Data Pump can be used to migrate all or any portion of a database between different releases of the database software. The Data Pump Export VERSION parameter is typically used to do this. This will generate a Data Pump dump file set compatible with the specified version.
The default value for VERSION is COMPATIBLE, indicating that exported database object definitions will be compatible with the release specified for the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter.
In an upgrade situation, when the target release of a Data Pump-based migration is higher than the source, the VERSION parameter typically does not have to be specified because all objects in the source database will be compatible with the higher target release. An exception is when an entire Oracle Database 11g (release 11.2.0.3 or higher) is exported in preparation for importing into Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1) or later. In this case, explicitly specify VERSION=12 in conjunction with FULL=YES in order to include a complete set of Oracle internal component metadata.
In a downgrade situation, when the target release of a Data Pump-based migration is lower than the source, the VERSION parameter should be explicitly specified to be the same version as the target. An exception is when the target release version is the same as the value of the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter on the source system; then VERSION does not need to be specified. In general however, Data Pump import cannot read dump file sets created by an Oracle release that is newer than the current release unless the VERSION parameter is explicitly specified.
Keep the following information in mind when you are exporting and importing between different database releases:
On a Data Pump export, if you specify a database version that is older than the current database version, then a dump file set is created that you can import into that older version of the database. For example, if you are running Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2) and specify VERSION=11.2 on an export, then the dump file set that is created can be imported into an Oracle 11.2 database.
Database privileges that are valid only in Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2) and later (for example, the READ privilege on tables, views, materialized views, and synonyms) cannot be imported into Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1) or earlier. If an attempt is made to do so, then Import reports it as an error and continues the import operation.
If you specify a database release that is older than the current database release, then certain features may be unavailable. For example, specifying VERSION=10.1 causes an error if data compression is also specified for the job because compression was not supported in Oracle Database 10g release 1 (10.1).
Data Pump Import can always read Data Pump dump file sets created by older releases of the database.
When operating across a network link, Data Pump requires that the source and target databases differ by no more than two versions. For example, if one database is Oracle Database 12c, then the other database must be 12c, 11g, or 10g. Note that Data Pump checks only the major version number (for example, 10g,11g, 12c), not specific release numbers (for example, 12.1,10.1, 10.2, 11.1, or 11.2).
The Export VERSION parameter
The Import VERSION parameter
Oracle Database Security Guide for more information about the READ and READ ANY TABLE privileges