To use Data Pump, a directory must be set up. In the SQL*Plus code example below, we are creating a directory dedicated for Data Pump usage.
create or replace directory datapumpdir as ‘d:datadump’;
With the Data Pump directory set, we can now run the following command line to export data. There are two examples below; the first is a full database export (ie. all schemas), and the second exports only one schema.
expdp username/password@tnsname directory=datapumpdir dumpfile=full%U.dmp filesize=2G logfile=full.log full=y
expdp username/password@tnsname directory=datadumpdir dumpfile=schema%U.dmp filesize=2G logfile=schema.log schemas=scott
Note the %U variable in the dump file name. Because we set the maximum file size at 2gb, we introduced a potential error point: what happens if our dump file exceeds 2gb? Because we set a %U variable at the end of the file name, it means our first dump file will be tagged with a number “01”, eg. full01.dmp. If full01.dmp exceeds 2gb in size, the file full02.dmp will be created automatically. full03.dmp will be created if full02.dmp reaches 2gb in size, and so on.
To import, we need to first make sure the receiving database has the directory set, and then we can run the command:
impdp username/password@tnsname schemas=scott directory=datapumpdir dumpfile=full%U.dmp logfile=full.log
Below is the help file for the expdp command, for our reference.
Export: Release 10.1.0.4.0 - Production on Monday, 24 March, 2008 11:22
Copyright (c) 2003, Oracle. All rights reserved.
The Data Pump export utility provides a mechanism for transferring data objects
between Oracle databases. The utility is invoked with the following command:
Example: expdp scott/tiger DIRECTORY=dmpdir DUMPFILE=scott.dmp
You can control how Export runs by entering the 'expdp' command followed
by various parameters. To specify parameters, you use keywords:
Format: expdp KEYWORD=value or KEYWORD=(value1,value2,...,valueN)
Example: expdp scott/tiger DUMPFILE=scott.dmp DIRECTORY=dmpdir SCHEMAS=scott
or TABLES=(T1:P1,T1:P2), if T1 is partitioned table
USERID must be the first parameter on the command line.
Keyword Description (Default)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACH Attach to existing job, e.g. ATTACH [=job name].
CONTENT Specifies data to unload where the valid keywords are:
(ALL), DATA_ONLY, and METADATA_ONLY.
DIRECTORY Directory object to be used for dumpfiles and logfiles.
DUMPFILE List of destination dump files (expdat.dmp),
e.g. DUMPFILE=scott1.dmp, scott2.dmp, dmpdir:scott3.dmp.
ESTIMATE Calculate job estimates where the valid keywords are:
(BLOCKS) and STATISTICS.
ESTIMATE_ONLY Calculate job estimates without performing the export.
EXCLUDE Exclude specific object types, e.g. EXCLUDE=TABLE:EMP.
FILESIZE Specify the size of each dumpfile in units of bytes.
FLASHBACK_SCN SCN used to set session snapshot back to.
FLASHBACK_TIME Time used to get the SCN closest to the specified time.
FULL Export entire database (N).
HELP Display Help messages (N).
INCLUDE Include specific object types, e.g. INCLUDE=TABLE_DATA.
JOB_NAME Name of export job to create.
LOGFILE Log file name (export.log).
NETWORK_LINK Name of remote database link to the source system.
NOLOGFILE Do not write logfile (N).
PARALLEL Change the number of active workers for current job.
PARFILE Specify parameter file.
QUERY Predicate clause used to export a subset of a table.
SCHEMAS List of schemas to export (login schema).
STATUS Frequency (secs) job status is to be monitored where
the default (0) will show new status when available.
TABLES Identifies a list of tables to export - one schema only.
TABLESPACES Identifies a list of tablespaces to export.
TRANSPORT_FULL_CHECK Verify storage segments of all tables (N).
TRANSPORT_TABLESPACES List of tablespaces from which metadata will be unloaded.
VERSION Version of objects to export where valid keywords are:
(COMPATIBLE), LATEST, or any valid database version.
The following commands are valid while in interactive mode.
Note: abbreviations are allowed
Command Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADD_FILE Add dumpfile to dumpfile set.
ADD_FILE=dumpfile-name
CONTINUE_CLIENT Return to logging mode. Job will be re-started if idle.
EXIT_CLIENT Quit client session and leave job running.
HELP Summarize interactive commands.
KILL_JOB Detach and delete job.
PARALLEL Change the number of active workers for current job.
PARALLEL=.
START_JOB Start/resume current job.
STATUS Frequency (secs) job status is to be monitored where
the default (0) will show new status when available.
