6

Maintaining the Control File

Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to do

the following:
• Explain the uses of the control file
• List the contents of the control file
• Multiplex and manage the control file
• Manage the control file with Oracle Managed Files
(OMF)
• Obtain control file information

6-2 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Control File

• A small binary file

• Defines current state of physical database
• Maintains integrity of database
• Required:
– At MOUNT state during database start up
– To operate the database
Database
• Linked to a single database
Control
• Loss may require recovery files
• Sized initially by
CREATE DATABASE

6-3 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

6-4 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.
 Control File Contents

A control file contains the following entries:

• Database name and identifier
• Time stamp of database creation
• Tablespace names
• Names and locations of data files and online redo
log files
• Current online redo log file sequence number
• Checkpoint information
• Begin and end of undo segments
• Redo log archive information
• Backup information

6-5 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

6-6 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.
 Multiplexing the Control File

CONTROL_FILES=
$HOME/ORADATA/u01/ctrl01.ctl, $HOME/ORADATA/u02/ctrl02.ctl

Disk 1 (u01) Disk 2 (u02)

ctrl01.ctl ctrl02.ctl

6-7 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Multiplexing the Control File
When Using SPFILE

1. Alter the SPFILE:

ALTER SYSTEM SET control_files =
'$HOME/ORADATA/u01/ctrl01.ctl',
'$HOME/ORADATA/u02/ctrl02.ctl' SCOPE=SPFILE;
2. Shut down the database:
shutdown immediate
3. Create additional control files:
cp $HOME/ORADATA/u01/ctrl01.ctl
$HOME/ORADATA/u02/ctrl02.ctl
4. Start the database:
startup

6-8 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Multiplexing the Control File
When Using PFILE

1. Shut down the database:

shutdown immediate

2. Create additional control files:

cp $HOME/ORADATA/u01/ctrl01.ctl
$HOME/ORADATA/u02/ctrl02.ctl
3. Add control file names to PFILE:
CONTROL_FILES = $HOME/ORADATA/u01/ctrl01.ctl,
$HOME/ORADATA/u02/ctrl02.ctl)
4. Start the database:
startup

6-9 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Managing Control Files with OMF

• OMF is created if the CONTROL_FILES parameter is

not specified.
• Locations are defined by
DB_CREATE_ONLINE_LOG_DEST_n.
• Names are uniquely generated and displayed in the
alertSID.log.

6-10 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Obtaining Control File Information

Information about control file status and locations can

be retrieved by querying the following views.
• V$CONTROLFILE: Lists the name and status of all
control files associated with the instance
• V$PARAMETER: Lists status and location of all
parameters
• V$CONTROLFILE_RECORD_SECTION: Provides
information about the control file record sections
• SHOW PARAMETER CONTROL_FILES: Lists the name,
status, and location of the control files

6-11 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

6-12 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.
6-13 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.
 Summary

In this lesson, you should have learned how to:

• Multiplex the control file when using an SPFILE
• Multiplex the control file when using an init.ora
• Manage the control files using OMF

6-14 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

 Practice 6 Overview

This practice covers the following topics:

• Starting the database without a control file
• Multiplexing an existing control file

6-15 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.

6-16 Copyright © Oracle Corporation, 2002. All rights reserved.