1 Introduction to Upgrading Oracle Database

1.1 Overview of Oracle Database Upgrade Tools and Processes

Upgrading transforms an existing Oracle Database environment (including installed components and associated applications) into an Oracle Database 12c environment. The data dictionary for the database is upgraded to the new release. Upgrading does not directly affect user data; no data is touched, changed, or moved during an upgrade.

Migrating data refers to moving data from one Oracle Database into another database previously created for migrating or moving the data. You migrate data when you need to move your database environment to a new hardware or operating system platform, or to a new character set. Migrating does not include upgrading to the latest release. The upgrade process is handled separately after you migrate the data.

The upgrade steps in Oracle Database Upgrade Guide apply to all operating systems, except where operating system-specific details might be needed. In this case you are instructed to refer to the Oracle Database Installation Guide for your operating system.

This section contains these topics:

• Upgrade and Data Migration Methods and Processes

• Scripts for Upgrading Oracle Database

• About Log File Location and DIAGNOSTIC_DEST

1.2 Where to Find the Latest Information About Upgrading Oracle Database

Through its support website, Oracle provides late-breaking updates, discussions, and best practices about pre-upgrade requirements, upgrade processes, post-upgrade, compatibility, and interoperability.

To find the latest information about Oracle Database releases, go to My Oracle Support at http://support.oracle.com. You can search on note IDs or key words like "Database Upgrade." Help for using My Oracle Support is provided at http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E25290_01/index.htm.

1.3 Oracle Database Releases That Support Direct Upgrade

You may perform a direct upgrade to Oracle Database 12c if your current Oracle Database is release 10.2.0.5, 11.1.0.7, or release 11.2.0.2 or later. If your current Oracle Database is earlier than release 10.2.0.5, or is release 11.2.0.1, then directly upgrading to Oracle Database 12c is not supported. In this case, you are required to upgrade to an intermediate release before upgrading to the new Oracle Database 12c release, or you must choose an alternative upgrade method such as export/import.

1.4 Major Steps in the Upgrade Process for Oracle Database

Detailed instructions for upgrading an existing Oracle database to the new Oracle Database 12c release are provided in the chapters in Oracle Database Upgrade Guide.

The following steps summarize the major procedures performed during the upgrade process:

• Step 1: Prepare to Upgrade Oracle Database

• Step 2: Test the Upgrade Process for Oracle Database

• Step 3: Test the Upgraded Test Oracle Database

• Step 4: Prepare and Preserve the Production Oracle Database

• Step 5: Upgrade the Production Oracle Database

• Step 6: Tune and Adjust the New Production Oracle Database

Figure 1-1 illustrates the major steps in the upgrade process.

Figure 1-1 Upgrade Steps Workflow for Oracle Database

Description of "Figure 1-1 Upgrade Steps Workflow for Oracle Database"

Step 1: Prepare to Upgrade Oracle Database

• Become familiar with the features of the new release of Oracle Database.

• Determine the upgrade path to the new release.

• Choose an upgrade method.

• Choose an Oracle home directory for the new release.

• Develop a testing plan.

• Prepare a backup strategy.

  Note:

  During the upgrade, consider running multiple releases of the database software so you can use the existing release as your production environment while you test the new release. See "About Running Multiple Oracle Releases".

Step 2: Test the Upgrade Process for Oracle Database

• Perform a test upgrade using a test database. The test upgrade should be conducted in an environment created for testing and should not interfere with the actual production database.

Step 3: Test the Upgraded Test Oracle Database

• Perform the tests that you planned in Step 1 on the test database that you upgraded to the new release of Oracle Database.

• Review the results, noting anomalies in the tests.

• Investigate ways to correct any anomalies that you find and then implement the corrections.

• Repeat Step 1, Step 2, and the first parts of Step 3, as necessary, until the test upgrade is successful and works with any required applications.

Chapter 2, "Preparing to Upgrade Oracle Database" provides more information about Steps 1 through 3.

Step 4: Prepare and Preserve the Production Oracle Database

• Prepare the current production database as appropriate to ensure that the upgrade to the new release of Oracle Database is successful.

• Schedule the downtime required for backing up and upgrading the production database.

• Back up the current production database. Perform a full or an incremental backup, as necessary, to ensure your database is protected against data loss.

Chapter 2, "Preparing to Upgrade Oracle Database" provides more information about Step 4.

Step 5: Upgrade the Production Oracle Database

• Upgrade the production database to the new release of Oracle Database.

  Chapter 3, "Upgrading Oracle Database" describes Step 5 when using DBUA or when performing a manual upgrade.

• After the upgrade, perform a full backup of the production database and perform other post-upgrade tasks.

