ORA-19809: limit exceeded for recovery files

What does it mean?

The space allocated to the Fast Recovery Area (FRA) (db_recovery_file_dest_size) is full. With no room left for archived logs, flashback logs and backups, Oracle cannot create new recovery files and the database may hang.

Why does it happen?

Archived logs in the FRA accumulated because they were not regularly backed up and purged; flashback log usage grew; or the allocated size is too small for the actual workload. Seen together with archiving errors such as ORA-16038.

How to fix it

Review FRA usage: SELECT * FROM v$recovery_file_dest; and SELECT * FROM v$flash_recovery_area_usage; Delete unneeded archived logs with RMAN: DELETE ARCHIVELOG ALL BACKED UP 1 TIMES TO DISK; (with Data Guard, first verify they were applied on the standby; CONFIGURE ARCHIVELOG DELETION POLICY TO APPLIED ON ALL STANDBY is recommended) or, as a permanent fix, increase the size: ALTER SYSTEM SET db_recovery_file_dest_size = 50G SCOPE=BOTH; Set up an RMAN job that backs up archived logs regularly.