Move controlfiles to different locations

You first need to find out if you are using PFILE or SPFILE for your database. This can be done with the following command:

SQL> SELECT NAME,VALUE FROM V$PARAMETER WHERE NAME LIKE 'SPFILE' ORDER BY NAME;

If you see a path to an SPFILE, then you're using one. If no path is shown, you're on a PFILE. However, you should know this without having to query your database.

For PFILE, you edit the PFILE itself to rename the control files.

For SPFILE, run this command:

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET control_files='new/location/control01.ctl', -
> 'new/otherlocation/control02.ctl' SCOPE=SPFILE;

To verify the changes, run:

SQL> SELECT NAME FROM V$CONTROLFILE;