Can you EXCLUDE tablespaces from Full Transportable Export/Import?

Question: Can you EXCLUDE one or more tablespaces when doing a Full Transportable Export/Import?

First of all, this question came up already twice in real world customer migrations. So it’s not a totally unusual question. In one case a tablespace called USERS got precreated and some data did get stored. In the second case we did use RMAN incremental backups to migrate a very large database (>100TB) and some tablespaces weren’t part of the backup set.

I did brainstorm with Roy – and I dug into my notes from some years ago when the question was raised to me as part of a migration project to Oracle 12.1.0.1.

Roy and I had basically 2 main approaches to validate.

  1. Run expdp with FULL=Y and TRANSPORTABLE=ALWAYS but EXCLUDE some tablespaces
  2. Run expdp with FULL=Y and TRANSPORTABLE=ALWAYS but EXCLUDE some tablespaces during impdp only

In addition for the customer case where some tablespaces where initially not included into the RMAN Incremental Backupset strategy, the files for these tablespaces can be copied (and converted) in addition. The impdp parameter file will need to take care of it.

First of all, here’s my test setup. The two tablespaces MIKE1 and MIKE2 are the ones I will treat separately.

SQL> select status, tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces;

STATUS	  TABLESPACE_NAME
--------- ------------------------------
ONLINE	  SYSTEM
ONLINE	  SYSAUX
ONLINE	  UNDOTBS1
ONLINE	  TEMP
READ ONLY USERS
ONLINE	  MIKE1
ONLINE	  MIKE2

SQL> create directory oradump as '/home/oracle';
SQL> grant read, write on directory oradump to SYSTEM;

SQL> EXEC SYS.DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK(ts_list => 'MIKE1, MIKE2', incl_constraints => TRUE);
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL> SELECT * FROM transport_set_violations;
no rows selected

Case 1 – Run expdp but EXCLUDE some tablespaces

l will use this par file:

directory=oradump
dumpfile=exp.dmp
logfile=exp.log
transportable=always
full=y
metrics=y
version=12
exclude=table_statistics,index_statistics
exclude=tablespace:"IN ('MIKE1', 'MIKE2')"

Now invoking Data Pump with expdp:

$ expdp system/oracle parfile=exp.par

Export: Release 11.2.0.4.0 - Production on Tue May 16 13:17:41 2017
Copyright (c) 1982, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

Connected to: Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.4.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, Oracle Label Security, OLAP, Data Mining
and Real Application Testing options
Starting "SYSTEM"."SYS_EXPORT_FULL_01":  system/******** parfile=ex.par 
Startup took 1 seconds
Estimate in progress using BLOCKS method...
Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/PLUGTS_FULL/FULL/PLUGTS_TABLESPACE
Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/PLUGTS_FULL/PLUGTS_BLK
     Completed 1 PLUGTS_BLK objects in 1 seconds
Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/EARLY_OPTIONS/VIEWS_AS_TABLES/TABLE_DATA
     Estimated 1 TABLE_DATA objects in 1 seconds

[...]

     Completed 1 DATABASE_EXPORT/EARLY_OPTIONS/VIEWS_AS_TABLES/TABLE_DATA objects in 0 seconds
     Completed 30 DATABASE_EXPORT/NORMAL_OPTIONS/TABLE_DATA objects in 1 seconds
     Completed 5 DATABASE_EXPORT/NORMAL_OPTIONS/VIEWS_AS_TABLES/TABLE_DATA objects in 0 seconds
     Completed 59 DATABASE_EXPORT/SCHEMA/TABLE/TABLE_DATA objects in 0 seconds
Master table "SYSTEM"."SYS_EXPORT_FULL_01" successfully loaded/unloaded
******************************************************************************
Dump file set for SYSTEM.SYS_EXPORT_FULL_01 is:
  /home/oracle/exp.dmp
******************************************************************************
Datafiles required for transportable tablespace USERS:
  /u02/oradata/FTEX/users01.dbf
Job "SYSTEM"."SYS_EXPORT_FULL_01" successfully completed at Tue May 16 13:18:37 2017 elapsed 0 00:00:56

As next step I copy the datafile(s) to the destination’s directory and configure my import par file:

directory=oradump
dumpfile=exp.dmp
logfile=imp.log
metrics=y
logtime=all
transport_datafiles='/u02/oradata/DB12/users01.dbf'

And importing into my new destination database with impdp:

$ impdp system/oracle parfile=imp.par

Import: Release 12.1.0.2.0 - Production on Tue May 16 13:52:46 2017
Copyright (c) 1982, 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Connected to: Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.1.0.2.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Advanced Analytics and Real Application Testing options
16-MAY-17 13:57:08.681: Startup took 0 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:09.299: Master table "SYSTEM"."SYS_IMPORT_TRANSPORTABLE_01" successfully loaded/unloaded
16-MAY-17 13:57:09.544: Source time zone is +02:00 and target time zone is +01:00.
16-MAY-17 13:57:09.546: Starting "SYSTEM"."SYS_IMPORT_TRANSPORTABLE_01": system/******** parfile=imp.par
16-MAY-17 13:57:09.596: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/PRE_SYSTEM_IMPCALLOUT/MARKER

[...]

