Purpose

Use the CREATE RESTORE POINT statement to create a restore point, which is a name associated with a timestamp or an SCN of the database. A restore point can be used to flash back a table or the database to the time specified by the restore point without the need to determine the SCN or timestamp. Restore points are also useful in various RMAN operations, including backups and database duplication. You can use RMAN to create restore points in the process of implementing an archival backup.

Prerequisites

To create a normal restore point, you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege.

To create a guaranteed restore point, you must fulfill one of the following conditions:

• You must connect AS SYSDBA, or AS SYSBACKUP, or AS SYSDG.

• You must have been granted the SYSDBA privilege and be using a multitenant database.

• You must be running as user SYS, and be using a a multitenant database.

To view or use a restore point, you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege or the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role.

You can create a restore point on a primary or standby database. The database can be open, or mounted but not open. If the database is mounted, then it must have been shut down consistently before being mounted unless it is a physical standby database.

You must have created a fast recovery area before creating a guaranteed restore point. You need not enable flashback database before you create the guaranteed restore point. The database must be in ARCHIVELOG mode if you are creating a guaranteed restore point.

You need not enable flashback database before you create a normal restore point, because normal restore points have other applications besides FLASHBACK DATABASE. However, you would need to have enabled flashback database before you create a normal restore point, if you intend to perform a FLASHBACK DATABASE to that normal restore point.

You can create, use, or view a restore point when connected to a multitenant container database (CDB) as follows:

• To create a normal CDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege, either granted commonly or granted locally in the root, or the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly.

• To create a guaranteed CDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly.

• To view a CDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege or the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role, either granted commonly or granted locally in the root, or the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly, or the current container must be a PDB and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly or granted locally in that PDB.

• To use a CDB restore point, you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege or the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role, either granted commonly or granted locally in the root, or the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly.

• To create a normal PDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege, either granted commonly or granted locally in the root, or the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly, or the current container must be the PDB for which you want to create the restore point and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly or granted locally in that PDB.

• To create a guaranteed PDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly, or the current container must be the PDB for which you want to create the restore point and you must have the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly or granted locally in that PDB.

• To view a PDB restore point, the current container must be the root and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY or FLASHBACK ANY TABLE system privilege or the SELECT_CATALOG_ROLE role, either granted commonly or granted locally in the root, or the SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege granted commonly, or the current container must be the PDB for the restore point and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly or granted locally in that PDB.

• To use a PDB restore point, the current container must be the PDB for the restore point and you must have the SELECT ANY DICTIONARY, FLASHBACK ANY TABLE, SYSDBA, SYSBACKUP, or SYSDG system privilege, granted commonly or granted locally in that PDB.

Syntax

create_restore_point::=

Description of the illustration create_restore_point.eps

Semantics

CLEAN

You can specify CLEAN only when creating a PDB restore point. The PDB must use shared undo and must be closed with no outstanding transactions. Flashing back a PDB using shared undo to a clean PDB restore point does not require restoring backups or creating a clone instance. Therefore, it is faster than flashing back a PDB using shared undo to an SCN or other type of restore point.

restore_point

Specify the name of the restore point. The name must satisfy the requirements listed in "Database Object Naming Rules".

In a multitenant environment, the CDB and PDBs have their own namespaces for restore points. Therefore, the CDB and each PDB can have a restore point with the same name. When you specify a restore point name in a PDB or for a PDB operation, the name is first interpreted as a PDB restore point for the concerned PDB. If a PDB restore point with the specified name is not found, then it is interpreted as a CDB restore point.

The database can retain at least 2048 normal restore points. In a Multitenant environment, a CDB can retain at least 2048 normal restore points across the entire CDB, including PDB restore points. Normal restore points are retained in the database for at least the number of days specified for the CONTROL_FILE_RECORD_KEEP_TIME initialization parameter. The default value of that parameter is 7 days. Guaranteed restore points are retained in the database until explicitly dropped by the user.

If you specify neither PRESERVE nor GUARANTEE FLASHBACK DATABASE, then the resulting restore point enables you to flash the database back to a restore point within the time period determined by the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET initialization parameter. The database automatically manages such restore points. When the maximum number of restore points is reached, according to the rules described in restore_point above, the database automatically drops the oldest restore point. Under some circumstances the restore points will be retained in the RMAN recovery catalog for use in restoring long-term backups. You can explicitly drop a restore point using the DROP RESTORE POINT statement.

FOR PLUGGABLE DATABASE

This clause enables you to create a PDB restore point when you are connected to the root. For pdb_name, specify the name of the PDB.

If you are connected to the PDB for which you want to create the restore point, then it is not necessary to specify this clause. However, if you specify this clause, then you must specify the name of the PDB to which you are connected.

AS OF Clause

Use this clause to create a restore point at a specified datetime or SCN in the past. If you specify TIMESTAMP, then expr must be a valid datetime expression resolving to a time in the past. If you specify SCN, then expr must be a valid SCN in the database in the past. In either case, expr must refer to a datetime or SCN in the current incarnation of the database.

PRESERVE

Specify PRESERVE to indicate that the restore point must be explicitly deleted. Such restore points are useful for preserving a flashback database.

GUARANTEE FLASHBACK DATABASE

A guaranteed restore point enables you to flash the database back deterministically to the restore point regardless of the DB_FLASHBACK_RETENTION_TARGET initialization parameter setting. The guaranteed ability to flash back depends on sufficient space being available in the fast recovery area.

Guaranteed restore points guarantee only that the database will maintain enough flashback logs to flashback the database to the guaranteed restore point. It does not guarantee that the database will have enough undo to flashback any table to the same restore point.

Guaranteed restore points are always preserved. They must be dropped explicitly by the user using the DROP RESTORE POINT statement. They do not age out. Guaranteed restore points can use considerable space in the fast recovery area. Therefore, Oracle recommends that you create guaranteed restore points only after careful consideration.

Examples

Creating and Using a Restore Point: Example

The following example creates a normal restore point, updates a table, and then flashes back the altered table to the restore point. The example assumes the user hr has the appropriate system privileges to use each of the statements.

CREATE RESTORE POINT good_data;

SELECT salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id = 108;

    SALARY
----------
     12000

UPDATE employees SET salary = salary*10
   WHERE employee_id = 108;

SELECT salary FROM employees
   WHERE employee_id = 108;

    SALARY
----------
    120000

COMMIT;

FLASHBACK TABLE employees TO RESTORE POINT good_data;

SELECT salary FROM employees
   WHERE employee_id = 108;

    SALARY
----------
     12000