You can use RMAN to stop and start your database with methods that are almost identical to those available through SQL*Plus. When performing restore and recovery operations, it’s often more convenient to stop and start your database from within RMAN. The following RMAN commands can be used to stop and start your database:
- SHUTDOWN
- STARTUP
- ALTER DATABASE
Shutting Down
The SHUTDOWN command works the same from RMAN as it does from SQL*Plus. There are four types of shutdown: ABORT, IMMEDIATE, NORMAL, and TRANSACTIONAL. I usually first attempt to stop a database using SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE; if that doesn’t work, don’t hesitate to use SHUTDOWN ABORT. Here are some examples:
RMAN> shutdown immediate;
RMAN> shutdown abort;
If you don’t specify a shutdown option, NORMAL is the default. Shutting down a database with NORMAL is rarely viable, as this mode waits for currently connected users to disconnect at their leisure. I never use NORMAL when shutting down a database.
Starting Up
As with SQL*Plus, you can use a combination of STARTUP and ALTER DATABASE commands with RMAN to step the database through startup phases, like this:
RMAN> startup nomount;
RMAN> alter database mount;
RMAN> alter database open;
Here is another example:
RMAN> startup mount;
RMAN> alter database open;
If you want to start the database with restricted access, use the DBA option:
RMAN> startup dba;
Tip Starting with Oracle 12c, you can run all SQL statements directly from within RMAN without having to specify the RMAN sql command.
