Archiving

Add tables to Archiving, and Scops copies their old rows into an archive database and, if you choose, deletes them from the source.

Before you begin

• View Archiving opens the page. Manage Archiving sets up databases and tables. Run Archiving stops, starts, archives now and re-syncs. A retry needs both.
• Add the source and the archive database to Scops. Save the archive account, which owns the archive tables, as a DB credential.
• The archive account needs CREATE TABLE and a tablespace quota. The account of the link needs SELECT on the tables, and DELETE on the tables that delete. See Feature grants.

Archive a database

1. Open Add-ons › Archiving and click Archive a Database.

2. Select Archive from, the source, and Archive into, the archive database.

3. Select the Archive account.

4. Type the Link, a database link in the archive account, and click Test Link.

5. If the link does not exist, click Create Link. Select Scops's Monitoring Account or Another Account, then click Create Link.

6. Set When and the other fields. See Settings.

7. Click Save. Then add the tables.

Create Link needs CREATE DATABASE LINK in the archive account, and replaces a link with the same name.

Add tables

1. Click the database. On Tables, click Add Tables.

2. On Choose, select a Schema and tick the tables.

3. On Settings, set the rule and the archive. See Settings. To archive the tables that point at these tables, turn on Archive the tables that point at these.

4. On Review, check the rule column and the archive table of each table. Linked tables are under the table that they point at.

5. Click the Add button, for example Add 3 Tables. Scops checks the new tables at once.

Check a table

A table runs only after a check passes. The check reads both databases and changes nothing.

1. Click Check All on Tables, or Check in the More menu of a table. The buttons of a row show when you move the pointer over it.

2. Open the row of the table. A problem shows at once. To see the other findings, click their link, such as "1 warning · 2 notes".

3. Correct each problem and check again. For a missing grant, the check gives the GRANT.

A problem makes the table Blocked, for example a link that does not connect, or a VPD policy that hides rows from the link. Other findings tell you what to expect, such as a DELETE trigger that fires for each deleted row.

Archive linked tables

When a table deletes after archiving, the tables that point at it with a foreign key must go with it. If not, they point at rows that do not exist.

1. In Add Tables, on Settings, turn on Archive the tables that point at these. Delete after archiving turns it on for you.

2. On Review, the linked tables are under the leading table. To change them, click the link button of the leading table.

3. Tick the tables under Tables that point at.

4. Click Safe Order: the deepest tables first, the leading table last.

5. Click Save.

For a table that is already on the database, click Linked Tables in the More menu of the leading table.

A group has up to 50 tables. If one table of the group is stopped or blocked, the whole group waits.

Set when archiving runs

1. Click Settings on the database.

2. Select When, and set its times on the clock of the Scops server.

3. Click Save.

When a window closes, the running chunk finishes. The rest waits for the next window.

Archive now

Click Archive Now on the database. A pass starts within a minute, whatever the window or the schedule.

Re-sync a table

A re-sync copies the rows that the archive does not have, for example rows that came late. On a table that deletes, it also moves the old rows that are still on the source.

Click Re-Sync in the More menu of the table, or set its Re-sync setting.

A table with No index does not re-sync, because Scops cannot find the rows that the archive does not have. If one table of a group has no index, the group does not re-sync.

Retry a failed unit

1. Open the table on Tables, or the failed unit on History, to see its error.

2. Correct the cause, for example add space to the archive tablespace.

3. Click Retry. The next pass copies the remaining chunks.

A chunk that fails gets up to 3 tries, then its unit fails. No space on the archive database, such as ORA-01653, fails the unit at once. A chunk that rolls back because the source was busy is not a failure. If a database stops answering, the unit does not fail: Archiving waits and continues by itself when the database answers again.

Stop and start

Start starts again. To kill a copy, Scops needs ALTER SYSTEM on both databases.

Remove a table or a database

Click Remove in the More menu of a table. If it leads a group, its linked tables go too. To remove all tables of a database, click Remove This Database in its settings.

What you see

A unit is a partition, or the rows that the rule selects. Scops cuts a unit into chunks, and each chunk is one transaction. Open a table to see its archive table, its check and its latest 50 units. A failed unit comes first, with its error. To show the archive table in the list, add Into with Columns.

History keeps the units of 90 days, and their chunks for 14 days. In Rows archived per day, a dot marks a day with a failure.

All times on the Archiving page use the clock of the Scops server.

Settings

The first four settings belong to the database. The others belong to each table: set them in Add Tables, or with the settings button of a table. Load, Re-sync, Wait after a partition ends, Indexes and Tablespace are under Advanced.

Related

Updated November 3, 2026