Exploring options of using RMAN configure to simplify backup

I am a simple person who likes simple things, especially RMAN backup implementation.

I have yet to understand why RMAN backup implementation does not use configure command, and if you have a good explanation, please share.

Examples for RMAN configure command

configure device type disk parallelism 2 backup type to compressed backupset;
configure channel device type disk format '/oradata/backup/%d_%I_%T_%U' maxopenfiles 1;
configure channel 1 device type disk format '/oradata/backup1/%d_%I_%T_%U' maxopenfiles 1;
configure archivelog deletion policy to backed up 2 times to disk;
configure backup optimization on;

Do you know if backup is using parallelism?
Where is the backup to?
Is the backup to tape?

RMAN> show all;

RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name SAN are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 1; # default
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/oradata/backup/%d_%F.ctl';
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/oradata/backup/%d_%I_%T_%U' MAXOPENFILES 1;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/oradata/backup1/%d_%I_%T_%U' MAXOPENFILES 1;
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC' AS OF RELEASE 'DEFAULT' OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE ; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DISK;
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/dbs/snapcf_san.f'; # default

RMAN>

Simple RMAN script.

set echo on;
connect target;
show all;
backup incremental level 0 check logical database filesperset 1 tag "fulldb"
plus archivelog filesperset 8 tag "archivelog";

Simple RMAN run.

$ rman @simple.rman

Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.4.0 - Production on Thu Jul 24 11:12:19 2014

Copyright (c) 1982, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

RMAN> set echo on;
2> connect target;
3> show all;
4> backup incremental level 0 check logical database filesperset 1 tag "fulldb"
5> plus archivelog filesperset 8 tag "archivelog";
6>
echo set on

connected to target database: SAN (DBID=2792912513)

using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
RMAN configuration parameters for database with db_unique_name SAN are:
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO REDUNDANCY 1; # default
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
CONFIGURE DEFAULT DEVICE TYPE TO DISK;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP ON;
CONFIGURE CONTROLFILE AUTOBACKUP FORMAT FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO '/oradata/backup/%d_%F.ctl';
CONFIGURE DEVICE TYPE DISK PARALLELISM 2 BACKUP TYPE TO COMPRESSED BACKUPSET;
CONFIGURE DATAFILE BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG BACKUP COPIES FOR DEVICE TYPE DISK TO 1; # default
CONFIGURE CHANNEL DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/oradata/backup/%d_%I_%T_%U' MAXOPENFILES 1;
CONFIGURE CHANNEL 1 DEVICE TYPE DISK FORMAT   '/oradata/backup1/%d_%I_%T_%U' MAXOPENFILES 1;
CONFIGURE MAXSETSIZE TO UNLIMITED; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION FOR DATABASE OFF; # default
CONFIGURE ENCRYPTION ALGORITHM 'AES128'; # default
CONFIGURE COMPRESSION ALGORITHM 'BASIC' AS OF RELEASE 'DEFAULT' OPTIMIZE FOR LOAD TRUE ; # default
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DISK;
CONFIGURE SNAPSHOT CONTROLFILE NAME TO '/u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/dbs/snapcf_san.f'; # default


Starting backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:21
current log archived
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=20 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_2: SID=108 device type=DISK
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed archived log backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying archived log(s) in backup set
input archived log thread=1 sequence=326 RECID=337 STAMP=853758742
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:24
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:25
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8dpe6koo_1_1 tag=ARCHIVELOG comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01
Finished backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:25

Starting backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:25
using channel ORA_DISK_1
using channel ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00003 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_undotbs1_9oqwsjk6_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:26
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_2: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00008 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_user_dat_9wvp8s78_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_2: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:12:26
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:01
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8epe6koq_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:35
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00001 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_system_9oqwr5tm_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:04
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:29
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8gpe6kpu_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:25
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00002 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_sysaux_9oqwrv2b_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:30
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:45
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8hpe6kqp_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:15
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00005 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_ggs_data_9or2h3tw_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:45
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:48
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8ipe6kr9_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed incremental level 0 datafile backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying datafile(s) in backup set
input datafile file number=00006 name=/oradata/SAN/datafile/o1_mf_testing_9rgp1q31_.dbf
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:49
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:13:52
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8jpe6krc_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:03
channel ORA_DISK_2: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:44
piece handle=/oradata/backup/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8fpe6koq_1_1 tag=FULLDB comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_2: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:02:18
Finished backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:44

Starting backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:44
current log archived
using channel ORA_DISK_1
using channel ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting compressed archived log backup set
channel ORA_DISK_1: specifying archived log(s) in backup set
input archived log thread=1 sequence=327 RECID=338 STAMP=853758885
channel ORA_DISK_1: starting piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:46
channel ORA_DISK_1: finished piece 1 at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:47
piece handle=/oradata/backup1/SAN_2792912513_20140724_8kpe6kt6_1_1 tag=ARCHIVELOG comment=NONE
channel ORA_DISK_1: backup set complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01
Finished backup at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:47

Starting Control File Autobackup at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:48
piece handle=/oradata/backup/SAN_c-2792912513-20140724-05.ctl comment=NONE
Finished Control File Autobackup at 2014-JUL-24 11:14:55

Recovery Manager complete.

-----

$ ls -l backup*
backup:
total 501172
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall 505167872 Jul 24 11:14 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8fpe6koq_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall   8028160 Jul 24 11:14 SAN_c-2792912513-20140724-05.ctl

backup1:
total 77108
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall   237056 Jul 24 11:12 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8dpe6koo_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall  1236992 Jul 24 11:12 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8epe6koq_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall 39452672 Jul 24 11:13 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8gpe6kpu_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall 34349056 Jul 24 11:13 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8hpe6kqp_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall  2539520 Jul 24 11:13 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8ipe6kr9_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall  1073152 Jul 24 11:13 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8jpe6krc_1_1
-rw-r-----. 1 oracle oinstall    67072 Jul 24 11:14 SAN_2792912513_20140724_8kpe6kt6_1_1

If this does not hit the nail on the head, then I don’t know what will.

Imagine someone, maybe me or yourself, deleting archivelog accidentally.

RMAN> delete noprompt archivelog all;

using target database control file instead of recovery catalog
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=108 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_2: SID=20 device type=DISK
RMAN-08138: WARNING: archived log not deleted - must create more backups
archived log file name=/oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_326.dbf thread=1 sequence=326
RMAN-08138: WARNING: archived log not deleted - must create more backups
archived log file name=/oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_327.dbf thread=1 sequence=327

RMAN>

-----

RMAN> configure archivelog deletion policy to none;

old RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO BACKED UP 2 TIMES TO DISK;
new RMAN configuration parameters:
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE;
new RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored

RMAN> delete noprompt archivelog all;

released channel: ORA_DISK_1
released channel: ORA_DISK_2
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_1
channel ORA_DISK_1: SID=108 device type=DISK
allocated channel: ORA_DISK_2
channel ORA_DISK_2: SID=20 device type=DISK
List of Archived Log Copies for database with db_unique_name SAN
=====================================================================

Key     Thrd Seq     S Low Time
------- ---- ------- - --------------------
337     1    326     A 2014-JUL-24 11:04:17
        Name: /oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_326.dbf

338     1    327     A 2014-JUL-24 11:12:21
        Name: /oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_327.dbf

deleted archived log
archived log file name=/oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_326.dbf RECID=337 STAMP=853758742
deleted archived log
archived log file name=/oradata/SAN/archivelog/arc_845895297_1_327.dbf RECID=338 STAMP=853758885
Deleted 2 objects


RMAN>

Will you be using configure for your next RMAN implementation?