SharePlex vs RMAN

In our documentation, SharePlex Administration guide, we have a procedure that cover this, Activate replicationwith an Oracle hot backup on active database. As you know, RMAN backup and hot backup are very similar to each other. It is about the recovery of the database. You can take a look there but I also will put the procedure here. It is much better when it is formatted.

The database must be recover past the completion of activation for SharePlex. This is to ensure all tables is being replicated by SharePlex. You can pick a recovery point past this either through SCN or full log recovery.

Full Log - keep shipping log over to the target and issue recover database until cancel;
SCN recovery - keep shipping log over to the target and issue recover database until scn nnnnnnn; Just make sure that the recover point is after activation has been completed. The procedure that I included is for peer-to-peer but just ignore the reverse information and you have 1 way replication setup.



Activate replication with an Oracle hot backup on an active database

Use this procedure to use an Oracle hot backup to establish a target Oracle instance and activate replication without quieting the source database. This procedure involves using the reconcile command to ensure that transactions which occurred after the point of backup are applied to the target, while eliminating redundant replicated transactions that were already captured by the backup.

Preliminary considerations
Read these points before you proceed.

Supported databases
Oracle source and Oracle target
Supported replication strategies
All replication strategies are supported with the following limitations:

Limitation applies to:
Description
Consolidated replication (many sources to one target) To establish consolidated replication, the use of a hot backup from all source systems is not possible. A backup from one source will override the data that was applied by a backup from a different source. You can use a hot backup of one of the source instances to establish a target instance, and then use another copy method to apply the objects from the other source instances. Possible methods include:

• Export/import. For more information, see Activate replication with cold copy/transfer methods on page 264.
• Transportable tablespaces. For more information, see Activate replication with Oracle transportable tablespaces on page 261.

Peer-to-peer To establish peer-to-peer replication, you must:
1. Quiet all of the systems except the trusted source system for the duration of this procedure.
2. Move all users to the trusted source system, and then follow this procedure.
Only after this procedure has been performed on all of the secondary systems may users may resume activity on them.
Windows systems To use a hot backup between Windows systems, the target system must have an instance already created containing an identical ORACLE_SID and directory structure created with the Oracle creation tools. Oracle runs as a service on Windows, and the Registry entries must exist before starting the database recovery process. The database can start empty, because the hot backup will populate it.

Requirements
• [Unix and Linux systems] Verify that the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME in the oratab file are correct for the instance you will be establishing with the hot backup. The SID must be the SID used in the routing map in the configuration file that you will be activating.
• Read the requirements before you start this procedure. For more information, see Requirements for activating a configuration on page 244.
• Make certain a SharePlex database account exists in the source database (only). This account usually is created when SharePlex first is installed. See the SharePlex Installation and Setup Guide for more information.
• Before you start, review this procedure and see the SharePlex Reference Guide for more information about the commands that are used.
Troubleshooting
If the configuration fails to activate, you can find information about the failure in these places:
• Use the show log command to view the event_log.
• View the activation process log, which is a file named SID_oconf##.log in the log sub-directory of the SharePlex variable data directory.
See also Solve Database Setup problems on page 298.
Procedures
There are two procedures for activation with a hot backup, depending on your replication strategy.
Activation with hot backup: all strategies except cascading
Activation with hot backup: cascading replication
Activation with hot backup: all strategies except cascading
Use this procedure for all replication strategies except cascading replication where SharePlex will be posting to a database on the intermediary system.
1. On the source and target systems, go to the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory, and start sp_cop and sp_ctrl. In a cluster, the source is the primary node where the cluster VIP is running.
2. On both systems, verify that the SharePlex processes are running.
sp_ctrl> status
3. On the target system (primary node of a target cluster), stop the Post process. This allows replicated data to accumulate in the post queue until the database has been recovered and reconciled.
sp_ctrl> stop post
4. On the source system, run the Oracle hot backup.
5. When the backup is finished, activate the configuration on the source system.
sp_ctrl> activate config filename
6. On the source system, monitor activation status.
NOTE: The command retains control of sp_ctrl until activation is finished.
7. When activation is complete, switch log files on the source system.
On-premises database:
svrmgr1> alter system switch logfile;
Amazon RDS database:
Run the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_util.switch_logfile.
8. Do one of the following:
• To recover the database to a sequence number, make a note of the highest archive-log sequence number.
• To recover the database to a Oracle System Change Number (SCN), pick an SCN to recover to on the target database.
9. On the target system, do one of the following:
• If recovering to a sequence number, recover the database from the hot backup using the UNTIL CANCEL option in the RECOVER clause, and cancel the recovery after Oracle has fully applied the log from the previous step.
• If recovering to a SCN, recover the database from the hot backup using the UNTIL CHANGE scn option in the RECOVER clause, and cancel the recovery after Oracle has applied the logs matching the SCN from the previous step.
10. On the target system, open the database with the RESETLOGS option.
11. On the target system, run Database Setup for Oracle on the database. When prompted for the SharePlex database user, enter n to choose the existing user and password (these were copied in the backup).
Would you like to create a new SharePlex user [y]. n
NOTES:
• SharePlex can remain running during the setup process.
• Database Setup Utilities in the SharePlex Reference Guide.
12. [Optional] If you are using named post queues and are unsure of the queue names, issue the qstatus command.
sp_ctrl> qstatus
13. On the target system, issue the reconcile command as follows, depending on the recovery option you chose. If you are using named post queues, issue the command for each one.
• If recovering to a sequence number, substitute the sequence number of the log that you noted previously.
sp_ctrl> reconcile queue queuename for datasource-datadest seq sequence_number
Example: reconcile queue SysA for o.oraA-o.oraA seq 1234
• If recovering to a SCN, substitute the SCN that you noted previously.
sp_ctrl> reconcile queue queuename for datasource-datadest scn scn_number
Example: reconcile queue SysA for o.oraA-o.oraA scn 0123456789
NOTE: The command retains control of sp_ctrl until the reconcile process is finished.
14. On the target system, run the cleanup.sql script to truncate the SharePlex internal tables. Instructions for running this script are in the SharePlex Reference Guide.
15. On the target system, disable triggers on the tables, or run the sp_add_trigger.sql utility script so that the triggers ignore the SharePlex user.
16. On the target system, disable check constraints and scheduled jobs that perform DML.
17. [Partitioned replication only] If you are using vertically partitioned or horizontally partitioned replication for any tables, delete the unneeded columns and rows from those tables.
18. [High availability only] On the target (secondary) system, stop Export.
sp_ctrl> stop export
19. [High availability and peer-to-peer only] On the target (secondary) system, activate the configuration so that SharePlex is ready in the event of failover.
sp_ctrl> activate config filename
20. On the target system, start the Post process. The two instances are now in synchronization, and SharePlex will continue replicating to maintain synchronization.
sp_ctrl> start post
21. [Optional] If this was only a partial backup, drop the tablespaces that were not copied over during the hot backup.


