Unable to Restore Database

Question

We are attempting to migrate from an older windows platform to a Windows 2008 platform. The old configuration had two disk drives, and Oracle Express was installed on E: - the new server, being virtual has been configured with only the C: drive.
I've been reading up on RMAN, and have confirmed that the daily backup process on the old server does create an RMAN backup.
I've installed (and several repeat uninstall/installs) a copy of Oracle Express 10g in the default location, accepting all defaults except for my password (which is irrelevant under RMAN).
I've duplicated the directories, I've figured out how to restart the database so I don't have to reinstall, but I am unable to restore the application database. I'm not eager to use other utilities than RMAN, since learning RMAN has already taken up more time than is budgeted for this task.
I receive varying error messages, depending on the techniques I try to use. Usually I receive this closing message:
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of startup command at 12/14/2010 13:39:24
RMAN-04014: startup failed: ORA-02778: Name given for the log directory is invalid
The other message I receive is the following or a variation on the theme:
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============
RMAN-00571: ===========================================================
RMAN-03002: failure of restore command at mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss
RMAN-06564: must use the TO clause when the instance is started with SPFILE
The second message is a direct response to the following:
rman target /
startup force nomount;
run
{set controlfile autobackup format for device type disk to 'c:\backup\oracle\XE_%F';
# use 'c:\oraclexe\app\oracle\product\10.2.0\server\database\SPF2FILE_%F'
RESTORE SPFILE FROM AUTOBACKUP;
I have no clue how to specify correctly that the SP2FILE.ORA file is the backup of the control file (can provide the script to create the backup if you think it will help, which runs a series of logs to capture settings and then executes the backup.) The backup process was inherited and I cannot explain why the default RMAN process is not being used to create the backup. However, I've been unable to use the default RMAN output to restore on a different server, as well.
Please help - this task is now very late, and I'm not even sure whether I'm asking the correct questions to solve the problem(s) I'm experiencing.

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you mean by the instance 'status'. I install a fresh copy of Oracle Express 10g. Copy over the backup files for the database and logs, copy over the SPFILE..., and attempt to restore, with the errors reported above.
When I install XE, the instance is up and running (as confirmed by the 'home page' of XE being displayed in the browser waiting for logon and password. When I start the process to restore, XE is no longer available (in some form of maintenance mode and unavailable to normal users).
What do you mean 'using pfile/spfile'? How would I 'use'? (I did verify that if I take a 'backup' using the XE tools, I CAN restore on the same instance where I took the backup. Just not on a different, new instance of XE.)
The article is quite interesting, but it seems to assume that I'm working in the same instance where the backup was taken. The instructions also seem to contradict the error messages I presented above.
I don't have any autobackup settings on my brand new copy of XE, so the following command in the article does not seem meaningful to me. Clearly it makes sense to use both a TO and FROM. It seems that what I should be doing is using a 'FROM' where I have the 'TO'; what happens if I point to my backup copy of the SPFILE in the FROM clause instead of 'AUTOBACKUP'? The command string I provided in my original post may be trying to do that, but I can't tell from the source article (which I now have to go find...)
"RMAN> RESTORE SPFILE TO '/tmp/spfileTEMP.ora' FROM AUTOBACKUP;"
Additional question - "DBID"? In express, I do not see any value for DBID. I understand why it would be relevant in a more advanced implementation, with multiple databases being maintained under the same Oracle installation, but it's not clear to me what DBID identifies - the database's internal "primary key" value in a directory of databases, or some other implication.
Edited by: user13488246 on Dec 16, 2010 7:13 AM