Finding if RMAN Catalog exists in Oracle 8i

- look under list and report section
http://www.oracle-base.com/articles/8i/RecoveryManager8i.php#ListsAndReports

- look also into the Oracle documentation:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/html/A85455_01/rmanadde.htm

Yes I've scanned through the oracle-base page and the documentation (not just the addendum documentation you gave) even before asking the question.  No luck.  Stopped looking after seeing this: http://www.orafaq.com/forum/mv/msg/124539/346456/0/#msg_346456.  So it looks like there's no way, at least no direct way.  Knowing Oracle it's likely stored in an obscure table/view somewhere, but right now I'm more intent into creating a new catalog (and maybe convincing the client to move out of 8i and upgrade) than searching for it.

I'll keep this question open for a few days in case somebody else can give an input.

Just a thought...

Have you any backup on that db ? If you list your backups you don't have this info ? Do you have access to your rman logs (they should contain connection infos) ?

Cheers,
P

How can I list my backups when I'm not yet connected to any catalog yet =).  Hmmm rman logs would be something we can look at.  Thanks!

- not sure if this work for 8i. in command prompt, type the following :
rman target /
OR
rman target sys/password@sid

- once in rman, type list backup to list all backup if its exist. if any backup is listed, likely catalog and backup have been executed. if not, you can always create a catalog using the documentation i've shared above.
   
rman> list backup;

Thanks OP, but I know all about the RMAN basics.  This question is about finding out if there is a catalog present.

And no, if any backup is listed, it doesn't mean catalog is set up.   If you execute "list backup" without connecting to a catalog, it will use the database control file.  And if prior to that you created a backup without connecting to a catalog, it will be listed there.

Anyway, thanks again for trying to help.

i think if the database is still running, no harm to set the rman and start backup schedule now :)

Thanks Piloute for taking extra effort to confirm this.