  Chapter 4, "Post-Upgrade Tasks for Oracle Database" describes the backup procedure for Step 5 after the upgrade, and other post-upgrade tasks for Step 6.

Step 6: Tune and Adjust the New Production Oracle Database

• Tune the new production database for Oracle Database 12c. The new production database should perform to the same standards, or better, than the database before the upgrade.

  Chapter 4, "Post-Upgrade Tasks for Oracle Database" describes these adjustments.

• Determine which features of Oracle Database 12c to use, and update your applications accordingly.

• Develop new database administration procedures as needed.

• Do not upgrade production users to the new release until all applications have been tested and operate properly.

Chapter 5, "Upgrading Applications After Upgrading Oracle Database" provides information for updating applications.

1.5 About Oracle Database Release Numbers

Oracle Database Upgrade Guide describes moving between different releases of Oracle Database. The first segment in the release number indicates a major release number. Maintenance releases of Oracle Database are denoted by a change to the second segment of a release number. Patch releases are denoted by a change to the fourth segment.

Figure 1-2 illustrates each part of a release number and what it represents.

Figure 1-2 Example of an Oracle Release Number

Description of "Figure 1-2 Example of an Oracle Release Number"

1.6 About Running Multiple Oracle Releases

You can run different releases of Oracle Database on the same computer at the same time. However, you must observe the following conditions when simultaneously using multiple releases:

• An Oracle Database release must be installed in a new Oracle home that is separate from earlier releases of Oracle.

  There cannot be multiple releases for each Oracle home. Oracle recommends that you adopt an Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) when creating multiple Oracle homes. See "Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) and Oracle Database Installations."

• In order to run in production, the database server must be consistent with the major, maintenance, and patch release number. Being consistent with the major release number is not enough.

• A later release of Oracle Database server can access an earlier database, but only for upgrade purposes. For example, Oracle Database 12c database server can access an Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2.0.5) database, provided that it is started up in upgrade mode.

The following topics provide general information about running multiple releases of Oracle Database:

• Databases in Multiple Oracle Homes on the Same Computer

• Databases in Multiple Oracle Homes on Separate Computers

1.7 Compatibility and Interoperability between Oracle Database Releases

Compatibility and interoperability issues may arise because of differences between Oracle Database releases. These differences might affect general database administration and existing applications.

The following topics discuss compatibility and interoperability:

• What Is Oracle Database Compatibility?

• What Is Interoperability for Oracle Database Upgrades?

1.8 Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) and Oracle Database Installations

Oracle recommends the Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) standard for Oracle Database installations. The OFA standard is a set of configuration guidelines for efficient and reliable Oracle databases, which results in more streamlined maintenance.

OFA provides the following benefits:

• Organizes large amounts of complicated software and data on disk to avoid device bottlenecks and poor performance

• Facilitates routine administrative tasks, such as software and data backup functions, which are often vulnerable to data corruption

• Alleviates switching among multiple Oracle databases

• Adequately manages and administers database growth

• Helps eliminate fragmentation of free space in the data dictionary, isolates other fragmentation, and minimizes resource contention

If you are not currently using the OFA standard, then switching to the OFA standard involves modifying your directory structure and relocating your database files.

1.9 Converting 32-bit Oracle Database to 64-bit Oracle Database

If you are installing 64-bit Oracle Database software but were previously using a 32-bit Oracle Database installation, the database is automatically converted to 64-bit during the upgrade to Oracle Database 12c.

1.10 About Rolling Upgrades for Oracle ASM and Oracle RAC Databases

Rolling upgrades work for Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) (collectively known as Oracle Grid Infrastructure), but not for the Oracle Database software. You cannot upgrade to a new major release, maintenance release, or patch release of Oracle Database using the rolling upgrade process in an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environment. You can, however, apply most database patches (sometimes referred to as one-off patches) and all database patch set updates and critical patch updates (PSUs and CPUs) using a rolling patch install in an Oracle RAC environment.

1.11 Moving From Standard Edition to Enterprise Edition of Oracle Database

If you have a Standard Edition database at a release earlier than the new release of Oracle Database, you must first upgrade as described in Chapter 3, "Upgrading Oracle Database.". Then you can move to an Oracle Enterprise Edition database by installing Oracle Enterprise Edition software. To move from one edition to another, you must use the same release of Oracle Database for both Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition. For example, both releases must be release 12.1 (or another release level), but must be the same for both editions in order to perform the change.

To change your existing Standard Edition database to an Enterprise Edition database:

1. Ensure that the release number of your Oracle Standard Edition server software is the same release as your Oracle Enterprise Edition server software.

2. Shut down your database.

3. If your operating system is Windows, then stop all Oracle services, including the OracleServiceSID Oracle service, where SID is the instance name. See Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows for information about stopping Oracle Database services.

