I am trying to test backup restore in this case, *why I am not able to restore my database to any point of time within the past 3 days of my recovery window?* I am changing my laptop time settings to simulate a daily backup of 13, 14 , 15 and 16 of July 2011. My backup Script is: ## Supports : 10g and 11g only CONNECT TARGET / CROSSCHECK BACKUP; CROSSCHECK ARCHIVELOG ALL; # Incrementally updated backup. RECOVER COPY OF DATABASE WITH TAG 'LVL0_MERGE_INCR'; BACKUP CHECK LOGICAL INCREMENTAL LEVEL 1 CUMULATIVE COPIES=1 FOR RECOVER OF COPY WITH TAG 'LVL0_MERGE_INCR' DATABASE; # Switch current logfile to archive sql 'ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG CURRENT'; # Backup archivelogs BACKUP CHECK LOGICAL AS COMPRESSED BACKUPSET FILESPERSET 10 ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT; # delete obsolete backups CROSSCHECK BACKUP; DELETE NOPROMPT OBSOLETE; DELETE NOPROMPT EXPIRED BACKUP; exit; RMAN> CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 3 DAYS; old RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 7 DAYS; *new* RMAN configuration parameters: CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 3 DAYS; *new* RMAN configuration parameters are successfully stored RMAN> As of 13 of July 2011, I do: SQL> conn DBA_USER Enter password: Connected. SQL> create table test_backup (P_DATE DATE); Table created. SQL> insert into test_backup values (sysdate); 1 row created. SQL> commit; Commit complete. SQL> SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='dd.mm.yyyy hh24:mi:ss'; Session altered. SQL> select * from test_backup; P_DATE ------------------- 13.07.2011 12:00:38 SQL> Now, I run the BACKUP OF 13 of JULY. Backup successfully done. now as 14 JULY 2011, I *do*: Enter user-name: DBA_USER Enter password: Connected to: Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options SQL> insert into test_backup values (sysdate); 1 row created. SQL> commit; Commit complete. SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='dd.mm.yyyy hh24:mi:ss'; Session altered. SQL> select * from test_backup; P_DATE ------------------- 14.07.2011 12:01:02 13.07.2011 12:00:38 SQL> Now, I run the BACKUP OF 14 JULY. Backup successfully done. As of 15 JULY 2011, I *do*: SQL> insert into test_backup values (sysdate); 1 row created. SQL> commit; Commit complete. SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='dd.mm.yyyy hh24:mi:ss'; Session altered. SQL> select * from test_backup; P_DATE ------------------- 14.07.2011 12:01:02 13.07.2011 12:00:38 15.07.2011 12:00:30 SQL> Now, I run the BACKUP OF 15 JULY. Backup successfully done. At 16 JULY 2011, I *do* : SQL> insert into test_backup values (sysdate); 1 row created. SQL> commit; Commit complete. SQL> alter session set nls_date_format='dd.mm.yyyy hh24:mi:ss'; Session altered. SQL> select * from test_backup; P_DATE ------------------- 14.07.2011 12:01:02 13.07.2011 12:00:38 15.07.2011 12:00:30 16.07.2011 12:01:03 SQL> Now, I run the BACKUP OF 16 th of JULY. Backup successfully done. NOW I simulate a FAILURE: SQL> !mv /home/oracle/app/oracle/oradata_2/DB/datafile/o1_mf_undotbs2_711lopmy_.dbf /home/oracle/app/oracle/oradata_2/DB/datafile/o1_mf_undotbs2_711lopmy_.dbf.OLD SQL> SQL> startup force; ORACLE instance started. Total System Global Area 3307048960 bytes Fixed Size 2217872 bytes Variable Size 2113931376 bytes Database Buffers 1174405120 bytes Redo Buffers 16494592 bytes Database mounted. ORA-01157: cannot identify/lock data file 11 - see DBWR trace file ORA-01110: data file 11: '/home/oracle/app/oracle/oradata_2/DB/datafile/o1_mf_undotbs2_711lopmy_.dbf ' SQL> First Try : Restore the database from 2 days before backup. [oracle@server logs]$ rlrman Recovery Manager: Release 11.2.0.1.0 - Production on Sat Jul 16 12:11:39 2011 Copyright (c) 1982, 2009, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. connected to target database: DB (DBID=3175451436, not open) run{ allocate channel dev1 type disk; set until time "to_date('2011-14-07:12:01:02', 'yyyy-dd-mm:hh24:mi:ss')"; restore database; recover database; 6> } using target database control file instead of recovery catalog allocated channel: dev1 channel dev1: SID=395 device type=DISK executing command: SET until clause Starting restore at 16-JUL-11 released channel: dev1 RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of restore command at 07/16/2011 12:11:45 RMAN-06026: some targets not found - aborting restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 5 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 4 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 2 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 1 found to restore RMAN> Second Try 2: Restore control file from last