Transporting a Database Using an Export Dump File

The following list of tasks summarizes the process of transporting a database using an export dump file. Details for each task are provided in the subsequent example.

At the source database, configure each of the user-defined tablespaces in read-only mode and export the database.

Ensure that the following parameters are set to the specified values:
- TRANSPORTABLE=ALWAYS
- FULL=Y
If the source database is an Oracle Database 11g database (11.2.0.3 or later), then you must set the VERSION parameter to 12 or higher.

If the source database contains any encrypted tablespaces or tablespaces containing tables with encrypted columns, then you must either specify ENCRYPTION_PWD_PROMPT=YES, or specify the ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD parameter.

The export dump file includes the metadata for objects contained within the user-defined tablespaces and both the metadata and data for user-defined objects contained within the administrative tablespaces, such as SYSTEM and SYSAUX.
Transport the export dump file.

Copy the export dump file to a place that is accessible to the target database.
Transport the data files for all of the user-defined tablespaces in the database.

Copy the data files to a place that is accessible to the target database.

If the source platform and target platform are different, then check the endian format of each platform by running the query on the V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM view in "Transporting Data Across Platforms".

If the source platform's endian format is different from the target platform's endian format, then use one of the following methods to convert the data files:
- Use the GET_FILE or PUT_FILE procedure in the DBMS_FILE_TRANSFER package to transfer the data files. These procedures convert the data files to the target platform's endian format automatically.
- Use the RMAN CONVERT command to convert the data files to the target platform's endian format.
  
  Note:
  
  Conversion of data files between different endian formats is not supported for data files having undo segments.
See "Converting Data Between Platforms" for more information.
(Optional) Restore the user-defined tablespaces to read/write mode on the source database.
At the target database, import the database.

When the import is complete, the user-defined tablespaces are in read/write mode.

Example

The tasks for transporting a database are illustrated in detail in this example. This example assumes that the source platform is Solaris and the target platform is Microsoft Windows.

It also assumes that the source platform has the following data files and tablespaces:

Tablespace	Type	Data File
sales	User-defined	/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/sales01.dbf
customers	User-defined	/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/cust01.dbf
employees	User-defined	/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/emp01.dbf
SYSTEM	Administrative	/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/system01.dbf
SYSAUX	Administrative	/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/sysaux01.dbf

This example makes the following additional assumptions:

The target database is a new database that is being populated with the data from the source database. The name of the source database is mydb.
Both the source database and the target database are Oracle Database 19c databases.

Complete the following tasks to transport the database using an export dump file:

Task 1 Generate the Export Dump File

Generate the export dump file by completing the following steps:

Start SQL*Plus and connect to the database as an administrator or as a user who has either the ALTER TABLESPACE or MANAGE TABLESPACE system privilege.

Make all of the user-defined tablespaces in the database read-only.

ALTER TABLESPACE sales READ ONLY;

ALTER TABLESPACE customers READ ONLY;

ALTER TABLESPACE employees READ ONLY;

Invoke the Data Pump export utility as a user with DATAPUMP_EXP_FULL_DATABASE role and specify the full transportable export/import options.
```
SQL> HOST

$ expdp user_name full=y dumpfile=expdat.dmp directory=data_pump_dir 
        transportable=always logfile=export.log

Password: password
```
You must always specify TRANSPORTABLE=ALWAYS, which determines whether the transportable option is used.

This example specifies the following Data Pump parameters:
- The FULL parameter specifies that the entire database is being exported.
- The DUMPFILE parameter specifies the name of the structural information export dump file to be created, expdat.dmp.
- The DIRECTORY parameter specifies the directory object that points to the operating system or Oracle Automatic Storage Management location of the dump file. You must create the DIRECTORY object before invoking Data Pump, and you must grant the READ and WRITE object privileges on the directory to the user running the Export utility. See Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for information on the CREATE DIRECTORY command.
  
