Configuring Backup Policy Settings

You can set the backup policies that govern control file and server parameter file backups, tablespaces to exclude from an entire database backup, and the backup retention policy.

To configure the backup policy settings:

Connect Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN) to the target database as described in "Connecting to the Target Database Using RMAN."
Configure RMAN to automatically backup the control files and the server parameter as described in "Configuring Automatic Backups for the Control File and Server Parameter File".
Configure backup optimization to save space in the fast recovery area. Optimization excludes unchanged files, such as read-only files and offline data files, that were previously backed up.
```
CONFIGURE BACKUP OPTIMIZATION ON;
```
Configure the retention policy to specify how long the backups and archived redo logs must be retained for media recovery.
The following command specifies that the backups and archived logs must be retained for 31 days.
```
CONFIGURE RETENTION POLICY TO RECOVERY WINDOW OF 31 DAYS;
```
Specify that archived logs can be automatically deleted only when they have been backed up to tape or are obsolete based on the retention policy by using the following command.
```
CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO NONE;
```
Enable block change tracking as described in "Enabling Block Change Tracking".
Optionally, specify the tablespaces that must be excluded from backups.
Excluding certain tablespaces from backups, such as read-only tablespaces or tablespaces that contain temporary or test data, enables you to save space.

The following command excludes the tablespace example from backups.
```
CONFIGURE EXCLUDE FOR TABLESPACE example;
```