RECOVER DATABASE TEST

I logged into an Oracle 12.1 database and ran the ALTER DATABASE BEGIN BACKUP command. This told Oracle I was about to start a hot backup:

C:\Users\Administrator>sqlplus / as sysdba

 

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.1.0 Production on Thu Mar 26 10:08:51 2015

 

Copyright (c) 1982, 2013, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

 

Connected to:

Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.1.0 - 64bit Production

With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Real Application Testing options

 

SQL> alter database begin backup

  2  /

 

Database altered.

 

SQL>

I copied one of the database’s datafiles somewhere safe:

C:\app\Administrator\oradata\ORCL1\DATAFILE>copy O1_MF_USERS_BDGW2LNZ_.DBF z:\data\oracle_backup

        1 file(s) copied.

 

C:\app\Administrator\oradata\ORCL1\DATAFILE>

Then I used the ALTER DATABASE END BACKUP command to tell Oracle the hot backup was finished and closed the database:

SQL> alter database end backup;

 

Database altered.

 

SQL> shutdown

Database closed.

Database dismounted.

ORACLE instance shut down.

SQL>

I deleted the datafile I had backed up:

C:\app\Administrator\oradata\ORCL1\DATAFILE>del O1_MF_USERS_BDGW2LNZ_.DBF

 

C:\app\Administrator\oradata\ORCL1\DATAFILE>

Then I restored it from the backup which I had made earlier:

Z:\Data\Oracle_Backup>copy O1_MF_USERS_BDGW2LNZ_.DBF C:\app\Administrator\oradata\ORCL1\DATAFILE

        1 file(s) copied.

 

Z:\Data\Oracle_Backup>

I mounted the database:

Z:\Data\Oracle_Backup>sqlplus / as sysdba

 

SQL*Plus: Release 12.1.0.1.0 Production on Wed Mar 18 15:50:55 2015

 

Copyright (c) 1982, 2013, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

 

Connected to an idle instance.

 

SQL> startup mount

ORACLE instance started.

 

Total System Global Area 1720328192 bytes

Fixed Size                  2403496 bytes

Variable Size            1023411032 bytes

Database Buffers          687865856 bytes

Redo Buffers                6647808 bytes

Database mounted.

SQL>

I read in some Oracle documentation that if you added the word TEST after a RECOVER command, you could test the recovery you were about to attempt. I decided to try it out but the messages it produced did not seem to tell me whether the recovery would succeed or fail:

SQL> recover database test

ORA-10574: Test recovery did not corrupt any data block

ORA-10573: Test recovery tested redo from change 11524259 to 11525796

ORA-10572: Test recovery canceled due to errors

ORA-10585: Test recovery can not apply redo that may modify control file

 

SQL>

I decided to give it a try anyway and it worked without problem:

SQL> recover database

Media recovery complete.

SQL> alter database open

  2  /

 

Database altered.

 

SQL>