We are discussing the management of Oracle Database 12c in Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c. In my previous blog post on this topic, we looked at setting up and scheduling RMAN full or incremental backups of single or multiple PDBs, or the entire CDB via Enterprise Manager.
As the savvy DBA would know, Enterprise Manager also helps a lot in setting up Oracle Data Guard Standby Databases. Rather than do things the manual way and create a standby database by going through all the manual steps, it makes sense to use a powerful wizard to set up a standby database.  There are fewer errors, and it is a lot faster this way since you don’t miss out any step.
As a bit of personal history, I started using standby database archive log transport and apply hand-written scripts in Oracle 7, and the more automated Oracle Data Guard in Oracle 8i where to my recollection we had the first dgmgrl – command line interface for Data Guard.
When Enterprise Manager 9i came out, I immediately experimented with using Enterprise Manager to set up Data Guard standby databases, and was pleasantly surprised with the ease of use, and the saving of time. There was no more need to write scripts. Once Enterprise Manager 10g was released, the set up and management of Data Guard became easier and streamlined, and I continued its use for production databases in the corporate I was working for. I have never looked back, or regretted having done so.
And now, for the newest version of the Oracle Database - 12c, you can do the same. As can be seen by the screenshot below, when adding a standby database (via Availability..Add Standby Database from the Database Target menu), the standby database wizard does not continue unless all the Pluggable databases are open. The wizard is obviously now CDB and PDB aware and can create a Standby Database from a CDB. (Note that standbys can only be created at the CDB level.)
Oracle Database 12c has a new kind of standby known as Far Sync. An Oracle Data Guard Far Sync instance is actually a remote Oracle Data Guard destination that accepts redo from the primary database. The redo is then shipped to other members of the Oracle Data Guard configuration.
 A Far Sync instance has a control file, receives redo into standby redo logs, and also archives those logs to local archived redo logs. However, a Far Sync instance does not have user data files. As such it cannot be opened for access, cannot run redo apply, and can never become a primary database or even any type of standby database.
Far Sync instances are part of the Oracle Active Data Guard Far Sync feature, which requires an Oracle Active Data Guard license.  But as it turns out, creation of Far Sync instances is not currently supported in Enterprise Manager 12c. However, externally created Far Sync instances will show up on the Data Guard Administration page.
No worries. Even if Far Sync cannot be set up using Enterprise Manager, note that Normal Data Guard, Active Data Guard, and Snapshot Standbys can still be set up. For a detailed technical explanation on setting up Oracle Data Guard using Enterprise Manager, please refer to one of my well-read OTN articles “Set Up and Manage Oracle Data Guard using Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c”.
This blog post was originally posted at this link.