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There are a number of database maintenance tasks that require that a multi-user database be shut down. In addition, if your environment allows you to have regular downtime for database maintenance, you can shut down a multi-user database periodically. In either case, you should choose a time when there is little or no database activity and inform your users ahead of time. You can then start a single-user session to perform your maintenance tasks.

There are two kinds of shutdown you can perform:

  • Unconditional—This is the most common method. The database is shutdown with no warning or grace period. Any open transactions are aborted.
  • Emergency—This is used if an unconditional shutdown gets hung up or freezes. It is harsher than an unconditional shutdown because it actually crashes the database. If there were any active transactions, crash recovery is performed when the database is restarted in multi-user or single-user mode. You should perform an emergency shutdown only as a last resort.

You can shut down a multi-user database using either the PROSHUT or PROMON utility.