You can configure your database for manual archiving only. To operate your database in manual archiving mode, follow the procedure below:
1. Shut down the database instance.
SQL> SHUTDOWN
An open database must first be closed and any associated instances shut down before you can switch the database archiving mode. You cannot change the mode from ARCHIVELOG to NOARCHIVELOG if any data files need media recovery.
2. Back up the database.
Before making any major change to a database, always back up the database to protect against any problems. This will be your final backup of the database in NOARCHIVELOG mode and can be used if something goes wrong during the change to ARCHIVELOG mode.
3. Edit the initialization parameter file to include the initialization parameters that specify the destinations for the archived redo log files.
4. Start a new instance and mount, but do not open, the database.
SQL> STARTUP MOUNT
To enable or disable archiving, the database must be mounted but not open.
5. Change the database archiving mode. Then open the database for normal operations.
SQL> ALTER DATABASE ARCHIVELOG MANUAL; SQL> ALTER DATABASE OPEN;
6. Shut down the database.
SQL> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE
7. Back up the database.
Changing the database archiving mode updates the control file. After changing the database archiving mode, you must back up all of your database files and control file. Any previous backup is no longer usable because it was taken in NOARCHIVELOG mode.
When you operate your database in manual ARCHIVELOG mode, you must archive inactive groups of filled redo log files or your database operation can be temporarily suspended. To archive a filled redo log group manually, connect with administrator privileges. Ensure that the database is either mounted or open. Use the ALTER SYSTEM statement with the ARCHIVE LOG clause to manually archive filled redo log files. The following statement archives all unarchived log files:
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM ARCHIVE LOG ALL;