How to duplicate by rman database?

Question

dear sir, i read one article and follow step and 2nd auxiliary database i delete all dbf, ctl, log(redo) files ...then tryying to create dubplicate giving me error
can some one send steps of it
rgds
shahzad

Answer 1

Database Duplication with RMAN
Use the RMAN DUPLICATE command to create a copy of the target database that you can use for testing. The command restores backups and copies of the primary database's files and creates a new database.
As part of the duplicating operation, RMAN manages the following:
Restores the target datafiles into the duplicate database and performs incomplete recovery using all available archived log and incremental backups.
Opens the duplicate database with the RESETLOGS option after incomplete recovery to create the online redo logs.
Generates a new, unique database identifier for the duplicate database.
Note also the following features of RMAN duplication. You can:
Skip read-only tablespaces with the SKIP READONLY clause (read-only tablespaces are included by default). You can also exclude any tablespace with the SKIP TABLESPACE clause so long as it is not the SYSTEM tablespace and does not contain rollback or undo data. If you omit tablespaces, then you can add them later.
Create your duplicate database in a new host. If the same directory structure is available, then you can use the NOFILENAMECHECK option and reuse the target datafile filenames for the duplicate datafiles.
Create your duplicate database by using the SET UNTIL command or UNTIL clause of the DUPLICATE command to recover it to a noncurrent time. By default, the DUPLICATE command creates the database using the most recent backups of the target database and then performs recovery to the most recent consistent point contained in the incremental and archived redo log backups.
Use the duplicate database without a recovery catalog.
Register the duplicate database in the same recovery catalog as the target database. This option is possible because the duplicate database receives a new database identifier during duplication. If you copy the target database using operating system utilities, then the database identifier of the copied database remains the same so you cannot register it in the same recovery catalog.
Figure 6-3 illustrates a case of database duplication. In this example, RMAN creates two duplicate database by using one set of datafile backups: one database on the local host and one database a remote host.
Figure 6-3 Creating a Duplicate Database from Backups
Text description of the illustration sbr81078.gif
The method you use to duplicate your database depends on whether you are creating your duplicate database on the same or a different host and whether the duplicate directory structure is the same as your target database directory structure. For example, in some cases you can keep the same directory structure and filenames in your duplicate database, while other times you must rename the files.
See Also:
Chapter 12, "Duplicating a Database with Recovery Manager" to learn how to make a duplicate database, and Oracle9i Recovery Manager Reference for DUPLICATE command syntax.
http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96566/rcmconc2.htm#462471
Joel Pérez
http://www.oracle.com/technology/experts