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Oracle® Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide
10g Release 2 (10.2)

Part Number B14191-02
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Deleting RMAN Backups

Several RMAN commands can cause the deletion of backups or archived logs, either directly or as a consequence of a backup of those files.

This section contains the following topics:

Summary of RMAN Methods for Deleting Backups

Table 9-1 describes the functionality of the various RMAN commands that can cause backups to be deleted.

Table 9-1 Maintenance Commands and Scripts

Command or Script Purpose

DELETE

To delete backups, update the control file records to status DELETED, and remove their records from the recovery catalog (if a recovery catalog is used).

You can specify that DELETE should remove backups that are EXPIRED or OBSOLETE. If you run DELETE EXPIRED on a backup that exists, RMAN issues a warning and does not delete the backup. You can override this behavior and delete the backup by using DELETE... FORCE .

BACKUP ... DELETE [ALL] INPUT

To back up archived logs, datafile copies, or backup sets, then delete the input files from the operating system after the successful completion of the backup. RMAN also deletes and updates repository records for the deleted input files.

If you specify DELETE INPUT (without ALL), then RMAN deletes only the specific files that it backs up. If you specify ALL INPUT, then RMAN deletes all copies of the files recorded in the RMAN repository.

CHANGE ... UNCATALOG

To delete recovery catalog records for specified backups and change their control file records to status DELETED. Note that the CHANGE ... UNCATALOG command only changes the RMAN repository record of backups, and does not actually delete backups.


Removal of Backups with the DELETE Command

The DELETE command can remove any file that the LIST and CROSSCHECK commands can operate on. For example, you can delete backup sets, archived redo logs, and datafile copies. The DELETE command removes both the physical file and the catalog record for the file.

Advantage of Using DELETE Instead of Operating System Commands

Always use DELETE command within RMAN to remove RMAN backups, rather than an operating system or media manager utility or command. Otherwise, the RMAN repository can contain records of backups that are no longer available for use in restore operations.

If you delete backups without using RMAN, you can use one of the following methods within RMAN to update the RMAN repository directly without performing a crosscheck:

  • Use CROSSCHECK to change the status of these files to EXPIRED and then run DELETE EXPIRED to delete the records from the RMAN repository

  • Use CHANGE ... UNCATALOG to remove the catalog records

Deletion of Obsolete Backups

The DELETE OBSOLETE command provides a convenient way to delete backups that are no longer needed. It uses the same REDUNDANCY and RECOVERY WINDOW options as the REPORT OBSOLETE command.

If you have configured a retention policy, then you can run DELETE OBSOLETE periodically to delete all backups considered obsolete by this policy. For example, you can run DELETE OBSOLETE in a script every night with a scheduling utility, freeing disk and tape space used by backups that are no longer needed.

Note that using a flash recovery area as the destination for all backups eliminates the need to manage obsolete backups. Obsolete backups will be deleted from the flash recovery area automatically as disk space is needed to store backup-related files.

Deletion of Expired Backups

The CROSSCHECK command updates the repository status for a backup to EXPIRED when it cannot locate it at the location to which it was backed up. This condition could occur if, for example, a backup was deleted from disk at the operating system level. You can identify expired backups by running the CROSSCHECK command as in the following example:

RMAN> CROSSCHECK BACKUP;

crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=0ad8d32i_1_1 recid=10 stamp=445025363
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=c-1334876723-20011105-00 recid=11 stamp=445025367
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'EXPIRED'
backup piece handle=0cd8d361_1_1 recid=12 stamp=445025473
crosschecked backup piece: found to be 'AVAILABLE'
backup piece handle=c-1334876723-20011105-01 recid=13 stamp=445025475
Crosschecked 4 objects

If you run CROSSCHECK while some backup device is temporarily not accessible, this can mark backups as expired when in fact they are still present on the backup device, and are available again once the device is accessible. For example, this can happen if a disk is unmounted or if RMAN does not correctly connect to a media manager. In such a case, fix the problem that prevented RMAN from finding the backups and rerun CROSSCHECK.

The DELETE EXPIRED command removes the record of expired backups from the RMAN repository, by actually deleting the recovery catalog records for expired backups, and updates their control file records to status DELETED.

This command is especially useful if a user inadvertently deletes RMAN backups or archived logs from disk with an operating system utility. In such a case, the RMAN repository is not synchronized with the actual contents of disk. By running the CROSSCHECK command, RMAN marks the backups that it cannot find as expired. Then, you can run DELETE EXPIRED to remove the records for these files.