With data pump, you must use flashback query for your export, flashback_scn. Once you done you export, you can substitute your import with RMAN recover and remember to use SCN+1 for reconcile with the above procedure and everything should be fine.

As I said before, RMAN recover until SCN so it doesn't include it but FLASHBACK_SCN will include the SCN so it has to be 1 higher for reconcile.

In our documentation, SharePlex Administration guide, we have a procedure that cover this, Activate replicationwith an Oracle hot backup on active database. As you know, RMAN backup and hot backup are very similar to each other. It is about the recovery of the database. You can take a look there but I also will put the procedure here. It is much better when it is formatted.

The database must be recover past the completion of activation for SharePlex. This is to ensure all tables is being replicated by SharePlex. You can pick a recovery point past this either through SCN or full log recovery.

Full Log - keep shipping log over to the target and issue recover database until cancel;
SCN recovery - keep shipping log over to the target and issue recover database until scn nnnnnnn; Just make sure that the recover point is after activation has been completed. The procedure that I included is for peer-to-peer but just ignore the reverse information and you have 1 way replication setup.



Activate replication with an Oracle hot backup on an active database

Use this procedure to use an Oracle hot backup to establish a target Oracle instance and activate replication without quieting the source database. This procedure involves using the reconcile command to ensure that transactions which occurred after the point of backup are applied to the target, while eliminating redundant replicated transactions that were already captured by the backup.

Preliminary considerations
Read these points before you proceed.

Supported databases
Oracle source and Oracle target
Supported replication strategies
All replication strategies are supported with the following limitations:

Limitation applies to:
Description
Consolidated replication (many sources to one target) To establish consolidated replication, the use of a hot backup from all source systems is not possible. A backup from one source will override the data that was applied by a backup from a different source. You can use a hot backup of one of the source instances to establish a target instance, and then use another copy method to apply the objects from the other source instances. Possible methods include:

• Export/import. For more information, see Activate replication with cold copy/transfer methods on page 264.
• Transportable tablespaces. For more information, see Activate replication with Oracle transportable tablespaces on page 261.

Peer-to-peer To establish peer-to-peer replication, you must:
1. Quiet all of the systems except the trusted source system for the duration of this procedure.
2. Move all users to the trusted source system, and then follow this procedure.
Only after this procedure has been performed on all of the secondary systems may users may resume activity on them.
Windows systems To use a hot backup between Windows systems, the target system must have an instance already created containing an identical ORACLE_SID and directory structure created with the Oracle creation tools. Oracle runs as a service on Windows, and the Registry entries must exist before starting the database recovery process. The database can start empty, because the hot backup will populate it.