  In a non-CDB, the directory object DATA_PUMP_DIR is created automatically. Read and write access to this directory is automatically granted to the DBA role, and thus to users SYS and SYSTEM.
  
  However, the directory object DATA_PUMP_DIR is not created automatically in a PDB. Therefore, when importing into a PDB, create a directory object in the PDB and specify the directory object when you run Data Pump.
  See Also:
  - Oracle Database Utilities for information about the default directory when the DIRECTORY parameter is omitted
  - Oracle Multitenant Administrator's Guide for more information about PDBs
- The LOGFILE parameter specifies the file name of the log file to be written by the export utility. In this example, the log file is written to the same directory as the dump file, but it can be written to a different location.
To perform a full transportable export on an Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.3) or later Oracle Database 11g database, use the VERSION parameter, as shown in the following example:
```
expdp user_name full=y dumpfile=expdat.dmp directory=data_pump_dir 
      transportable=always version=12 logfile=export.log
```
Full transportable import is supported only for Oracle Database 12c and later databases.

Note:

In this example, the Data Pump utility is used to export only data dictionary structural information (metadata) for the user-defined tablespaces. Actual data is unloaded only for the administrative tablespaces (SYSTEM and SYSAUX), so this operation goes relatively quickly even for large user-defined tablespaces.

Check the log file for errors, and take note of the dump file and data files that you must transport to the target database. expdp outputs the names and paths of these files in messages like these:

******************************************************************************
Dump file set for SYSTEM.SYS_EXPORT_TRANSPORTABLE_01 is:
  /u01/app/oracle/admin/mydb/dpdump/expdat.dmp
******************************************************************************
Datafiles required for transportable tablespace SALES:
  /u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/sales01.dbf
Datafiles required for transportable tablespace CUSTOMERS:
  /u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/cust01.dbf
Datafiles required for transportable tablespace EMPLOYEES:
  /u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/emp01.dbf

When finished, exit back to SQL*Plus:
```
$ exit
```

See Also:

Oracle Database Utilities for information about using the Data Pump utility

Task 2 Transport the Export Dump File

Transport the dump file to the directory pointed to by the DATA_PUMP_DIR directory object, or to any other directory of your choosing. The new location must be accessible to the target database.

At the target database, run the following query to determine the location of DATA_PUMP_DIR:

SELECT * FROM DBA_DIRECTORIES WHERE DIRECTORY_NAME = 'DATA_PUMP_DIR';

OWNER      DIRECTORY_NAME   DIRECTORY_PATH
---------- ---------------- -----------------------------------
SYS        DATA_PUMP_DIR    C:\app\orauser\admin\orawin\dpdump\

Task 3 Transport the Data Files for the User-Defined Tablespaces

Transport the data files of the user-defined tablespaces in the database to a place that is accessible to the target database.

In this example, transfer the following data files from the source database to the target database:

sales01.dbf
cust01.dbf
emp01.dbf

If you are transporting the database to a platform different from the source platform, then determine if cross-platform database transport is supported for both the source and target platforms, and determine the endianness of each platform. If both platforms have the same endianness, then no conversion is necessary. Otherwise, you must do a conversion of each tablespace in the database, either at the source database or at the target database.

If you are transporting the database to a different platform, you can execute the following query on each platform. If the query returns a row, then the platform supports cross-platform tablespace transport.

SELECT d.PLATFORM_NAME, ENDIAN_FORMAT
     FROM V$TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM tp, V$DATABASE d
     WHERE tp.PLATFORM_NAME = d.PLATFORM_NAME;

The following is the query result from the source platform:

PLATFORM_NAME                      ENDIAN_FORMAT
---------------------------------- --------------
Solaris[tm] OE (32-bit)            Big

The following is the query result from the target platform:

PLATFORM_NAME                      ENDIAN_FORMAT
---------------------------------- --------------
Microsoft Windows IA (32-bit)      Little

In this example, you can see that the endian formats are different. Therefore, in this case, a conversion is necessary for transporting the database. Use either the GET_FILE or PUT_FILE procedure in the DBMS_FILE_TRANSFER package to transfer the data files. These procedures convert the data files to the target platform's endian format automatically. Transport the data files to the location of the existing data files of the target database. On the UNIX and Linux platforms, this location is typically /u01/app/oracle/oradata/dbname/ or +DISKGROUP/dbname/datafile/. Alternatively, you can use the RMAN CONVERT command to convert the data files. See "Converting Data Between Platforms" for more information.

