Structure-Retaining Database Copy

Use

With BRBACKUP you can make a copy of the Oracle database files with exactly the same directory structure. You can use this type of database copy to:

●      Generate a test system from a production system

●      Set up a Standby Database.

●      Have a database backup available that saves you the restore during a recovery. In this case the sapdata home directory is renamed as the new sapdata home directory of the database copy. The copied files are then the current files and you can apply the offline redo log files directly.

Prerequisites

You must create the following directories on the target database:

●      sapdata directories

●      sapbackup directory

●      origlogA, origlogB, mirrlogA, mirrlogB directories of the online redo log files

The corresponding subdirectories are created automatically during copying.

/oracle/C11/sapdata2/stabd_1/stabd.data1 is copied to/oracle/C12/sapdata2/stabd_1/stabd.data1

Since this is a one-to-one copy, software compression is not possible.

Activities

To copy the database, you have to define the name of the new database home directory (of the database copy) in the init.sap profile parameter new_db_home  (for local disks) or stage_db_home (for remote disks). Also set the parameter backup_dev_type to disk_copy|disk_standby|stage_copy|stage_standby or call up BRBACKUP with the relevant command option, for example, brbackup -d|-device disk_copy|stage_copy.

Under Windows, the sapdata directories can be distributed across several drives. When you make the copy, you can retain this distribution by specifying the appropriate target drives. For more information, see the BRBACKUP parameter m|-mode.

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Backup and Database Copy with BR*Tools

Use

You can back up the database files and offline redo log files of your Oracle database with BR*Tools. If you are performing an offline backup of the whole database, the temporary files and online redo log files are also backed up. If you have lost data and want to recover it, the backup files are essential. You can also make a database copy and back up non-database files and directories.

You typically use BR*Tools for a one-off backup of the:

·        Database files, such as after a structure change to the database. For example, after moving a data file, you can back up the database to make the recovery procedure easier.

·        Offline redo log files. Oracle copies the online redo log files to the archiving directory, so creating the offline redo log files.

For routine backups, we recommend one of the following:

·         DBA Planning Calendar to schedule a backup and then view its log

·         A scheduler offered by a supplier of the BACKINT interface

·         The scheduler cron for UNIX or at for Windows

If you need to recover your database, you must have access to all offline redo log files that have been written since the database backup. Otherwise you can only recover the database to the point in time of the last available redo log. Therefore, you must always back up the offline redo log files after a database backup, and immediately after an online backup.

In production systems, we strongly recommend you to:

·         Run the database in ARCHIVELOG mode with automatic archival turned on. For more information, see Setting Up Archiving.

·         Make two copies of the offline redo log files. In test systems, one copy is often sufficient.

Integration

·        BRTOOLS normally calls the SAP tool BRBACKUP or BRARCHIVE to perform the backup. You can also perform a backup directly by calling BRBACKUP or BRARCHIVE from the command line.

We recommend you to normally use BRTOOLS rather than BRBACKUP or BRARCHIVE. This is because the BRTOOLS menus simplify entry of the correct parameters.

·        “Archiver stuck” problem

The Oracle database hangs if it is operated in ARCHIVELOG mode, but the archiving process cannot save the online redo log files because the archiving directory is full. This situation is called “archiver stuck.” If this occurs you must back up the offline redo log files and delete them from the archive directory as soon as possible.

To avoid archiver stuck, back up the offline redo log files regularly to tape. How often you do this depends on the amount of activity in your SAP System. If a lot of redo log entries are written, and the redo log files are frequently switched, be sure to constantly monitor the archive directory. When necessary, save and delete the offline redo log files.

For more information about avoiding "archiver stuck," see SAP Note 316642.

·        Make sure the necessary parameters have been set for BRBACKUP and BRARCHIVE in the Initialization Profile init.sap.

·        You can back up the offline redo log files regardless of the current status of the database (open or closed) and the SAP system. If you have configured your system according to the SAP recommendations, the Oracle database system saves the online redo log files automatically as offline redo log files. Unless you have changed the standard profile init.ora, the offline redo log files are stored in the archive directory /oraarch. For more information, see Setting Up Archiving.

Features

You can perform the following backup functions with BR*Tools:

·        Database backup

·        Archivelog backup (that is, backup of the offline redo log files)

·        Database copy

·        Non-database backup

·        Backup of database disk backup

·        Verification of database backup

·        Verification of archivelog backup

·        Additional functions

¡        Update of compression rates

¡        Preparation of RMAN backups

¡        Deletion of database disk backups

¡        Deletion of archivelog disk backups

¡        Controlling of BRARCHIVE run

¡        Initialization of BRBACKUP tape volumes

¡        Initialization of BRARCHIVE tape volumes

BRTOOLS calls BRRESTORE for the verification functions.

Activities

...

       1.      You call the backup function in BRTOOLS and check the displayed backup parameters, changing them as required.

The default parameter values, which are set in the initialization profile init.sap, are as follows:

¡        For database backup, the default is an offline whole database backup to a local tape device without file compression. This means that the online redo log files and control file are backed up as well as the data files.

¡        For archivelog (that is, offline redo log) file backup, the default is a first copy backup of offline redo log files without deletion to a local tape device without file compression.

BRTOOLS only lets you change certain parameters for the backup. If you have to make other changes, you must change the init.sap profile manually and then restart BRTOOLS.

       2.      If required, you change the default values for the backup parameters in the initialization profile init.sap and restart BRTOOLS.

