Lesson 1

Introduction to Oracle Recovery Manager in Oracle AI Database 26ai

Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) manages physical backup, restore, and recovery for Oracle AI Database 26ai. It helps administrators protect database files, maintain backup records, and recover from failures.

You can run RMAN interactively or through command scripts. Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control provides an optional browser interface for scheduling and monitoring RMAN operations.

How RMAN works

The RMAN client connects to a target database and directs database server sessions to perform backup and recovery work. An RMAN channel represents a data stream associated with a server session that reads, processes, and writes files.

RMAN records backup metadata in the target database control file. For many configurations, this is sufficient. A recovery catalog provides additional metadata storage in a separate Oracle database schema and can maintain a longer history for multiple target databases.

The recovery catalog contains backup records, rather than the backup pieces themselves.

Backup, restore, and recovery

These operations serve different purposes:

Backup: Create copies of database content for later recovery.
Restore: Retrieve database files from backups.
Recover: Apply required changes, including redo, to bring restored files to the intended recovery point.

RMAN capabilities available in Oracle AI Database 26ai

Flexible scope: Back up a container database (CDB), selected pluggable databases (PDBs), tablespaces, data files, archived redo logs, the control file, and the server parameter file (SPFILE).
Backup formats: Create backup sets or, for supported file types, image copies.
Incremental backups: Use a level 0 baseline and level 1 backups of changed blocks. Block change tracking can reduce the scanning required for eligible incremental backups.
Backup administration: Configure retention policies, channels, destinations, and control file autobackups.
Validation and repair: Check database files and backups, restore damaged files, and perform supported recovery operations.

These include established capabilities that remain available in 26ai; they were not all introduced in this release.

Backup encryption in Oracle AI Database 26ai

When the target database has COMPATIBLE set to 23.0.0 or higher, RMAN supports AES-XTS encryption for new backups and defaults to the AES256-XTS algorithm. Encryption must still be enabled, with the required keystore or password available. Selecting a default algorithm does not automatically encrypt every backup.

RMAN can also create a new copy of an existing backup set using a newly configured encryption algorithm. The original backup set remains unchanged.

Using Enterprise Manager with RMAN

Enterprise Manager helps administrators configure, schedule, and monitor backup jobs for managed database targets. The workflow typically includes selecting the backup scope, destination, credentials, and schedule, then reviewing the job and its output.

Available screens depend on the Enterprise Manager release, database plug-in, and target configuration. Administrators should also understand command-line RMAN, because recovery may be necessary when Enterprise Manager is unavailable.

Automatic block repair and RMAN block media recovery

Oracle Active Data Guard can automatically repair eligible physical block corruption on a primary database by obtaining a healthy block from a physical standby database. A real-time query standby can also obtain a healthy block from the primary database.

This automatic repair requires the appropriate Data Guard configuration, a physical standby in real-time query mode, and an Oracle Active Data Guard license. Successful repair can allow an affected operation to continue without returning a block-corruption error.

Primary database and Oracle Active Data Guard physical standby illustrating automatic block repair — Automatic block repair can obtain a healthy block from a partner database in an appropriately configured Oracle Active Data Guard environment.

Administrators can request RMAN block media recovery with RECOVER ... BLOCK. RMAN can use available healthy blocks and the required redo to repair affected blocks while the data file remains online.

Automatic repair does not resolve every corruption. Detecting corruption with RMAN VALIDATE does not automatically initiate block recovery. A tested backup and recovery strategy remains essential.

Recovery guidance for Oracle AI Database 26ai

Data Recovery Advisor is desupported in Oracle AI Database 26ai. This module uses supported RMAN validation, restore, and recovery operations instead of the legacy LIST FAILURE, ADVISE FAILURE, and REPAIR FAILURE workflow.

Module objectives

After completing this module, you will be able to:

Explain the roles of the RMAN client, channels, control file, and recovery catalog.
Distinguish backup sets, image copies, and incremental backups.
Create and use a recovery catalog.
Create and run an RMAN backup script.
Explain how Enterprise Manager schedules and monitors RMAN operations.
Describe the steps involved in restoring and recovering a database.
Distinguish automatic block repair from administrator-initiated RMAN block media recovery.

The next lesson introduces the RMAN client and its connection to a target database.