Impdp and Expdp Example02 Job Control

Oracle Data Pump is a high-performance data import and export tool provided by Oracle Database. It replaces the legacy exp and imp utilities and offers better performance, scalability, and security. In this article, we will focus on the control and management of Oracle Data Pump jobs using impdp and expdp commands.

Impdp and expdp provide various options to control the behavior of the jobs. Some of the important options are:

1. JOB_NAME: Specifies a unique name for the job. It can be used to identify and control the job execution.
2. DIRECTORY: Specifies the directory object that represents the file system directory on the server where the dump file or log file is located.
3. TABLES: Specifies the tables to be exported or imported. It can be used to filter the data transfer to specific tables.
4. MODE: Specifies the mode of operation for the job. It can be set to either REDIRECT or NORMAL. In REDIRECT mode, the job redirects data to a dump file instead of importing or exporting directly to the database. This mode is useful for offline operations.
5. STATUS: Specifies the status of the job execution. It can be set to either VALIDATE, PRESERVE, or DELETE. The VALIDATE option checks the integrity of the dump file without importing or exporting data. The PRESERVE option preserves the dump file after successful completion. The DELETE option deletes the dump file after successful completion.
6. BADFILE: Specifies the bad file that stores error messages encountered during the job execution.
7. LOGFILE: Specifies the log file that stores detailed information about the job execution.
8. BUFFER: Specifies the buffer size used for data transfer during import and export operations.
9. PARFILE: Specifies the parameter file that contains additional options and parameters for impdp and expdp operations.

To control an impdp or expdp job, you can use the following steps:

1. Identify the job name: Use the JOB_NAME option to specify a unique name for your job. This name will be used to identify and control the job execution later.
2. Define input and output parameters: Set the necessary options like DIRECTORY, TABLES, MODE, BADFILE, LOGFILE, BUFFER, and PARFILE based on your requirements.
3. Start the job: Execute impdp or expdp command with the necessary parameters to start the job. For example:

expdp my_directory/my_dumpfile parfile=my_parameters.par

1. Monitor job progress: You can monitor the progress of the job by checking the log file or by using Data Pump’s monitoring tools like expdpctl or DPM (Data Pump Manager).
2. Control job execution: If needed, you can control the execution of the job at any time using impdpctl or expdpctl commands or by directly interacting with the job in interactive mode using Control-C. Interactive mode allows you to issue additional commands like ADD_FILE, KILL_JOB, STOP_JOB, etc., to manage the job execution.
3. Handle errors: If any errors occur during job execution, they will be logged in the bad file specified using the BADFILE option. You can review these error messages and take appropriate action to resolve them if needed.
4. Clean up resources: After successful completion or cancellation of the job, you should clean up any resources used during the operation, such as deleting dump files or log files.