SYSDATE-1/24)';
   EOF
   }
   
   echo "Start the auxiliary database in FORCE NOMOUNT mode"
   function nomount_aux_db {
   export ORACLE_SID=dup_db
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/rman target / <<EOF2
   startup force nomount pfile='/home/oracle/init_dup.ora';
   exit;
   EOF2
   }
   
   echo "Duplicate the target database"
   function dup_aux_db {
   export ORACLE_SID=dup_db
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/rman catalog vpc_user/vpc_user_pswd@ra_scan:1521/ra_serivcename:dedicated AUXILIARY /
   <<EOF
   duplicate database tgt_db to dup_db spfile
   set control_files '+REDO/${ORACLE_SID}/CONTROLFILE/cf3.ctl'
   set db_create_file_dest '+DATA/' ;
   exit;
   EOF
   }
   
   echo "Check schema objects on the target"
   function check_source_db {
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus -s system/system_pswd@tgt_db <<EOF2
   set pagesize 999 linesize 999 heading off feedback off
   select name, open_mode from v\$database;
   select table_name, num_rows from dba_tables where owner='SOE';
   exit;
   EOF2
   }
   
   echo "Check schema objects on the auxiliary"
   function check_aux_db {
   export ORACLE_SID=dup_db
   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus -s '/ as sysdba' <<EOF2
   set pagesize 999 linesize 999 heading off feedback off
   select name, open_mode from v\$database;
   select table_name, num_rows from dba_tables where owner='SOE';
   exit;
   EOF2
   }
   
   drop_aux_db
   backup_source_db
   check_source_db_backup
   nomount_aux_db
   dup_aux_db
   check_source_db
   check_aux_db
   

3. Set execute permissions on the script dup_db.sh using the chmod command.

   $ chmod +x dup_db.sh

4. On the duplicate host (that hosts the duplicate database), run the dup_db.sh script.

   The following command runs the dup_db.sh script that is stored in the /home/my_scripts/duplication directory:

   $ ./home/my_scripts/duplication/dup_db.sh