Configuring VMWARE snapshot backups for Oracle databases.

Oracle databases require 'begin backup mode' to freeze datafile headers and consistency of backups.
VEEAM is backup, replication and restore solution for Virtual machines.
We will consider understanding steps involved in running veeam backups for live Oracle database vm machines.



We will start with VMWARE tools installation steps (if not already installed). This will be done on vmware host machine.

Prepare your virtual machine to install VMware Tools.
Choose VM > Install VMware Tools.

Logon to Linux as root -
[root@clone ~]# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
mount: block device /dev/cdrom is write-protected, mounting read-only
[root@clone ~]# cd /tmp
[root@clone tmp]# tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-9.0.0-782409.tar.gz
[root@clone tmp]#
[root@clone tmp]#


Install vmware tools on virtual machine -

[root@clone tmp]# cd vmware-tools-distrib
[root@clone vmware-tools-distrib]# ls -ltr
total 272
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root   4096 Jul 14  2012 lib
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Jul 14  2012 installer
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Jul 14  2012 bin
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root   4096 Jul 14  2012 etc
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Jul 14  2012 doc
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 251898 Jul 14  2012 FILES
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root     31 Oct 29 14:27 vmware-install.pl -> ./bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root     13 Oct 29 14:27 INSTALL -> ./doc/INSTALL
[root@clone vmware-tools-distrib]# ./vmware-install.pl







Creating scripts to run before and after snapshots -
create /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script
#!/bin/sh
if [ "$(id -u)" -eq "0" ]; then
exec su oraprod -c /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
fi
 
create /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script
#!/bin/sh

if [ "$(id -u)" -eq "0" ]; then
exec su oraprod -c /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
fi
 



Switch to oraprod/oracle user and create custom shell scripts scripts -

Script 1-
/home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql

. /data/prod/apps12/db/tech_st/db/12.1.0.2/clone_clone.env

$ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus "sys/sysdcf321@CLONE as sysdba" <<EOF
spool /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.log;
select to_char(sysdate, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH:MI:SS') from dual;
alter database begin backup;
spool off;
EOF






Script 2- 
/home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
. /data/prod/apps12/db/tech_st/db/12.1.0.2/clone_clone.env

$ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus "sys/sysdcf321@CLONE as sysdba" <<EOF
spool /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw.log;
select to_char(sysdate, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH:MI:SS') from dual;
alter database end backup;
spool off;
EOF



Check permissions for files with root user -


[root@clone vmware-tools-distrib]# ls -ltr /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 122 Oct 29 14:24 /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script
[root@clone vmware-tools-distrib]# chmod 700 /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script
[root@clone vmware-tools-distrib]# ls -ltr /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script
-rwx------ 1 root root 122 Oct 29 14:24 /usr/sbin/pre-freeze-script


[root@clone bin]# chown root.root /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script
[root@clone bin]# chmod 700 /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script
[root@clone bin]# ls -ltr /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script
-rwx------ 1 root root 122 Oct 29 14:27 /usr/sbin/post-thaw-script




Files with oraprod user -

[oraprod@clone scripts]$ ls -ltr /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
-rw-r--r-- 1 oraprod proddba 282 Oct 29 14:20 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$ chmod 755 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$ ls -ltr /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
-rwxr-xr-x 1 oraprod proddba 282 Oct 29 14:20 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/post-thaw-script.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$ ls -ltr /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
-rw-r--r-- 1 oraprod proddba 283 Oct 29 14:19 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$ chmod 755 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$ ls -ltr /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
-rwxr-xr-x 1 oraprod proddba 283 Oct 29 14:19 /home/oraprod/maaz/monitor/scripts/pre-freeze.sql
[oraprod@clone scripts]$


Schedule VEEAM BAckup now and check if database was put in begin backup before snapshot.
Make sure you use -quiesce option when scheduling backup in VEEAM.