About catalog names with RAC and Data Guard aware intelligent policies

Oracle Data Guard and RAC aware intelligent policies catalog the backup images under a special client name within the NetBackup catalog. Data Guard enabled policies use the format databaseName_databaseID as the client name. RAC aware policies use the format databaseUniqueName_databaseID. If a RAC database is in a Data Guard enabled policy, the catalog name uses the Data Guard catalog name.

A RAC database configuration within NetBackup consists of a RAC database entry along with the associated instances. Each instance has a single client (host) name that can access the backup images that NetBackup stores. RAC databases and the associated instances can be viewed and managed using the NetBackup web UI. They can also be viewed and managed with the NetBackup APIs and the nboracmd command.

A Data Guard configuration in NetBackup consists of a Data Guard object with attributes of database name and database ID. The list of Data Guard configurations that are stored in the NetBackup relational database can be viewed using the NetBackup APIs and the nboracmd command.

RAC databases and single instance databases can be associated with a single Data Guard configuration. For Data Guard enabled policies, the Data Guard configuration in NetBackup is added or updated automatically at policy run time. Only RAC databases and single instance databases are added to a Data Guard configuration after a back up has occurred. Any client that is part of a RAC database configuration or single instance databases has access to the associated Data Guard backup images. Username and user IDs along with group name and group IDs should match across hosts in the Data Guard configuration to have access to the backed-up files.

See the NetBackup Commands Reference Guide for details of the nboracmd command.

If restoring from an alternate NetBackup server domain (A.I.R. domain target), for access to images that relate to Data Guard or RAC, the primary server must have certain conditions set. That server must have the same Oracle repository configuration duplicated into it to allow access from alternate nodes in the RAC cluster. Or, the server must have an alternate standby database in the Data Guard. The Data Guard is automatically recreated on import. The RMAN catalogs must be manually recreated along with all the CMS credentials that any registered databases use.

Additional host names can be added as aliases to an instance within NetBackup. This process is useful if a client is part of a RAC cluster or Data Guard configuration and has multiple network interfaces used to connect to NetBackup servers. Aliases can be listed, added, or deleted with the NetBackup APIs.