One of the common tasks of the DBAs is to clone a database.

Very often there is a need to create a test or dev database which is a replica of Production database. In such cases Database cloning can be of great help. This process is quick and has simple steps. Database cloning procedure can be used to clone/copy a database from one UNIX server to another server. This is one of the fastest ways to copy a database to another server. Before you clone the database it is important to know that this procedure is Operating System dependent. You cannot clone a database from HP-UX to Windows server or Red Hat Linux server. The simple reason being the difference in Endianness. So before starting the cloning process, please make sure that the target and source OS are same or atleast follow same Endianness. 1. Create the script from Source database Connect to the source database using SQL*PLUS (as SYSDBA) and execute the following command: SQL> alter database backup controlfile to trace; This command will generate a script containing a create database syntax in the trace file directory identified by USER_DUMP_DEST parameter in init.ora file. The file looks like this: STARTUP NOMOUNT CREATE CONTROLFILE REUSE DATABASE SRC_DB NORESETLOGS NOARCHIVELOG MAXLOGFILES 20 MAXLOGMEMBERS 3 MAXDATAFILES 300 MAXINSTANCES 1 MAXLOGHISTORY 115 LOGFILE GROUP 1 (/app1/oradata/src_db/log1a.dbf, /app1/oradata/src_db/log1b.dbf) SIZE 50M, GROUP 2 (/app2/oradata/src_db/log2a.dbf, /app2/oradata/src_db/log2b.dbf) SIZE 50M DATAFILE /appdata/oradata/src_db/system01.dbf, /appdata/oradata/src_db/srcdatabase.dbf ; # Recovery is required if any of the datafiles are restored # backups, or if the last shutdown was not normal or immediate. RECOVER DATABASE # Database can now be opened normally. ALTER DATABASE OPEN; 2. Shutdown the source database

SQL> Shutdown immediate 3. Copy datafiles to destination server Copy all the datafiles on the destination server. You may change the filenames if you wish, in this case you will also have to edit the controlfile to reflect the new datafile names of the destination server. rcp /app1/oradata/src_db/* newhost:/app1/oradata/dest_db rcp /app2/oradata/src_db/* newhost:/app2/oradata/dest_db rcp /appdata/oradata/src_db/* newhost:/appdata/oradata/dest_db 4. Edit the Create database command Change the Create controlfile clause in the Create database command generated in STEP1: Old: CREATE CONTROLFILE REUSE DATABASE SRC_DB NORESETLOGS New: CREATE CONTROLFILE SET DATABASE DEST_DB RESETLOGS 5. Remove extra clauses Remove the recover database and alter database open clause from the script generated in STEP1: # Recovery is required if any of the datafiles are restored # backups, or if the last shutdown was not normal or immediate. #RECOVER DATABASE # Database can now be opened normally. #ALTER DATABASE OPEN; 6. Change the path of datafiles Change the path of the datafiles in the script generate in STPE1 to reflect the path on the destination server Old: DATAFILE /appdata/oradata/src_db/system01.dbf, /appdata/oradata/src_db/mydatabase.dbf

New: DATAFILE /appdata/oradata/dest_db/system01.dbf, /appdata/oradata/dest_db/mydatabase.dbf 7. Create the dump directories Create the dump directories: bdump, cdump, udump >cd /app/admin > mkdir bdump cdump udump pfile 8. Copy the Initialization parameter file Copy the old init.ora file to the destination server rcp /app/admin/src_db/pfile/*.ora newhost:/app/oracle/admin/dest_db/pfile 9. Create the new database SQL> @db_create_controlfile.sql Finally, your cloned database is ready to use.