B RMAN Compatibility

About RMAN Compatibility

Table B-1 describes the components of an RMAN environment. Each component has a release number associated with it.

For example, you can use a release 9.0.1 RMAN client with:

• A release 9.0.1 target database

• A release 9.0.1 auxiliary database

• A release 8.1.7 recovery catalog database whose catalog tables were created with RMAN release 9.0.1

Determining the Recovery Catalog Schema Version

To determine the current release of the catalog schema, you must run a SQL query.

1. Use SQL*Plus to connect to the recovery catalog database as the catalog owner. For example, enter:

   % sqlplus rman/rman@catdb
   

2. Query the rcver catalog table. For example, run this query:

   SQL> SELECT * FROM rcver; 
   
        VERSION 
        ------------ 
        09.00.01.00
        10.02.01.00
        11.01.00.03
   

   If multiple versions are listed, then the last row is the current version, and the rows before it are prior versions. In the preceding example, the current recovery catalog schema version is 11.1 and the previous version was 10.2.

   Note that for releases 10.2 and later, the last two digits in the rcver output indicate patch level. For earlier releases, they are always zeros.

RMAN Compatibility Matrix

In general, the rules of RMAN compatibility are as follows:

• You can create an 8.X or 9.X recovery catalog schema in any Oracle database release 8.1.X (or higher), and a 10.0.1 (or higher) recovery catalog schema in any Oracle database release 9.0.1 (or higher).

• The recovery catalog schema version must be greater than or equal to the RMAN client version.

• If the recovery catalog is a virtual private catalog (see CREATE CATALOG), then the RMAN client connecting to it must be at patch level 10.1.0.6 or 10.2.0.3. Oracle9i RMAN clients cannot connect to a virtual private catalog. This version restriction does not affect RMAN client connections to an Oracle Database 11g base recovery catalog, even if the base catalog has virtual private catalog users.

• Ideally, the versions of the RMAN client and the target database should be the same (although there are other legal combinations, listed in Table B-2). The RMAN client cannot be of a greater version than the target or auxiliary database.

• While backing up an Oracle Database 10g or later database with the Oracle9i RMAN client, you cannot include a control file that was created using COMPATIBLE=10.0.0 in a datafile backup set. The workaround is to turn control file autobackup ON.

• The version of an auxiliary database instance must be equal to the version of the RMAN client.

Table B-2 shows version requirements for RMAN components. Note that the symbol >= before a release means all Oracle Database releases from this release or later along with their patches.

When using an older version of the RMAN client with a newer version of the database, you do not get the features of the newer version. For example, when using the Oracle9i RMAN client to back up an Oracle Release 10g database, you will not have access to features like the flash recovery area, flashback database, TSPITR with an RMAN-managed auxiliary instance, or recovery through RESETLOGS.

Cross-Version Compatibility of Recovery Catalog Exports and Imports

Data Pump Exports of the recovery catalog are often used as a way to backup its contents. When planning to use Data Pump Export to make a logical backup of the recovery catalog, see Oracle Database Utilities for details on compatibility issues relating to the use of database exports across versions of Oracle Database.

Exports from a later version of the database cannot be imported into databases running under earlier versions. You must export your recovery catalog data using the export utility from the earliest version of Oracle Database that you need to use for a recovery catalog.

For example, if you want to export recovery catalog data from a 9.2.0.5 database and you expect to import it into an 8.1.7.4 version of Oracle for disaster recovery, you must use the export utility from the 8.1.7.4 release of Oracle to perform the export operation. Otherwise, the import operation will fail.

RMAN Compatibility: Scenario

Assume that you maintain a production databases of the following releases:

• 9.2.0

• 10.2.0

• 11.1.0

You want to record RMAN repository data about these databases in a single recovery catalog database. According to Table B-2, you can use a single 11.1.0 recovery catalog database with a 11.1.0 catalog schema for all target databases. Ensure that the version of the RMAN client used to back up each target database meets the following requirements:

• Use the 9.2.0 RMAN executable to back up the 9.2.0 database.

• Use either the 9.2.0 or 10.2.0 RMAN executable to back up the 10.2.0 database.

• Use any RMAN executable to back up the 11.1.0 database.