Setting Flash Recovery Are a Location and Size

The flash recovery area location and size are specified by the initialization parameters DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST and DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE.

To change the flash recovery area location and size:

Using SQL Command Line, log in and connect to the database as SYSDBA.

See "Logging In and Connecting to the Database as SYSDBA" for instructions.
To change the size of the flash recovery area, enter the following command at the SQL Command Line prompt:
```
ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = new_size;
```
where new_size can be of the format nK (kilobytes), nM (megabytes) or nG (gigabytes).

For example, to set the flash recovery area size to 20 gigabytes, enter the following command:
```
ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST_SIZE = 20G;
```
To change the location of the flash recovery area, enter the following command at the SQL Command Line prompt:
```
ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = 'new_path';
```
where new_path is an absolute path to the new directory for the flash recovery area. The path must exist. (The ALTER SYSTEM command cannot create directories.)

For example, in Windows, to set the flash recovery location to the FRA directory on the E: drive, enter the following command:
```
ALTER SYSTEM SET DB_RECOVERY_FILE_DEST = 'E:\FRA';
```
Enter the following command to exit SQL Command Line:
```
EXIT
```

Note:

After you change the location of the flash recovery area, Recovery Manager (RMAN) can still use the backups and archived logs in the old location until they become obsolete. The old backups cannot be moved to the new flash recovery area location.

Do not manually delete the contents of the old flash recovery area using operating system utilities. Instead, make the backups in the old flash recovery area location obsolete by backing up your database twice after you change the location of the flash recovery area.

Each time that you back up the database as described in "Backing Up the Database", obsolete backups and archived logs are deleted so that only the two most recent backups and accompanying archived redo logs are retained. Thus, after the new flash recovery area contains two recent backups, all files are deleted from the old location.

Setting Flash Recovery Area Location and Size

Setting Flash Recovery Are a Location and Size