RMAN-06034: At Least 1 Channel Must Be Allocated to Execute This Command

Error Message


RMAN-06034: at least 1 channel must be allocated to execute this command

Cause

During an active database duplication in RMAN, channels must be allocated for both:

The Target database (source)
The Auxiliary database (destination)

If channels are not allocated explicitly, RMAN throws this error during the duplication process.

Resolution

You must allocate separate channels for:

Target (production database)
Auxiliary (new/cloned database)

In the example below, we allocate 4 channels each with distinct names for both target and auxiliary.

Correct RMAN Command:


rman target sys/sys123@PROD auxiliary sys/sys123@TEST

RUN {
  -- Allocate Auxiliary Channels
  ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL C1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL C2 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL C3 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL C4 DEVICE TYPE DISK;

  -- Allocate Target Channels
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL d1 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL d2 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL d3 DEVICE TYPE DISK;
  ALLOCATE CHANNEL d4 DEVICE TYPE DISK;

  -- Duplicate Command
  DUPLICATE DATABASE TO arch12
    FROM ACTIVE DATABASE
    NOFILENAMECHECK;
}

Explanation:

Component	Purpose
`ALLOCATE AUXILIARY CHANNEL`	Allocates disk channels for the clone (auxiliary) database
`ALLOCATE CHANNEL`	Allocates disk channels for the source (target) database
`DUPLICATE DATABASE`	Clones the database over active connection, without needing backup files

Allocating multiple channels improves performance (parallelizes the data transfer during duplication).

Key Points:

Always allocate at least one channel for both Target and Auxiliary.
You can allocate multiple channels to speed up large database cloning.
Channels must be uniquely named (c1, c2, d1, d2, etc.).
The NOFILENAMECHECK clause is needed when the source and destination use the same file structure.

Please do like and subscribe to my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@foalabs If you like this post please follow,share and comment

RMAN-06034: At Least 1 Channel Must Be Allocated to Execute This Command