       3.      If required, you choose Backup and Database Copy  ® Reset program status to set the defaults used to the values in the initialization profile init.sap. For certain input values, there is no corresponding parameter in the initialization profile, in which case the default value from the BRTOOLS program is used.

       4.      You start the backup.

If the backup is being made locally or remotely to tapes or disks, then the backup is monitored and an estimation is made of the backup time, based on the elapsed time and the size of the files that still have to be backed up. You also see success or error messages.

       5.      You check the results of the backup in the BRBACKUP logs or BRARCHIVE Logs.

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Starting and Stopping SAP Instances via MMC (Windows)

Use

You can use the SAP Management Console perspective to start, stop and restart SAP systems and instances. In the SAP MC, you can extend the list of SAP systems and instances you want to monitor and administer from a single tool. By default, the SAP MC displays the instances installed on the host you have connected to. If you want to start, stop or restart remote systems or instances you have to register them in the SAP MC.

Prerequisites

• You have opened the SAP MC perspective in the Developer Studio.
• You must have administration permissions to start, stop or restart systems and instances. Before completing the relevant operation, the system prompts you for the operating system (OS) admadministration credentials.

Procedure

Starting an SAP System

       1.      In the SAP Management Console (Tree) navigation pane, open the tree structure and navigate to the system node you want to start.

       2.      Inthe context menu of the system node, choose Start.

       3.      In the Start SAP System(s) dialog box, choose the required options.

       4.      Choose OK. The SAP MC starts the SAP system instances.

Similarly, you can start all SAP systems and individual instances registered in the SAP MC.

Stopping an SAP System

...

       1.      In the SAP Management Console (Tree) navigation pane, open the tree structure and navigate to the system node you want to stop.

       2.      Inthe context menu of the system node, choose Stop.

       3.      In the Stop SAP System(s) dialog box, choose the required options.

       4.      Choose OK. The SAP MC stops the SAP system instances.

 Similarly, you can stop or restart all SAP systems and individual instances registered in the SAP MC.

Registering Systems and Instances

...

       1.      Select the SAP System root node.

       2.      From the context menu, choose New Instance.

       3.      In the Register New SAP Instance dialog box, enter the required data.

       4.      Choose OK. The SAP MC displays the SAP system node, the instances nodes and the relevant database node in a tree structure in the SAP Management Console (Tree) navigation pane.

 

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Starting and Stopping the SAP Web AS J2EE System (UNIX / Linux)

Use

You need to check that you can start and stop the SAP system after the installation using the scripts startsap and stopsap in the exe directory.

Prerequisites

·        You have signed on to the SAP system hosts as user adm.

·        For more information on how to start or stop database-specific tools, see the database-specific information in this documentation and the documentation from the database manufacturer.

·        If you want to use startsap or stopsap (for example, in a script) and require the fully qualified name of these SAP scripts, create a link to startsap or stopsap in the home directory of the corresponding user.

If there are multiple SAP instances on one host – for example, a central instance and a dialog instance – you must add an extra parameter to the scripts:

startsap

stopsap

For example, enter:

startsap DVEBMGS00

SAP Web AS J2EE only system

The instance name (instance ID) of the central instance is JC, the instance name of a J2EE dialog instance is J.

Procedure

Starting the SAP System

...

       1.      To start the central instance and database instance:

¡        If you have a central system – that is, central instance, central services instance and database instance on the same host – enter the following on the central system host:

startsap

This checks if the database is already running. If not, it starts the database before starting the central services instance and the central instance.

You can start the database and SAP system separately by entering the following commands:

startsap DB

startsap R3

startsap R3

Make sure that you always start the database first because otherwise the central services instance and the central instance cannot be started.

There is also the parameter J2EE that is a synonym for the parameter R3. For SAP Web AS ABAP+J2EE systems, you can enter either the command startsap R3 or startsap J2EE to start the SAP instance comprising both ABAP and J2EE.

¡        If you have a distributed system – that is, central instance, central services instance and database instance on different hosts – do the following:

                                                  i.       On the database host, enter:

startdb

                                                ii.       On the central services instance host, enter:

startsap R3

                                               iii.       On the central instance host, enter:

startsap R3

       2.      Enter the following to start dialog instances, if there are any:

startsap

Stopping the SAP System

When you use stopsap in an MCOD (Multiple Components in One Database) system with two central instances, only one central instance and the database are shut down. Therefore, you must first stop the other SAP system with stopsap R3 or make sure that it has already been stopped.

...

       1.      Enter the following to stop dialog instances:

stopsap

       2.      To stop the central instance, the central services instance and the database instance:

¡        If you have a central system – that is, central instance, central services instance and database instance on the same host – enter the following on the central system host:

stopsap

This stops the central instance, the central services instance and then the database.

You can stop the SAP system and the database separately by entering the command stopsap R3 , then stopsap R3  and then stopsap  .

Make sure that you always stop the central instance first and the central services instance second because otherwise the database cannot be stopped.

There is also the parameter J2EE that is a synonym for the parameter R3. For SAP Web AS ABAP+J2EE systems, you can enter either the command stopsap R3 or stopsap J2EE to stop the SAP instance comprising both ABAP and J2EE.

¡        If you have a distributed system – that is, central instance, central services instance and database instance on different hosts – do the following:

...

                                                  i.       On the central instance host, enter:

stopsap R3

                                                ii.       On the central services instance host, enter:

stopsap R3

                                               iii.       On the database host, enter:

stopdb

Make sure that no SAP instance is running before you enter stopdb on a standalone database server. No automatic check is made.

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