Back of Database Failed.

Question

Hi All,
I am very worried about an issue to backup of Oracle 11g XE.
I am using the RMAN that is default containing the backup script exist in Oracle 11g XE.
my log mode is Achieve.
when I run the backup script below error appear in shell script.
==================    ERROR =======================================
                      Back of the database failed.
                      Unknown log mod : Not.
                      Log file is at Not.
====================   ERROR========================================
press any key continue..........
please help me, if not possible for this way then describe me to any other way.????
Regards
Zain Ali

Answer 1

Maybe the instance isn't in archivelog mode, often what one thinks and what one actually has are two different things. No worries, its not hard to figure out. Using sqlplus you can shut down the instance and get a cold (offline) backup. Its the easiest to use for restoring.
sqlplus /nolog
conn /as sysdba;
select name from v$datafile;
... -- several .dbf files ...
backup controlfile to trace ;
... -- this creates a trace file down quite a few folders under the diagnostic_dest
show parameter diag
... --- the diagnostic_dest shows under "value"
archive log list;
... ? log mode => Archive Mode ?
shutdown immediate;
exit
And copy off those datafiles listed from the v$datafile list, cold backup is the best way to be really really sure you have a really really good backup. The rman utility is very nice ... and a bit complicated.