V$ARCHIVED_LOG

v$archived_log is a dynamic view to display archive log information in control file. I recently found that many archived logs in the view are very old. Checking initial parameter control_file_record_keep_time and it is default at 7 days. So why these old archive log records are still there especially the status of tehm is “D”, which stands for deleted after RMAN backup. Did some research on metalink but no luck. Then found an article from asktom that explains it very well. According to Tom, control_file_record_keep_time is the minimum number of day archive logs records would keep in control file. If database generated a lot of archive fle during the control_file_record_keep_time, the control file would grow to store all the archive log records. However, the control file never shrinks and as the result, it would take long time to overwritten old archive log records for a low activity database.