The following explains the sequence of events for an action initiated by RMAN and suggests solutions for the problems that can occur at each point in the sequence:

• rman starts.

  A backup or restore can be started in any of the following ways:

  • From an RMAN backup or restore initiated from the operating system prompt such as:

    rman target user/pwd[@TNS_alias] \
    rcvcat user/pwd[@TNS_alias]\
    cmdfile RMAN_script_file_name

    Where the RMAN_script_file_name is fully qualified.

  • Manually from the administrator interface on the primary server.

  • Automatically by an automatic backup schedule.

    If an error occurs now, check the RMAN log.

• RMAN verifies its environment and then issues requests to the API.

  On Windows, some information, such as the NetBackup version, API versions, and trace file name, is registered with RMAN. An error now is usually due to a problem with client and server communication. Check the messages in the bprd and the bpcd logs for clues.

  On UNIX, some information, such as the NetBackup version, API versions, trace file name, and NetBackup signal handlers, is registered with RMAN. An error now is usually due to a problem with client and server communication. Check the messages in the bprd and the bpcd logs for clues. Also verify the bp.conf entries on the client.

• RMAN issues a backup or restore request.

  The API gathers necessary parameters and sends the backup or restore request to the NetBackup server. The API waits until both the server and client are ready to transfer data before it returns to the request.

  The API then sends this information to the primary server's bprd process.

  To troubleshoot a problem in this part of the first sequence, examine the following file:

  Windows:

  install_path\NetBackup\logs\dbclient\mmddyy.log

  UNIX:

  /usr/openv/netbackup/logs/dbclient/log.mmddyy

  If the bprd process failed, check the logs for bprd and bpbrm.

  A failure now is frequently due to bad NetBackup server or Oracle policy configuration parameters.

  NetBackup can usually select the correct Oracle policy and schedules. But NetBackup can select a policy or schedule in error if there are several Oracle policies in its database.

  On Windows, try setting the SERVER and NB_ORA_POLICY values in the client environment.

  On UNIX, try setting the SERVER and POLICY values in the bp.conf file on the client or by setting environment variables.

  For example, the following C Shell setenv commands specify the Oracle policy, schedule, and server for NetBackup to use:

  setenv NB_ORA_POLICY policyname
  setenv NB_ORA_SCHED application_backup_schedule_name
  setenv NB_ORA_SERV Netbackup_server

• RMAN issues read or write requests to the API, which then transfers data to or from the NetBackup server.

  A failure here is probably due to NetBackup media, network, or time-out errors.

• RMAN tells the API to close the session.

  The API waits for the server to complete its necessary actions (for example, it verifies the backup image) and then exits.

  An error can originate from either NetBackup or RMAN, as follows:

  • RMAN aborts if it encounters an error while it reads a data file during the backup (for example, if Oracle blocks are out of sequence). It also aborts if NetBackup sends a bad backup image during the restore.

  • NetBackup might return an error code to the API if for some reason it could not complete the backup successfully.