Retention of RMAN Backups

To configure retention policies for RMAN backups and archived redo logs, you can use standard Oracle RMAN commands.

• Configuring Retention Policy
• Configuring Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy
• Deleting RMAN Backups from Veeam Backup Repository

Configuring Retention Policy

To edit retention policy for RMAN backups, connect to the target database in RMAN console and run set one of the following retention policies:

• Redundancy-Based Retention: The redundancy parameter specifies how many full or level 0 backups of each data file and control file should RMAN keep in the repository. If the number of backups exceeds the specified value, RMAN considers the oldest backups as obsolete. By default, the redundancy parameter is set to 1. To configure a redundancy-based retention policy, run the following command:

• Recovery Window-Based Retention: The recovery window parameter specifies the number of days between the current time and the earliest point of recoverability. RMAN does not consider any full or level 0 incremental backups as obsolete if it falls within the recovery window. To configure a window-based retention policy, run the following command:

To delete obsolete backups, run the following command after each backup:

To disable retention policy for RMAN backups, run the following command:

For details, see the Configuring the Backup Retention Policy section of the Oracle Database Backup and recovery User's Guide.

Configuring Archived Redo Log Deletion Policy

By default, archivelog deletion policy is disabled. While the archivelog deletion policy is disabled, RMAN deletes archived redo log backups according to the backup retention policy. If the backup retention policy is not configured, RMAN stores only the latest archived log backup.

To configure archivelog deletion policy, run the following command. When the number of archived log backups exceeds the specified number, RMAN deletes the oldest archived log backup.

To disable archivelog deletion policy, run the following command:

For details, see the Configuring the Backup Retention Policy section of the Oracle Database Backup and recovery User's Guide.

Deleting RMAN Backups from Veeam Backup Repository

If you want to delete backups files, you can use the Oracle RMAN housekeeping functionality. For details, see the Deleting RMAN Backups and Archived Redo Logs section of the Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide.

If you have lost the backup catalog, you can remove the backups manually from Veeam backup repositories.

To remove a backup from Veeam backups repository, do the following:

1. In the Veeam Backup & Replication console, open the Home view.
2. In the Inventory pane, select Backups.
3. In the working area, right-click the backup job object name and select Delete from disk.