Oracle 19c Recovery Catalog: Installation and Configuration

Introduction

Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) is the recommended utility for backing up and recovering Oracle databases. By default, RMAN stores its backup metadata in the target database’s control file. Although this approach is sufficient for small environments, it has limitations, especially when managing multiple databases or keeping backup history for long periods.

A Recovery Catalog solves these limitations by storing RMAN metadata in a dedicated Oracle database. This centralized repository provides better backup history retention, simplifies administration across multiple databases, and enables several advanced RMAN features.

This article demonstrates how to create an Oracle Recovery Catalog from scratch, register a production database, and use the catalog during backup operations.

Why Use a Recovery Catalog?

Many DBAs rely only on the control file because it requires no additional configuration. However, using a Recovery Catalog offers several important advantages:

Backup history is preserved independently of the target database.
Multiple databases can share the same Recovery Catalog.
Recovery operations become easier after a control file loss.
RMAN reports contain more historical information.
Metadata retention is no longer limited by the control file record retention period.

For production environments, especially those containing several databases, Oracle strongly recommends using a Recovery Catalog.

Environment Used

For this demonstration, the following environment is used.

Component	Value
Oracle Version	Oracle Database 19c
Recovery Catalog Database	Oracle CDB
Recovery Catalog PDB	PDB_RCAT
Catalog User	WADHAHRCAT
Tablespace	TBS_RCAT

Step 1 – Create the Catalog Owner

The Recovery Catalog should always be created inside a dedicated user account. Before creating the user, connect as SYS to the PDB that will host the catalog.

ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER = pdb_rcat;

Next, create a dedicated tablespace for the catalog objects (OMF enabled).

CREATE TABLESPACE tbs_rcat;

Although Oracle allows using the USERS tablespace, creating a dedicated tablespace makes administration much easier.

Now create the catalog owner.

CREATE USER wadhahrcat IDENTIFIED BY password DEFAULT TABLESPACE tbs_rcat QUOTA UNLIMITED ON tbs_rcat;

Finally, grant the required role.

GRANT RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER TO wadhahrcat;

The RECOVERY_CATALOG_OWNER role contains all privileges required to create and maintain the RMAN catalog. No additional system privileges are necessary.

Step 2 – Create the Recovery Catalog

Once the user has been created, connect to RMAN using the catalog account.

rman catalog wadhahrcat/password@pdb_rcat

Create the catalog by running:

CREATE CATALOG;

RMAN creates all required tables, packages, sequences, and views inside the catalog schema.

You should receive a message similar to:

recovery catalog created

At this point, the Recovery Catalog is ready to accept database registrations.

Step 3 – Register a Target Database

Before RMAN can store backup metadata inside the Recovery Catalog, the target database must be registered.

First, configure the Oracle environment.

. oraenv
ORACLE_SID=dbprod

Next, connect to RMAN.

rman target "/ as sysbackup" catalog wadhahrcat/password@pdb_rcat

REGISTER DATABASE;

RMAN copies the necessary metadata from the target database’s control file into the Recovery Catalog.

This operation only needs to be performed once for each database.

Step 5 – Perform Backups Using the Recovery Catalog

From this point onward, connect RMAN using both the target database and the catalog.

rman target "/ as sysbackup" catalog wadhahrcat/password@pdb_rcat

A typical full backup can then be executed.

BACKUP DATABASE PLUS ARCHIVELOG;

Alternatively, if archive logs are backed up separately:

BACKUP DATABASE;

Because RMAN is connected to the Recovery Catalog, all backup metadata is automatically stored there. No additional commands are required.

Keeping the Catalog Synchronized

In most situations RMAN automatically synchronizes the Recovery Catalog with the target database.

If necessary, synchronization can be forced manually.

RESYNC CATALOG;

This command is particularly useful after operations performed while RMAN was connected without using the catalog.

Best Practices

A few recommendations can help keep your Recovery Catalog reliable and easy to manage:

Create the Recovery Catalog inside its own dedicated PDB whenever possible.
Use a dedicated tablespace for the catalog schema.
Protect the Recovery Catalog database with regular RMAN backups.
Enable ARCHIVELOG mode on the catalog database.
Register all production databases in the same catalog to centralize administration.
Connect to RMAN using the SYSBACKUP privilege instead of SYSDBA whenever possible.
Regularly verify that backup jobs are successfully updating the Recovery Catalog.