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Oracle errors

ORA-00257: archiver error

ORA-00257: Archiver error. Connect AS SYSDBA only until resolved.

The database cannot archive its redo logs, almost always because the archive destination or the fast recovery area is full. Sessions hang and new logins fail until space is freed. Back up and remove archive logs with RMAN, or enlarge the destination.

What ORA-00257 means

In ARCHIVELOG mode a redo log cannot be reused until it has been archived. If the archiver cannot write, the database runs out of reusable redo logs and stops accepting changes. Older releases word the message as archiver error. Connect internal only, until freed.

Common causes of ORA-00257

How to fix ORA-00257

  1. See how full the recovery area is: V$RECOVERY_FILE_DEST and V$RECOVERY_AREA_USAGE.
  2. Back up the archive logs and delete them with RMAN. Do not delete them from the operating system: Oracle would still count them, and logs that were never backed up would break recoverability.
  3. If you need room immediately and the disk has space, raise DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE.
  4. Then find out why the backups stopped, and add an alert on archive destination usage.

ORA-00257 example

How full is the recovery area?

SELECT name, space_limit, space_used, space_reclaimable
  FROM v$recovery_file_dest;

Back up and clear archive logs with RMAN:

RMAN> BACKUP ARCHIVELOG ALL DELETE INPUT;

Or give the recovery area more room:

ALTER SYSTEM SET db_recovery_file_dest_size = 200G SCOPE = BOTH;

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ORA-01652ORA-01653ORA-03113 All Oracle errors →

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Oracle documentation for ORA-00257. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. SQLlightspeed is not affiliated with Oracle.