Oracle RAC - beoratab (Backup Exec agent)

category: solutionz · date: 2016-12-31 · updated: 2026-10-02 · author: LALA

Oracle RAC Solution · Config document · referenced from Backup Exec agent

The Backup Exec agent's own list of the Oracle and ASM instances of a node, in the format of /etc/oratab. It was copied from /etc/oratab and the database line was corrected so that its first field is the ORACLE_SID of the instance on that node, not the name of the database.

Item	Value
Path on the host	`/etc/VRTSralus/beoratab`
Shown here	`oradb01`
Deployed on	`oradb01` and `oradb02`, with the differences below
Created with	`cp /etc/oratab /etc/VRTSralus/beoratab`, as root
Owner and mode	`chown root:beoper`, `chmod g+rw`
Agent version at the time	`VRTSralus` 14.2.1180-3142 (Backup Exec 15, 14.2 FP5)

The file

The notes show the file as an original and a changed pair of lines, and it is reproduced that way; the two marker comments are translated. Whether the original lines stayed in the file as comments or are only the notes' way of showing the change, the notes do not say. The lines that count are the last two.

ini

# ORIGINAL
# +ASM1:/data/u01/app/grid11204:N                 # line added by Agent
# clsopdb:/data/u01/app/oracle/db11204:N          # line added by Agent

# CHANGED
+ASM1:/data/u01/app/grid11204:N                   # line added by Agent
clsopdb1:/data/u01/app/oracle/db11204:N           # line added by Agent

What changes on the second node

Host	Line	Value
`oradb01`	ASM instance	`+ASM1:/data/u01/app/grid11204:N`
`oradb02`	ASM instance	`+ASM2:/data/u01/app/grid11204:N`
`oradb01`	Database instance	`clsopdb1:/data/u01/app/oracle/db11204:N`
`oradb02`	Database instance	`clsopdb2:/data/u01/app/oracle/db11204:N`

Reading the lines

Field	Example	Meaning
First	`clsopdb1`	The instance, used by the agent as `ORACLE_SID`
Second	`/data/u01/app/oracle/db11204`	The Oracle home of that instance: the database home for the database, the Grid Infrastructure home for ASM
Third	`N`	The start flag of `/etc/oratab`, copied unchanged
Comment	`# line added by Agent`	Copied from `/etc/oratab`; the agent meant is Oracle's, not the backup agent

The ASM lines needed no change: /etc/oratab already names the ASM instance of the node. Only the database line carries the database name there, and AgentConfig later offered exactly the corrected name, clsopdb1, as the instance to configure.

The database is clsopdb in this file and everywhere in the Backup Exec notes, while the installer answers and the srvctl output of the database chapters name it clsdb. The notes do not explain the difference; see Backup Exec server and RAC backup.

Checked against Backup Exec 25.1

As built	Today
`/etc/VRTSralus/beoratab`, a corrected copy of `/etc/oratab`	The documents of Backup Exec 25.1 do not mention `oratab` or this file; the instance name is typed into the Agent Utility, in upper case
`clsopdb` in `/etc/oratab`, `clsopdb1` needed	Oracle documents the rule: for RAC the entry in `oratab` is the unique name of the database with its home and `N`, written by the database agent. It is not the instance

No official description of beoratab could be read today, so whether a current agent still uses the file is open.