Requirements
• [Unix and Linux systems] Verify that the ORACLE_SID and ORACLE_HOME in the oratab file are correct for the instance you will be establishing with the hot backup. The SID must be the SID used in the routing map in the configuration file that you will be activating.
• Read the requirements before you start this procedure. For more information, see Requirements for activating a configuration on page 244.
• Make certain a SharePlex database account exists in the source database (only). This account usually is created when SharePlex first is installed. See the SharePlex Installation and Setup Guide for more information.
• Before you start, review this procedure and see the SharePlex Reference Guide for more information about the commands that are used.
Troubleshooting
If the configuration fails to activate, you can find information about the failure in these places:
• Use the show log command to view the event_log.
• View the activation process log, which is a file named SID_oconf##.log in the log sub-directory of the SharePlex variable data directory.
See also Solve Database Setup problems on page 298.
Procedures
There are two procedures for activation with a hot backup, depending on your replication strategy.
Activation with hot backup: all strategies except cascading
Activation with hot backup: cascading replication
Activation with hot backup: all strategies except cascading
Use this procedure for all replication strategies except cascading replication where SharePlex will be posting to a database on the intermediary system.
1. On the source and target systems, go to the bin sub-directory of the SharePlex product directory, and start sp_cop and sp_ctrl. In a cluster, the source is the primary node where the cluster VIP is running.
2. On both systems, verify that the SharePlex processes are running.
sp_ctrl> status
3. On the target system (primary node of a target cluster), stop the Post process. This allows replicated data to accumulate in the post queue until the database has been recovered and reconciled.
sp_ctrl> stop post
4. On the source system, run the Oracle hot backup.
5. When the backup is finished, activate the configuration on the source system.
sp_ctrl> activate config filename
6. On the source system, monitor activation status.
NOTE: The command retains control of sp_ctrl until activation is finished.
7. When activation is complete, switch log files on the source system.
On-premises database:
svrmgr1> alter system switch logfile;
Amazon RDS database:
Run the Amazon RDS procedure rdsadmin.rdsadmin_util.switch_logfile.
8. Do one of the following:
• To recover the database to a sequence number, make a note of the highest archive-log sequence number.
• To recover the database to a Oracle System Change Number (SCN), pick an SCN to recover to on the target database.
9. On the target system, do one of the following:
• If recovering to a sequence number, recover the database from the hot backup using the UNTIL CANCEL option in the RECOVER clause, and cancel the recovery after Oracle has fully applied the log from the previous step.
• If recovering to a SCN, recover the database from the hot backup using the UNTIL CHANGE scn option in the RECOVER clause, and cancel the recovery after Oracle has applied the logs matching the SCN from the previous step.
10. On the target system, open the database with the RESETLOGS option.
11. On the target system, run Database Setup for Oracle on the database. When prompted for the SharePlex database user, enter n to choose the existing user and password (these were copied in the backup).
Would you like to create a new SharePlex user [y]. n
NOTES:
• SharePlex can remain running during the setup process.
• Database Setup Utilities in the SharePlex Reference Guide.
12. [Optional] If you are using named post queues and are unsure of the queue names, issue the qstatus command.
sp_ctrl> qstatus
13. On the target system, issue the reconcile command as follows, depending on the recovery option you chose. If you are using named post queues, issue the command for each one.
• If recovering to a sequence number, substitute the sequence number of the log that you noted previously.
sp_ctrl> reconcile queue queuename for datasource-datadest seq sequence_number
Example: reconcile queue SysA for o.oraA-o.oraA seq 1234
• If recovering to a SCN, substitute the SCN that you noted previously.
sp_ctrl> reconcile queue queuename for datasource-datadest scn scn_number
Example: reconcile queue SysA for o.oraA-o.oraA scn 0123456789
NOTE: The command retains control of sp_ctrl until the reconcile process is finished.
14. On the target system, run the cleanup.sql script to truncate the SharePlex internal tables. Instructions for running this script are in the SharePlex Reference Guide.
15. On the target system, disable triggers on the tables, or run the sp_add_trigger.sql utility script so that the triggers ignore the SharePlex user.
16. On the target system, disable check constraints and scheduled jobs that perform DML.
17. [Partitioned replication only] If you are using vertically partitioned or horizontally partitioned replication for any tables, delete the unneeded columns and rows from those tables.
18. [High availability only] On the target (secondary) system, stop Export.
sp_ctrl> stop export
19. [High availability and peer-to-peer only] On the target (secondary) system, activate the configuration so that SharePlex is ready in the event of failover.
sp_ctrl> activate config filename
20. On the target system, start the Post process. The two instances are now in synchronization, and SharePlex will continue replicating to maintain synchronization.
sp_ctrl> start post
21. [Optional] If this was only a partial backup, drop the tablespaces that were not copied over during the hot backup.


With data pump, you must use flashback query for your export, flashback_scn. Once you done you export, you can substitute your import with RMAN recover and remember to use SCN+1 for reconcile with the above procedure and everything should be fine.

As I said before, RMAN recover until SCN so it doesn't include it but FLASHBACK_SCN will include the SCN so it has to be 1 higher for reconcile.