Oracle 11g Cold Restore?

Question

Is there a way to restore an Oracle 11g instance from raw data files only? What is the minimum amount of information needed to reconstruct the config files?

Answer 1

Assuming you've shutdown the database cleanly (ie not a SHUTDOWN ABORT), you need to backup...

The Datafiles:

select name from v$datafile

The Database Control Files:

select name from v$controlfile

The Online Redo Logs:

select member from v$logfile

You'll also want to backup your init.ora or spfile

Reference: http://www.adp-gmbh.ch/ora/admin/backup_recovery/cold_backup.html