Oracle RMAN Pocket Reference

Running SQL and O/S Commandsfrom Within RMAN

Sometimes you may want to run an SQL statement from within RMAN. Use RMAN’s sql command to do this. For example:

RMAN> sql "alter system switch logfile";

If there are single quote marks in your SQL, you need to use two single quote marks as shown in this next example:

RMAN> sql "alter database datafile 
  ''/d0101/ordadta/brdstn/users_01.dbf'' offline";

You can also run O/S commands using a similar technique with the host command:

RMAN> host "ls";

Some SQL commands, such as ALTER DATABASE, are directly supported by RMAN. These can be executed directly from the RMAN command prompt, without using the sql command. For example:

RMAN> alter database mount;

Note that the complete syntax of the SQL ALTER DATABASEcommand is not supported from within RMAN. Refer to Section 1.9 for RMAN-supported ALTER DATABASE syntax.