16-MAY-17 13:57:45.160: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/END_PLUGTS_BLK
16-MAY-17 13:57:45.238: Completed 1 PLUGTS_BLK objects in 0 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:45.243: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/FINAL_POST_INSTANCE_IMPCALLOUT/MARKER
16-MAY-17 13:57:47.868: Completed 1 MARKER objects in 2 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:47.875: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/SCHEMA/POST_SCHEMA/PROCACT_SCHEMA
16-MAY-17 13:57:48.368: Completed 2 PROCACT_SCHEMA objects in 1 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:48.373: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/AUDIT
16-MAY-17 13:57:48.499: Completed 29 AUDIT objects in 0 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:48.504: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/POST_SYSTEM_IMPCALLOUT/MARKER
16-MAY-17 13:57:49.501: Completed 1 MARKER objects in 1 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:49.552: Completed 30 DATABASE_EXPORT/NORMAL_OPTIONS/TABLE_DATA objects in 0 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:49.558: Completed 5 DATABASE_EXPORT/NORMAL_OPTIONS/VIEWS_AS_TABLES/TABLE_DATA objects in 2348 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:49.567: Completed 57 DATABASE_EXPORT/SCHEMA/TABLE/TABLE_DATA objects in 2349 seconds
16-MAY-17 13:57:49.628: Job "SYSTEM"."SYS_IMPORT_TRANSPORTABLE_01" completed with 44 error(s) at Tue May 16 13:57:49 2017 elapsed 0 00:00:41

I silently ignore the errors here. Some additional EXCLUDE statements will make this run flawless. Main reason for the errors is simply that with a 11.2.0.4 source database not everything gets excluded internally what should be excluded.

Anyhow, Case 1 looks ok.

SQL> select tablespace_name, status from dba_tablespaces;

TABLESPACE_NAME 	       STATUS
------------------------------ ---------
SYSTEM			       ONLINE
SYSAUX			       ONLINE
UNDOTBS1		       ONLINE
TEMP			       ONLINE
USERS			       ONLINE

But there are some details which may cause trouble. Quick look into the log file:

16-MAY-17 13:57:15.553: ORA-39083: Object type USER:"MIKE1" failed to create with error:
ORA-00959: tablespace 'MIKE1' does not exist
Failing sql is:
 CREATE USER "MIKE1" IDENTIFIED BY VALUES 'S:67D1974017CA6517A6A9BA1655182FEA352800F1460501DCD29602A666B3;CF5B00ED3595B543' DEFAULT TABLESPACE "MIKE1" TEMPORARY TABLESPACE "TEMP"
16-MAY-17 13:57:15.553: ORA-39083: Object type USER:"MIKE2" failed to create with error:
ORA-00959: tablespace 'MIKE2' does not exist
Failing sql is:
 CREATE USER "MIKE2" IDENTIFIED BY VALUES 'S:8915BFF218BB5A49958F5C12F4ED161BBB9EC71A54E1FFA471F94002F8C2;335808EE482DFA17' DEFAULT TABLESPACE "MIKE2" TEMPORARY TABLESPACE "TEMP"

Sure, as tablespace MIKE1 does not exist, user MIKE1 who had the default tablespace MIKE1 can’t be created either. This is ok in my case. But I’d like to point out that you have to pay close attention to such errors.

And of course, the same applies to objects in this tablespace(s) as well:

16-MAY-17 13:57:44.958: Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/SCHEMA/TABLE/TABLE
16-MAY-17 13:57:45.068: ORA-39083: Object type TABLE:"MIKE1"."TEST1" failed to create with error:
ORA-00959: tablespace 'MIKE1' does not exist
Failing sql is:
CREATE TABLE "MIKE1"."TEST1" ("OBJ#" NUMBER NOT NULL ENABLE, "DATAOBJ#" NUMBER, "OWNER#" NUMBER NOT NULL ENABLE, "NAME" VARCHAR2(30 BYTE) NOT NULL ENABLE, "NAMESPACE" NUMBER NOT NULL ENABLE, "SUBNAME" VARCHAR2(30 BYTE), "TYPE#" NUMBER NOT NULL ENABLE, "CTIME" DATE NOT NULL ENABLE, "MTIME" DATE NOT NULL ENABLE, "STIME" DATE NOT NULL ENABLE, "STATUS" NUMBER NOT NULL ENABLE, "R

Be careful!

Case 2 – Run expdp but EXCLUDE some tablespaces during impdp

Parameter files look like this for exp.par:

directory=oradump
dumpfile=exp.dmp
logfile=exp.log
transportable=always
full=y
metrics=y
version=12
exclude=table_statistics,index_statistics

and for imp.par:

directory=oradump
dumpfile=exp.dmp
logfile=imp.log
metrics=y
logtime=all
exclude=tablespace:"IN ('MIKE1', 'MIKE2')"
transport_datafiles='/u02/oradata/DB12/users01.dbf

But the result unfortunately is different. While the expdp runs smoothly of course, the impdp fails:

$ impdp parfile=imp.par

Import: Release 12.2.0.1.0 - Production on Thu May 16 17:18:54 2017

Copyright (c) 1982, 2017, Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.

Connected to: Oracle Database 12c Enterprise Edition Release 12.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
ORA-39002: invalid operation
ORA-39352: Wrong number of TRANSPORT_DATAFILES specified: expected 3, received 1

Case 2 does not work.

Summary

You can EXCLUDE one or more tablespaces when doing a Full Transportable Export/Import but you have to be careful. My approach from above is simple and does not have any dependencies. Be aware thst the Full Transportable Export/Import will try to create the users and objects – and will fail of course if the tablespace is not part of the operatio

–Mike

Share this: