# Common parameters for RMAN procedures
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.CommonDBATasks.CommonParameters"></a>

You can use procedures in the Amazon RDS package `rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util` to perform tasks with RMAN. Several parameters are common to the procedures in the package. The package has the following common parameters.


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| Parameter name | Data type | Valid values | Default | Required | Description | 
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | 
| `p_directory_name` | varchar2 | A valid database directory name. | — | Yes | The name of the directory to contain the backup files. | 
| `p_label` | varchar2 | `a-z`, `A-Z`, `0-9`, `'_'`, `'-'`, `'.'` | — | No | A unique string that is included in the backup file names. The limit is 30 characters.  | 
| `p_owner` | varchar2 | A valid owner of the directory specified in `p_directory_name`. | — | Yes | The owner of the directory to contain the backup files. | 
| `p_tag` | varchar2 | `a-z`, `A-Z`, `0-9`, `'_'`, `'-'`, `'.'` | NULL | No | A string that can be used to distinguish between backups to indicate the purpose or usage of backups, such as daily, weekly, or incremental-level backups.<br />The limit is 30 characters. The tag is not case-sensitive. Tags are always stored in uppercase, regardless of the case used when entering them.<br />Tags don't need to be unique, so multiple backups can have the same tag.<br />If you don't specify a tag, then RMAN assigns a default tag automatically using the format `TAG{{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}}`, where {{YYYY}} is the year, {{MM}} is the month, {{DD}} is the day, {{HH}} is the hour (in 24-hour format), {{MM}} is the minutes, and {{SS}} is the seconds. The date and time refer to when RMAN started the backup.<br />For example, a backup might receive a tag `TAG20190927T214517` for a backup that started on 2019-09-27 at 21:45:17.<br />The `p_tag` parameter is supported for the following Amazon RDS for Oracle DB engine versions:[See the AWS documentation website for more details](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Appendix.Oracle.CommonDBATasks.CommonParameters.html) | 
| `p_compress` | boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` | `FALSE` | No | Specify `TRUE` to enable BASIC backup compression.<br />Specify `FALSE` to disable BASIC backup compression. | 
| `p_include_archive_logs` | boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` | `FALSE` | No | Specify `TRUE` to include archived redo logs in the backup.<br />Specify `FALSE` to exclude archived redo logs from the backup.<br />If you include archived redo logs in the backup, set retention to one hour or greater using the `rdsadmin.rdsadmin_util.set_configuration` procedure. Also, call the `rdsadmin.rdsadmin_rman_util.crosscheck_archivelog` procedure immediately before running the backup. Otherwise, the backup might fail due to missing archived redo log files that have been deleted by Amazon RDS management procedures. | 
| `p_include_controlfile` | boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` | `FALSE` | No | Specify `TRUE` to include the control file in the backup.<br />Specify `FALSE` to exclude the control file from the backup. | 
| `p_optimize` | boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` | `TRUE` | No | Specify `TRUE` to enable backup optimization, if archived redo logs are included, to reduce backup size.<br />Specify `FALSE` to disable backup optimization. | 
| `p_parallel` | number | A valid integer between `1` and `254` for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition (EE)<br />`1` for other Oracle Database editions | `1` | No | Number of channels. | 
| `p_rman_to_dbms_output` | boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` | `FALSE` | No | When `TRUE`, the RMAN output is sent to the `DBMS_OUTPUT` package in addition to a file in the `BDUMP` directory. In SQL\*Plus, use `SET SERVEROUTPUT ON` to see the output.<br />When `FALSE`, the RMAN output is only sent to a file in the `BDUMP` directory.  | 
| `p_section_size_mb` | number | A valid integer | `NULL` | No | The section size in megabytes (MB).<br />Validates in parallel by dividing each file into the specified section size.<br />When `NULL`, the parameter is ignored. | 
| `p_validation_type` | varchar2 | `'PHYSICAL'`, `'PHYSICAL+LOGICAL'` | `'PHYSICAL'` | No | The level of corruption detection.<br />Specify `'PHYSICAL'` to check for physical corruption. An example of physical corruption is a block with a mismatch in the header and footer.<br />Specify `'PHYSICAL+LOGICAL'` to check for logical inconsistencies in addition to physical corruption. An example of logical corruption is a corrupt block. |