OracleRMAN compatibility and FAQs between different versions and different platforms

OracleRMAN compatibility and FAQs between different versions and different platforms

Oracle RMAN compatibility and FAQs between different versions and different platforms

I. RMAN Catalog compatibility

MOS file: RMAN Compatibility Matrix [ID 73431.1]

1.1 About RMAN Compatibility

The RMAN environment can contain thefollowing components:

-- The RMAN environment consists of the following five parts:

(1) RMAN executable

(2) Recovery catalog database

(3) Recovery catalog schema in therecovery catalog database

(4) Target database

(5) Auxiliary database (used forduplicate, duplicate for standby or tablespace point-in-time recovery)

Each componenthas a release number. Oracle uses up to 5 digits, but only up to 4 aresignificant for RMAN compatibility purposes.

-- Each component has a release version consisting of five digits, but only the first four digits affect the compatibility of RMAN.

Examples: 10.1.0.4, 9.2.0.6, 8.1.7.4

For more information about Oracle version, refer to my Blog:

1.2 RMAN Compatibility Matrix

In general, the rules of RMAN compatibilityare as follows:

-- Generally, the RMAN compatibility rules are as follows:

(1) The RMAN executable versionshoshould be the same as the target database. Legal exception combinations arelisted in Table B-1.

-- The versions of RMAN executable files must be the same as those of the target database, but there are also exceptions. For details, refer to the table below.

(2) The RMAN catalog schema versionmust be greater than or equal to the RMAN executable.

-- The RMAN catalog schema version must be later than or equal to the version of the RMAN executable file.

(3) The RMAN catalog is backwardscompatible with target databases from earlier releases.

-- RMAN catalog is backward compatible with the target database and supports target databases of earlier versions.

Table B-1 RMAN Compatibility Table
The Table B-1 shows version requirements for RMAN components.

Note 1: Dueto Bug6756872-rman register of 11g target into 10g catalog fails WITHORA-04028

1.3. RMAN compatibility: errors

When compatibility of components is brokenRMAN will rise one of the following errors:

-- When a compatibility problem occurs, the following error is reported:

RMAN-6186-associated message: "PL/SQL package % s. % s version % s in % s database is tooold"

RMAN-6429-associated message: "% s database is not compatible with this version ofRMAN ".

Ii. RMAN support for different operating systems

MOS document: rman duplicate/RESTORE/RECOVER Mixed Platform Support [ID 1079563.1]

Mixed platforms aresupported:

-- The hybrid platform supports the following operations:

+ Active Database DUPLICATE
+ Backup-based DUPLICATE using image copies or backup sets
+ RESTORE and RECOVER using image copies or backup sets

Note that thefollowing platform combinations assume that the sourcedatabase is created at the same version as the destination database (I. e. was not upgraded from a version prior to that listed inthe heading for that combination ).

Note the combination of the following operating systems. Here we assume that the DB version is the same:

(1) For Oracle Database 10g Release 2 and above releases:

-- Oracle 10gR2 and later versions support RMAN between the following operating systems:

Solaris x86-64 <-> Linux x86-64

HP-PA <-> HP-IA

Windows IA (64-bit)/Windows (64-bitItanium) <-> Windows 64-bit for AMD/Windows (x86-64)

(2) For Oracle Database 11g Release 1 and above releases (requiresminimum 11.1 compatible setting ):

-- Oracle 11gR1 and later versions support RMAN operations between the following operating systems. Of course, this also includes the 10gR2 combination mentioned in article 1.

Linux <-> Windows

(3) For Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2) and above releases:

Solaris (64-bit) <-> AIX (64-bit)-Note: this platform combination is currently not supported due toBug 12702521

-- In 11gR2, because of the existence of Bug 12702521, RMAN operations cannot be performed between the two versions of solarisiscsi (64-bit) <-> AIX (64-bit.