STATUS=[interval]
STOP_JOB Orderly shutdown of job execution and exits the client.
STOP_JOB=IMMEDIATE performs an immediate shutdown of the
Data Pump job.
Below is the help text for impdp command.
Import: Release 10.1.0.4.0 - Production on Monday, 24 March, 2008 11:26
Copyright (c) 2003, Oracle. All rights reserved.
The Data Pump Import utility provides a mechanism for transferring data objects
between Oracle databases. The utility is invoked with the following command:
Example: impdp scott/tiger DIRECTORY=dmpdir DUMPFILE=scott.dmp
You can control how Import runs by entering the 'impdp' command followed
by various parameters. To specify parameters, you use keywords:
Format: impdp KEYWORD=value or KEYWORD=(value1,value2,...,valueN)
Example: impdp scott/tiger DIRECTORY=dmpdir DUMPFILE=scott.dmp
USERID must be the first parameter on the command line.
Keyword Description (Default)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATTACH Attach to existing job, e.g. ATTACH [=job name].
CONTENT Specifies data to load where the valid keywords are:
(ALL), DATA_ONLY, and METADATA_ONLY.
DIRECTORY Directory object to be used for dump, log, and sql files.
DUMPFILE List of dumpfiles to import from (expdat.dmp),
e.g. DUMPFILE=scott1.dmp, scott2.dmp, dmpdir:scott3.dmp.
ESTIMATE Calculate job estimates where the valid keywords are:
(BLOCKS) and STATISTICS.
EXCLUDE Exclude specific object types, e.g. EXCLUDE=TABLE:EMP.
FLASHBACK_SCN SCN used to set session snapshot back to.
FLASHBACK_TIME Time used to get the SCN closest to the specified time.
FULL Import everything from source (Y).
HELP Display help messages (N).
INCLUDE Include specific object types, e.g. INCLUDE=TABLE_DATA.
JOB_NAME Name of import job to create.
LOGFILE Log file name (import.log).
NETWORK_LINK Name of remote database link to the source system.
NOLOGFILE Do not write logfile.
PARALLEL Change the number of active workers for current job.
PARFILE Specify parameter file.
QUERY Predicate clause used to import a subset of a table.
REMAP_DATAFILE Redefine datafile references in all DDL statements.
REMAP_SCHEMA Objects from one schema are loaded into another schema.
REMAP_TABLESPACE Tablespace object are remapped to another tablespace.
REUSE_DATAFILES Tablespace will be initialized if it already exists (N).
SCHEMAS List of schemas to import.
SKIP_UNUSABLE_INDEXES Skip indexes that were set to the Index Unusable state.
SQLFILE Write all the SQL DDL to a specified file.
STATUS Frequency (secs) job status is to be monitored where
the default (0) will show new status when available.
STREAMS_CONFIGURATION Enable the loading of Streams metadata
TABLE_EXISTS_ACTION Action to take if imported object already exists.
Valid keywords: (SKIP), APPEND, REPLACE and TRUNCATE.
TABLES Identifies a list of tables to import.
TABLESPACES Identifies a list of tablespaces to import.
TRANSFORM Metadata transform to apply (Y/N) to specific objects.
Valid transform keywords: SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES and STORAGE.
ex. TRANSFORM=SEGMENT_ATTRIBUTES:N:TABLE.
TRANSPORT_DATAFILES List of datafiles to be imported by transportable mode.
TRANSPORT_FULL_CHECK Verify storage segments of all tables (N).
TRANSPORT_TABLESPACES List of tablespaces from which metadata will be loaded.
Only valid in NETWORK_LINK mode import operations.
VERSION Version of objects to export where valid keywords are:
(COMPATIBLE), LATEST, or any valid database version.
Only valid for NETWORK_LINK and SQLFILE.
The following commands are valid while in interactive mode.
Note: abbreviations are allowed
Command Description (Default)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTINUE_CLIENT Return to logging mode. Job will be re-started if idle.
EXIT_CLIENT Quit client session and leave job running.
HELP Summarize interactive commands.
KILL_JOB Detach and delete job.
PARALLEL Change the number of active workers for current job.
PARALLEL=.
START_JOB Start/resume current job.
START_JOB=SKIP_CURRENT will start the job after skipping
any action which was in progress when job was stopped.
STATUS Frequency (secs) job status is to be monitored where
the default (0) will show new status when available.
STATUS=[interval]
STOP_JOB Orderly shutdown of job execution and exits the client.
STOP_JOB=IMMEDIATE performs an immediate shutdown of the
Data Pump job.