Full Hot Backup using RMAN?

Question

Dear all,
I want to take a full hot backup every week on sunday and the followings are the commands.
run
allocate channel ch1 type disk format '/db/BACKUP/RMAN/backup_%d_%t_%s_%p_%U.bck';
backup
incremental level 0
database
plus archivelog delete input;
backup current controlfile;
backup spfile;
release channel ch1;
I have the following questions:
1) Am I need to define a directory named as "'/db/BACKUP/RMAN/backup_%d_%t_%s_%p_%U.bck", so that the backup copies will put it here,right?
2) What format needs to be save in where and how to run it on weekly schedule basis?
3) I saw above script with "channel ch1", can I change it to "channel ch2"?
I am a beginner using RMAN, please let me know.
Best Regards,
amy

Answer 1

Which database version on which OS (looks like Unix/Linux)?
You have to create the directory '/db/BACKUP/RMAN', 'backup_%d...' is the filename created by RMAN.
%d Specifies the name of the database;
%t Specifies the backup set time stamp, which is a 4-byte value derived as the number of seconds elapsed since a fixed reference time. The combination of %s and %t can be used to form a unique name for the backup set;
%s Specifies the backup set number. This number is a counter in the control file that is incremented for each backup set. The counter value starts at 1 and is unique for the lifetime of the control file. If you restore a backup control file, then duplicate values can result. Also, CREATE CONTROLFILE initializes the counter back to 1;
%p Specifies the piece number within the backup set. This value starts at 1 for each backup set and is incremented by 1 as each backup piece is created;
%U Specifies a system-generated unique filename (default).
For scheduling a cron job could be defined or you use Enterprise Manager (10g and higher)
Channel name doesn't matter.
Werner