backup and the datafiles from 2 days before backup. RMAN> shutdown immediate; using target database control file instead of recovery catalog database dismounted Oracle instance shut down RMAN> SET DBID 3175451436 executing command: SET DBID RMAN> startup nomount; Oracle instance started Total System Global Area 3307048960 bytes Fixed Size 2217872 bytes Variable Size 2113931376 bytes Database Buffers 1174405120 bytes Redo Buffers 16494592 bytes run{ allocate channel dev1 type disk; restore controlfile from '/home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/autobackup/2011_07_16/o1_mf_s_756648333_722rmfts_.bkp'; alter database mount; set until time "to_date('2011-14-07:12:01:02', 'yyyy-dd-mm:hh24:mi:ss')"; restore database; recover database; } allocated channel: dev1 channel dev1: SID=396 device type=DISK Starting restore at 16-JUL-11 channel dev1: restoring control file channel dev1: restore complete, elapsed time: 00:00:01 output file name=/home/oracle/app/oracle/oradata/DB/control01.ctl output file name=/home/oracle/app/oracle/flash_recovery_area/DB/control02.ctl Finished restore at 16-JUL-11 database mounted executing command: SET until clause Starting restore at 16-JUL-11 Starting implicit crosscheck backup at 16-JUL-11 Crosschecked 27 objects Finished implicit crosscheck backup at 16-JUL-11 Starting implicit crosscheck copy at 16-JUL-11 Crosschecked 12 objects Finished implicit crosscheck copy at 16-JUL-11 searching *for* all files in the recovery area cataloging files... cataloging done List of Cataloged Files ======================= File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_29/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110629T205228_70px4vpp_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_29/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70px2qs7_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_29/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110629T205228_70px3f5l_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_29/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70px2qjy_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_29/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110629T205228_70px3doz_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110628T203749_70n7wsjr_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70n7tpw3_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70n7tq2s_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110628T203749_70n7vyxq_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110628T203749_70n7wjkq_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_28/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110628T203749_70n7xmoo_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_30/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70skxsv7_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_30/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110630T210027_70skyd9t_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_30/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110630T210027_70skycyh_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_06_30/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_70skxt9o_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_07_16/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_722rmz15_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_07_16/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110716T120559_722rn84b_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_07_16/o1_mf_nnnd1_LVL0_MERGE_INCR_722rmto8_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_07_16/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110716T120559_722rncx5_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/backupset/2011_07_16/o1_mf_annnn_TAG20110716T120559_722rn8fv_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/autobackup/2011_07_16/o1_mf_s_756648365_722rng59_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/autobackup/2011_07_16/o1_mf_s_756648333_722rmfts_.bkp File Name: /home/oracle/backups/fra/DB/autobackup/2011_07_16/o1_mf_s_756648353_722rn25d_.bkp released channel: dev1 RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-00569: =============== ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS =============== RMAN-00571: =========================================================== RMAN-03002: failure of restore command at 07/16/2011 12:18:04 RMAN-06026: some targets not found - aborting restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 5 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 4 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 2 found to restore RMAN-06023: no backup or copy of datafile 1 found to restore RMAN>