Deletion of Archived Redo Logs That Are Already Backed Up

You may want to delete files such as archived logs only if they have been backed up a specified number of times to tape. The DELETE command supports this behavior. The following example deletes all archived redo logs that have already been backed up at least two times to tape:

RMAN> DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE sbt;

Deletion of Files After Backup Using BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT

The BACKUP ... DELETE INPUT command can delete archived redo logs, datafile copies, and backup sets after backing them up. This functionality is especially useful when backing up archived logs on disk to tape. RMAN backs up one copy of each log sequence number, and then deletes the file that it backs up. For example, assume that you issue:

RMAN> BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT;

In this command, RMAN backs up one copy of each log for each available sequence number, and then deletes only the archived redo log file that it actually backs up. If you have multiple redo log archiving destinations, the other copies of the same log sequence number are not deleted.

If you specify the DELETE ALL INPUT option, then RMAN deletes whichever files match the criteria that you specify, even if there are several files of the same log sequence number in different archiving destinations. For example, assume that you archive to three different directories. Then, you issue this command:

RMAN> BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL FROM SEQUENCE 1200 DELETE ALL INPUT;

In this case, RMAN backs up only one copy of each log sequence between 1200 and the most recent sequence, but deletes all logs with these sequence numbers from all three archive destinations.

Note:

If you want to delete only a subset of the logs being backed up, you can use BACKUP without the DELETE INPUT clause, and then use a separate DELETE command with a BACKED UP n TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE clause.

In particular, in a Data Guard environment, it is not recommended to use BACKUP... DELETE INPUT to delete archived logs, as RMAN cannot delete the logs generated on another node. A separate DELETE command with a BACKED UP n TIMES TO DEVICE TYPE SBT command provides more direct control over deleting logs in this environment.

BACKUP... DELETE INPUT With Corrupt Archive Logs

During backup of archived redo logs, RMAN checks the file being backed up for corruption. If corruption is found, RMAN automatically switches to reading another copy of the same archived redo log, if one exists. For example, assume that /log1 and /log2 are the only enabled archiving destinations, and that they contain logs with sequence number up through 150. You run this command:

RMAN> BACKUP ARCHIVELOG FROM SEQUENCE 123 DELETE ALL INPUT;

RMAN can start reading from any copy of a given log, and switch to reading a different copy if it is unable to read the first copy in its entirety. For example, if RMAN starts reading the copy of log sequence 123 from /log1 and discovers corruption in the file, it continues reading from the copy in /log2. Because DELETE ALL INPUT is specified, RMAN deletes all copies of logs on disk of sequence 123 and higher.

How RMAN Deletes Backup Records from the RMAN Repository

Every RMAN backup produces a corresponding record in the RMAN repository. This record is stored in the control file. If a recovery catalog is used, the record can also be found in the recovery catalog after the recovery catalog is resynced from the control file.

For example, if you generate a full database backup set, then you can view the record for this backup set in the V$BACKUP_SET control file view. If you use a recovery catalog, then you can also access the record in the RC_BACKUP_SET catalog view.

The V$ control file views and recovery catalog tables differ in the way that they store information, and this affects how RMAN handles repository records. The recovery catalog RMAN repository is stored in actual database tables, while the control file version of the repository is stored in an internal structure in the control file.

When you use an RMAN command to delete a backup, RMAN performs the following steps:

  • Removes the physical file from the operating system (if the file is still present)

  • Updates the backup records in the control file to status DELETED

  • Removes the backup records from the recovery catalog tables (if RMAN is connected to a recovery catalog)

Because of the way that control file data is stored, RMAN cannot remove the record from the control file, only update it to DELETED status. However, because the catalog tables are ordinary database tables, RMAN removes rows from them in the same way that rows are deleted from any table.

Behavior of DELETE Command When the Repository and Media Do Not Correspond

The RMAN repository record for an object can sometimes fail to reflect the physical status of the object. For example, you backup an archived redo log to disk and then use an operating system utility to delete the object. If you do not run the CROSSCHECK command to update the repository, and if you then run DELETE against the object, then the repository shows that the object is AVAILABLE while the object is in fact missing. The following table indicates the behavior of DELETE in such situations.

Repository Status Physical Status Behavior of DELETE Command
AVAILABLE Not found on media Does not delete the object and reports the list of mismatched objects at the end of the job. RMAN does not update the repository status.
EXPIRED Found on media Does not delete the object and reports the list of mismatched objects at the end of the job. RMAN does not update the repository status.
UNAVAILABLE Any Removes repository record and deletes object if it exists. All I/O errors are ignored.

If you use the FORCE option of DELETE, RMAN will remove the repository record and delete the file if it exists. All I/O errors are ignored, and RMAN displays the number of objects deleted at the end of the job.