Transportable Tablespaces

Transportable tablespaces were introduced in Oracle 8i to allow whole tablespaces to be copied between databases in the time it takes to copy the datafiles. In Oracle 8i one of the restrictions was that the block size of both databases must be the same. In Oracle 9i the introduction of multiple block sizes has removed this restriction. In this article I will run through a simple example of transporting a tablespace between two databases.

Setup

For this example I'm going to create a new tablespace, user and table to work with in the source database.

CONN / AS SYSDBA

CREATE TABLESPACE test_data
  DATAFILE '/u01/app/oracle/oradata/DB11G/test_data01.dbf'
  SIZE 1M AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 1M;

CREATE USER test_user IDENTIFIED BY test_user
  DEFAULT TABLESPACE test_data
  TEMPORARY TABLESPACE temp
  QUOTA UNLIMITED ON test_data;

GRANT CREATE SESSION, CREATE TABLE TO test_user;

CONN test_user/test_user

CREATE TABLE test_tab (
  id          NUMBER,
  description VARCHAR2(50),
  CONSTRAINT test_tab_pk PRIMARY KEY (id)
);

INSERT /*+ APPEND */ INTO test_tab (id, description)
SELECT level,
       'Description for ' || level
FROM   dual
CONNECT BY level <= 10000;

COMMIT;

Source Database

For a tablespace to be transportable it must be totally self contained. This can be checked using the DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK procedure. The TS_LIST parameter accepts a comma separated list of tablespace names and the INCL_CONSTRAINTS parameter indicates if constraints should be included in the check.

CONN / AS SYSDBA
EXEC SYS.DBMS_TTS.TRANSPORT_SET_CHECK(ts_list => 'TEST_DATA', incl_constraints => TRUE);

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

SQL>

The TRANSPORT_SET_VIOLATIONS view is used to check for any violations.

SELECT * FROM transport_set_violations;

no rows selected

SQL>

Assuming no violations are produced we are ready to proceed by switching the tablespace to read only mode.

SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE test_data READ ONLY;

Tablespace altered.

SQL>

Next we export the tablespace metadata using the export (expdp or exp) utility. If you are using 10g or above you should use the expdp utility. This requires a directory object pointing to a physical directory with the necessary permissions on the database server.

CONN / AS SYSDBA
CREATE OR REPLACE DIRECTORY temp_dir AS '/tmp/';
GRANT READ, WRITE ON DIRECTORY temp_dir TO system;

We can now export the tablespace metadata.

$ expdp userid=system/password directory=temp_dir transport_tablespaces=test_data dumpfile=test_data.dmp logfile=test_data_exp.log

If you are using a version prior to 10g, you do not need the directory object and your command would look something like this.

$ exp userid='system/password as sysdba' transport_tablespace=y tablespaces=test_data file=test_data.dmp log=test_data_exp.log

Copy the datafile to the appropriate location on the destination database server. Also copy the dump file to a suitable place on the destination database server. You may use binary FTP or SCP to perform this copy.

The source tablespace can now be switched back to read/write mode.

ALTER TABLESPACE test_data READ WRITE;

Tablespace altered.

SQL>

Destination Database

Create any users in the destination database that owned objects within the tablespace being transported, assuming they do not already exist.

CONN / AS SYSDBA

CREATE USER test_user IDENTIFIED BY test_user;
GRANT CREATE SESSION, CREATE TABLE TO test_user;

Now we import the metadata into the destination database. If you are using 10g or above you should use the impdp utility. This requires a directory object pointing to a physical directory with the necessary permissions on the database server.

CONN / AS SYSDBA
CREATE OR REPLACE DIRECTORY temp_dir AS '/tmp/';
GRANT READ, WRITE ON DIRECTORY temp_dir TO system;

We can now import the tablespace metadata.

$ impdp userid=system/password directory=temp_dir dumpfile=test_data.dmp logfile=test_data_imp.log transport_datafiles='/u01/app/oracle/oradata/DB11GB/test_data01.dbf'

If you are using a version prior to 10g, you do not need the directory object and your command would look something like this.

$ imp userid='system/password as sysdba' transport_tablespace=y datafiles='/u01/app/oracle/oradata/DB11GB/test_data01.dbf' tablespaces=test_data file=test_data.dmp log=test_data_imp.log

Switch the new tablespace into read write mode.

SQL> ALTER TABLESPACE test_data READ WRITE;

Tablespace altered.

SQL>

The tablespace is now available in the destination database.

SELECT tablespace_name, plugged_in, status
FROM   dba_tablespaces
WHERE  tablespace_name = 'TEST_DATA';

TABLESPACE_NAME                PLU STATUS
------------------------------ --- ---------
TEST_DATA                      YES ONLINE

1 row selected.

SQL>