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I have to run RMAN full backups of my 11g Oracle DB to disk. As part of that process the backups will all be changed to have a backup tag of 'UNAVAILABLE'. This is because the filesystem location of the pieces gets backed up using NetBackup allowing me to delete these from disk using an unix cmd at regular intervals.

My question is, how should I handle archive logs? They will be written to the same location, but can I clean them up from disk using: 

crosscheck archivelog all; 
delete noprompt expired archivelog all;

Will that allow me to apply them if I restore a backup from tape (make the pieces available again) and then restore the specifically required archive logs that I need for point in time recovery? Many thanks.

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    AFAIK - Major backup utilities (TSM, NetBackup) can be integrated with Oracle RMAN as a Tape Library. If you have that option, I suggest using it. The main reason to not have it is that this integration could be an extra cost add-on for the backup software($$).
    – Michael Kutz
    Jun 4 '20 at 14:38
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You can always re-register backup sets with RMAN if you need to, but any expired archivelogs should no longer be needed for point in time recovery regardless if they have been included in the RMAN backupsets. https://www.thegeekdiary.com/how-to-catalog-backups-archivelogs-datafile-copies-controlfile-copies-in-oracle-database/

I would advise that you handle deletion of the regular backup sets through RMAN as well, rather than a separate script, just to keep your controlfile and/or RMAN catalog entries under control and in sync with reality.

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  • Thanks for the response. The unusual part of this setup is that the backups are only of the filesystem and not the RMAN backup pieces themselves. So what happens if I want to restore the DB to a point in time? I will need to restore the appropriate backup pieces from the full backup on that day as well as all the archive redo logs needed in order to recover, right? Should I still delete everything using RMAN in this case? Thanks.
    – Franco
    Jun 4 '20 at 19:06
  • Yes. Keep enough online/registered in RMAN to meet your minimum recovery requirements (say the last few days worth of backups, if you have sufficient space). Use NetBackup or whatever to back up the file system and only restore from that if you need to go to a point in time that is outside of your minimum range. Manage all of the file deletions through RMAN and re-register files if you need to. That said, TEST this configuration thoroughly to make sure there hasn't been some detail specific to your system that I've overlooked.
    – pmdba
    Jun 4 '20 at 19:32
  • Thanks a lot for the advice..
    – Franco
    Jun 5 '20 at 9:29

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