9-3. Developing a Windows Batch File to Run RMAN

Problem

You want to develop a Windows batch file to kick off RMAN to back up the database on a Windows server.

Solution

A batch file in Windows to script RMAN commands is similar in concept to a shell script in Unix, but you need to shift directions. In the Unix script, you used the RMAN commands inline in the script. In Windows, you will use a slightly different approach, as shown here:

1. Create a RMAN command file with all the parameters you want.
2. Call the command file from the RMAN command line.

The batch file needs some utilities outside what are available in Windows:

• A utility to get the date and time in the format you want; here we have used a tool called realdate. We give a source for this utility in the "How It Works" section.