Backing Up and Restoring an Oracle ASM Password File in a Disk Group

You can make a backup of the Oracle ASM password file, and if the Oracle ASM password file is lost or the disk group becomes inaccessible, then you can restore the backup password file.

This section describes the steps to back up the Oracle ASM password file to a disk group and the steps to restore the Oracle ASM password file.

The source and target disk groups must have the disk group attribute COMPATIBLE.ASM set to 12.1 or higher.

Locate the password file using the ASMCMD pwget command.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwget --asm
+DATA/orapwasm
```
Back up the password file to another disk group with the pwcopy command.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwcopy +DATA/orapwasm +FRA/my_pwfile_backup
```
Using pwcopy without the --asm or --dbuniquename option does not change the current location of the password file. If necessary after the copy is made, you can set the current password file location with the pwset command.
Verify which password file is in the current location after making a backup with the pwcopy command.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwget --asm
+DATA/orapwasm
```

Verify the backup password file was created.

For example:

ASMCMD [+] > ls +fra/my_pwfile_backup
my_pwfile_backup

To restore the Oracle ASM password file, you can use pwset or pwcopy.

To restore the Oracle ASM password file from the backup and use the existing location, use the pwset command with the --asm option.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwset --asm +FRA/my_pwfile_backup
```
To restore the Oracle ASM password file from the backup to another disk group, use the pwcopy command with the --asm option.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwcopy --asm +FRA/my_pwfile_backup +DATA2/my_orapwasm
```
The --asm option with the pwset and pwcopy command sets the password location for the Oracle ASM instance.
Verify the location of the current password file with the pwget command if you have changed the location.

For example:
```
ASMCMD [+] > pwget --asm
+DATA2/my_orapwasm
```