Starting Up an Oracle Database STARTUP NOMOUNT This starts the instance without mounting the database.

When a database is started in this mode, the parameter file is read, and the background processes and memory structures are initiated, but they are not attached or communicating with the disk structures of the database. When the instance is in this state, the database is not available for use. If a database is started in NOMO NT mode, only the background processes and instance are started. The instance is not associated with any database. This state is used to create a database or to create a database control file. !t times, a database may not be able to go to the ne"t mode #called MO NT mode$ and remains in NOMO NT mode. %or e"ample, this can occur if Oracle has a problem accessing the control file structures, which contain important information to continue with the startup process. If these structures are damaged or not available, the database startup process cannot continue until the problem is resolved. If &T!'T ( NOMO NT fails, the most likely cause is that the parameter file cannot be read or is not in the default location. Other causes include O& resource limits that prevent memory or process allocation. STARTUP MOUNT This performs all the work of the &T!'T ( NOMO NT option but also attaches and interacts with the database structures. !t this point, Oracle obtains information from the control files that it uses to locate and attach to the main database structures. The control file contains the name of the database, all the data file names, and the redo log files associated with the database. )ertain administrative tasks can be performed while the database is in this mode, including renaming data files, enabling or disabling archive logging, renaming and adding redo log files, and recovering the database. STARTUP OPEN This is the default startup mode if no mode is specified on the &T!'T ( command line. &T!'T ( O(*N performs all the steps of the &T!'T ( NOMO NT and &T!'T ( MO NT options. This option makes the database available to all users. When opening the database, you can use a couple of options. &T!'T ( O(*N '*!+ ON,- opens the database in read.only mode. &T!'T ( O(*N '*)O/*' opens the database and performs a database recovery.

!lthough you typically use the &T!'T ( NOMO NT, &T!'T ( MO NT, and &T!'T ( O(*N options, a few other startup options are available that you can use in certain situations0 &T!'T ( %O')* and &T!'T ( '*&T'I)T. These are discussed ne"t. STARTUP FORCE -ou can use the &T!'T ( %O')* startup option if you are e"periencing difficulty starting the database in a normal fashion. %or e"ample, if a database server lost power and the database stopped abruptly, it can leave the database in a state in which a &T!'T ( %O')* startup is necessary. This type of startup should not normally be re1uired but can be used if a normal startup does not work. What is also different about &T!'T ( %O')* is that it can be issued no matter what mode the database is in. &T!'T ( %O')* does a shutdown abort and then restarts the database. STARTUP RESTRICT The &T!'T ( '*&T'I)T option starts up the database and places it in O(*N mode but gives access only to users who have the '*&T'I)T*+ &*&&ION privilege. -ou might want to open a database using the '*&T'I)T*+ option when you want to perform maintenance on the database while it is open but ensure that users cannot connect and perform work on the database. -ou might also want to open the database using the '*&T'I)T*+ option to perform database e"ports or imports and guarantee that no users are accessing the system during these activities. !fter you are done with your work, you can disable the restricted session, !,T*' &-&T*M +I&!2,* '*&T'I)T*+ &*&&ION, so everyone can connect to the database. General Syntax: STARTUP [NOMOUNT|MOUNT|OPEN] [PFILE SPFILE!] [RESTRICT] S"#tting D$%n an Oracle Database S&UTDO'N NORMAL ! normal shutdown is the default type of shutdown that Oracle performs if no shutdown options are provided. -ou need to be aware of the following when doing a normal shutdown0 3. No new Oracle connections are allowed from the time the &4 T+OWN NO'M!, command is issued. 5. The database will wait until all users are disconnected to proceed with the shutdown process. 2ecause Oracle waits until all users are disconnected before shutting down, you can find yourself waiting indefinitely for a client who may be connected but is no longer doing any work or may have left for the day. This can re1uire e"tra work, identifying which connections are still active and either notifying the users to disconnect or forcing the client disconnections by killing their session. This type of shutdown is also known as a clean shutdown because when you start Oracle again, no recovery is necessary.

S&UTDO'N TRANSACTIONAL ! transactional shutdown of the database is a bit more aggressive than a normal shutdown. The characteristics of the transactional shutdown are as follows0 3. No new Oracle connections a NN re allowed from the time the &4 T+OWN T'!N&!)TION!, command is issued. 5. No new transactions are allowed to start from the time the &4 T+OWN T'!N&!)TION!, command is issued. 6. Once all active transactions on the database have completed, all client connections are disconnected. ! transactional shutdown does allow client processes to complete prior to the disconnection. This can prevent a client from losing work and can be valuable especially if the database has long.running transactions that need to be completed prior to shutdown. This type of shutdown is also a clean shutdown and does not re1uire any recovery on a subse1uent startup. S&UTDO'N IMMEDIATE The immediate shutdown method is the ne"t most aggressive option. !n immediate shutdown is characteri7ed as follows0 3. No new Oracle connections are allowed from the time the &4 T+OWN IMM*+I!T* command is issued. 5. !ny uncommitted transactions are rolled back. Thus, a user in the middle of a transaction will lose all the uncommitted work. 6. Oracle does not wait for clients to disconnect. !ny unfinished transactions are rolled back, and their database connections are terminated. This type of shutdown works well if you want to perform unattended or scripted shutdowns of the database and you need to ensure that the database will shut down without getting hung up during the process by clients who are connected. *ven though Oracle is forcing transactions to roll back and disconnecting users, an immediate shutdown is still a clean shutdown. No recovery activity takes place when Oracle is subse1uently restarted. S&UTDO'N A(ORT ! shutdown abort is the most aggressive type of shutdown and has the following characteristics0 No new Oracle connections are allowed from the time the &4 T+OWN !2O'T command is issued. !ny &8, statements currently in progress are terminated, regardless of their state. ncommitted work is not rolled back. Oracle disconnects all client connections immediately upon the issuance of the &4 T+OWN !2O'T command. +o not use &4 T+OWN !2O'T regularly. se it only if the other options for database shutdown fail or if you are e"periencing some type of database problem that is preventing Oracle from performing a clean shutdown. This type of shutdown is not a clean shutdown and re1uires instance recovery

3. 5. 6. 9.

when the database is subse1uently started. Instance recovery is performed automatically when you do the startup:no manual intervention re1uired. +uring instance recovery the uncommitted changes are rolled back from the database, and committed changes are written to the data files. Oracle uses the redo log files and undo segments to construct the instance recovery information.