Note:

If no endianness conversion of the tablespaces is needed, then you can transfer the files using any file transfer method.

Task 4 (Optional) Restore Tablespaces to Read/Write Mode

Make the transported tablespaces read/write again at the source database, as follows:

ALTER TABLESPACE sales READ WRITE;
ALTER TABLESPACE customers READ WRITE;
ALTER TABLESPACE employees READ WRITE;

You can postpone this task to first ensure that the import process succeeds.

Task 5 At the Target Database, Import the Database

Invoke the Data Pump import utility as a user with DATAPUMP_IMP_FULL_DATABASE role and specify the full transportable export/import options.

impdp user_name full=Y dumpfile=expdat.dmp directory=data_pump_dir
   transport_datafiles=
      '/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/sales01.dbf',
      '/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/cust01.dbf',
      '/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/emp01.dbf'
   logfile=import.log

Password: password

This example specifies the following Data Pump parameters:

The FULL parameter specifies that the entire database is being imported in FULL mode.
The DUMPFILE parameter specifies the exported file containing the metadata for the user-defined tablespaces and both the metadata and data for the administrative tablespaces to be imported.
The DIRECTORY parameter specifies the directory object that identifies the location of the export dump file. You must create the DIRECTORY object before invoking Data Pump, and you must grant the READ and WRITE object privileges on the directory to the user running the Import utility. See Oracle Database SQL Language Reference for information on the CREATE DIRECTORY command.

In a non-CDB, the directory object DATA_PUMP_DIR is created automatically. Read and write access to this directory is automatically granted to the DBA role, and thus to users SYS and SYSTEM.

However, the directory object DATA_PUMP_DIR is not created automatically in a PDB. Therefore, when importing into a PDB, create a directory object in the PDB and specify the directory object when you run Data Pump.
See Also:
- Oracle Database Utilities for information about the default directory when the DIRECTORY parameter is omitted
- Oracle Multitenant Administrator's Guide for more information about PDBs
The TRANSPORT_DATAFILES parameter identifies all of the data files to be imported.

You can specify the TRANSPORT_DATAFILES parameter multiple times in a parameter file specified with the PARFILE parameter if there are many data files.
The LOGFILE parameter specifies the file name of the log file to be written by the import utility. In this example, the log file is written to the directory from which the dump file is read, but it can be written to a different location.

After this statement executes successfully, check the import log file to ensure that no unexpected error has occurred.

When dealing with a large number of data files, specifying the list of data file names in the statement line can be a laborious process. It can even exceed the statement line limit. In this situation, you can use an import parameter file. For example, you can invoke the Data Pump import utility as follows:

impdp user_name parfile='par.f'

For example, par.f might contain the following lines:

FULL=Y
DUMPFILE=expdat.dmp 
DIRECTORY=data_pump_dir
TRANSPORT_DATAFILES=
'/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/sales01.dbf',
'/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/cust01.dbf',
'/u01/app/oracle/oradata/mydb/emp01.dbf'
LOGFILE=import.log

Note:

During the import, user-defined tablespaces might be temporarily made read/write for metadata loading. Ensure that no user changes are made to the data during the import. At the successful completion of the import, all user-defined tablespaces are made read/write.
When performing a network database import, the TRANSPORTABLE parameter must be set to always.
When you are importing into a PDB in a CDB, specify the connect identifier for the PDB after the user name. For example, if the connect identifier for the PDB is hrpdb, then enter the following when you run the Oracle Data Pump Import utility:
```
impdp user_name@hrpdb ...
```