Specify Backup and Recovery Options

Specify whether or not you want to enable automated backups for the database. If required, specify the backup job storage area and credentials. Then, click Next.

Note: Before enabling automated backups, ensure that you have sufficient disk space for storing backup files.

If you choose to configure automated backups, then Oracle Enterprise Manager schedules a database backup at the same time every day. By default, the backup job is scheduled to run at 2:00 a.m.

To configure automated backups, you must designate an on-disk storage area for backup files, called the fast recovery area. You can use either the file system or an Automatic Storage Management disk group for the fast recovery area. The disk space required for backup files depends on the storage mechanism that you select. As a general guideline, you must specify a storage location with at least 2 GB of free disk space.

Oracle Enterprise Manager uses Oracle Recovery Manager to perform the backup. To enable Oracle Recovery Manager to connect to the database with the SYSDBA privilege, you must specify the user name and password of an operating system user that is a member of the OSDBA group on UNIX-based platforms, or the Administrators or ORA_DBA groups on Microsoft Windows.

To configure automated backups:

  1. Select Enable Automated Backups.

  2. Select the storage mechanism that you want to use for the fast recovery area:

    • Select File system to use a file system directory for the fast recovery area, and then specify the fast recovery area path in the Recovery Area Location field.

    • Select Automatic Storage Management to use an Automatic Storage Management disk group for the fast recovery area.

  3. The default user is the Oracle software owner user that you are using to run Oracle Universal Installer (typically, oracle).

Note: After you have installed the software, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to modify the default backup strategy, change the fast recovery area, or change the backup job user name and password.

Refer to the following sections for guidelines on using the file system or Automatic Storage Management for the fast recovery area.

Using the File System for the Fast Recovery Area

Apply the following guidelines when deciding whether or not to use the file system for the fast recovery area:

This is the default choice if you chose to use file system storage for your database files. However, you can choose to use Automatic Storage Management for backup files, even if you did not select that mechanism for the database files.

Default Directory for the Fast Recovery Area

Oracle Universal Installer provides a default directory path, which is selected as follows:

On UNIX-based systems:

  • If the ORACLE_BASE environment variable is defined when you start Oracle Universal Installer, then the default directory path is $ORACLE_BASE/recovery_area.

  • If the ORACLE_BASE environment variable is not defined, but you have write permissions on the parent directory of the Oracle home directory, then the default directory path is oracle_home_parent_dir/recovery_area, where oracle_home_parent_dir is the path to the parent directory of the Oracle home directory that you specify.

  • In all other cases, the default directory path is oracle_home/recovery_area, where oracle_home is the path to the Oracle home directory that you specify.

On Microsoft Windows systems:

The default directory path is ORACLE_BASE\recovery_area, where ORACLE_BASE is the parent directory of the Oracle home directory where you chose to install the product.

Using Automatic Storage Management for the Fast Recovery Area

Apply the following guidelines when deciding whether or not to use Automatic Storage Management for the fast recovery area:

This is the default choice if you opted to use either Automatic Storage Management or raw device storage for your database files. However, you can choose to use the file system for backup files even if you did not choose that mechanism for the database files.

Backup Job Credentials

Specify your operating system user credentials to perform the backup job.

User name: Enter the operating system user name that you want to use to perform the backup job.

Password: Enter the password for the operating system user you entered in the User name field.