Autonomous Database Clones

As of today, you can now clone Autonomous Databases – both ADW and ATP – in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

This was an oft requested feature for the service and its great to see that its now available.

You have the choice of having a full clone or metadata only clone created.

Full clones are a full clone of the PDB underlying the database – users, stored procs, tables, partitions, indexes, table stats, DATA – the works…
Metadata clones are as they sound – all the metadata describing the database, objects, tables, users etc – BUT NO DATA.

To create a clone, you need a previously created ADW or ATP:

Next – hover over the ellipsis (three dots) on the right hand side and select “Create Clone”

You’ll then be presented with a familiar dialog box to choose the amount of CPU, Storage the database needs, what the new ADMIN password for the clone will be and what your choice in license (Included or Bring Your Own).

You can also choose the compartment the clone will be created in.

Most importantly, you get the choice (right up top) of the kind of clone you want – FULL CLONE or METADATA CLONE

Once you’ve made you choices, click “Create Autonomous Database Clone” and the platform will go ahead and clone your ADW or ATP just as it would were it provisioning a new Autonomous Database.

When its done, it’ll act and behave just like the source Autonomous Database it was cloned from. You can scale up/down CPU and storage or stop the CPUs all together.

Bear in mind the clone is not linked to the source database .. Any changes you make to the source database stay in the source database.