4. Back up all database files under the current Oracle home that you must keep. See Oracle Database Backup and Recovery User's Guide for information about backing up the database.

5. Deinstall the Standard Edition server software. (This step deletes all existing database files that reside under the Oracle home.)

   Run the deinstallation tool from the Oracle home. The deinstallation tool is available as a separate command (deinstall) under the Oracle home directory after installation. It is located under ORACLE_HOME\deinstall.

   To deinstall an Oracle home on Windows, use the following syntax:

   setup.exe –deinstall –home path_of_Oracle_home_to_be_deinstalled
   

   To deinstall an Oracle home on Linux and UNIX, use the following syntax:

   $ ./runInstaller –deinstall –home path_of_Oracle_home_to_be_deinstalled
   

   Note:

   Starting with Oracle Database 12c, the deinstallation tool is integrated with the database installation media. You can run the deinstallation tool using runInstaller on Linux and UNIX or setup.exe on Windows with the -deinstall and -home options from the base directory of the Oracle Database, Oracle Database Client, or Oracle Grid Infrastructure installation media. See Oracle Database Installation Guide for your operating system.

6. Install Oracle Enterprise Edition server software using Oracle Universal Installer (OUI).

   Select the same Oracle home that was used for the Standard Edition that you uninstalled, or select a new Oracle home. During the installation, be sure to select Enterprise Edition. When prompted, choose Software Only from the Database Configuration screen.

7. If you have an existing database, then point your ORACLE_SID to this pre-existing database.

   If your existing database is on Windows, then you must re-create the DB service using ORADIM.

   See Also:

   Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows for information about Oracle servcies on Windows

8. Start up your database.

9. Run the catalog.sql and catproc.sql scripts to ensure that all Enterprise Edition objects are created.

Your database is now converted to Oracle Database Enterprise Edition. You are ready to upgrade the database to Oracle Database 12c. Proceed to Chapter 2, "Preparing to Upgrade Oracle Database," to continue with the upgrade process.

1.12 Moving from Enterprise Edition to Standard Edition of Oracle Database

To properly convert from an Enterprise Edition database to a Standard Edition database you must perform an Export/Import operation. Oracle recommends using the Standard Edition Export utility to export the data. If you only install Standard Edition software, then some data dictionary objects become invalid and create problems when maintaining the database.

Enterprise Edition contains data dictionary objects that are not available in Standard Edition. The Export/Import operation does not introduce data dictionary objects specific to the Enterprise Edition, because the SYS schema objects are not exported. After the Import in the Standard Edition database, you are only required to drop user schemas related to Enterprise Edition features.

1.13 Moving from Oracle Database Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) to Oracle Database

Oracle Database Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) is an entry-level edition of Oracle Database that is quick to download, simple to install and manage. Oracle provides Oracle Database XE free, with certain licensing restrictions, for you to develop, deploy, and distribute. Oracle Database XE makes it easy to upgrade to the other editions of Oracle without costly and complex migrations. Oracle Database XE can be installed on any size computer with any number of CPUs, with one database per computer. Support is provided through a free Oracle online forum monitored by Oracle employees and community experts.

To upgrade Oracle Database 11g Express Edition (Oracle Database XE) to Oracle Database 12c, you must install the new Oracle Database software on the same system as Oracle Database XE and use DBUA to perform the upgrade.

1. Install release 11202 Oracle Database XE with root user.

   /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/xe 
   

2. Start SQL Plus and perform the following steps to avoid prerequisite checks warnings and to ensure successful database upgrade during DBUA interactive phase.

   Set ORACLE_HOME
   Set ORACLE_SID 
   SQL> alter system set job_queue_processes=64; 
   SQL> alter database datafile '/u01/app/oracle/oradata/XE/system.dbf'
    autoextend on next 640k maxsize unlimited; 
   

3. As root user, in the release 11.2.0.2 Oracle Database XE home, give 777 permissions to the following directories, subdirectories, and files before upgrade.

   cd /u01/app/oracle
   $ls
   admin diag fast_recovery_area oradata product 
   

   For the admin directory give 777 permissions to the following directories and files.

   chmod 777 admin
   cd admin
   chmod 777 XE
   chmod 777 *
   $ls
   adump  dbs  dpdump  pfile 
   
   cd dpdump
   chmod 777 dp.log 
   
   cd ..
   cd adump
   chmod 777 * ( Change permissions of *.aud) 
   

   For the diag directory give 777 permissions as follows. Run this from the Oracle home; then change to diag.

   cd diag
   chmod -R 777 * 
   

   For fast_recovery_area directory give 777 permissions to the following directories and files. The fast_recovery_area folder is under Oracle home. Change back to the Oracle home first, then run the following commands.

   chmod 777 fast_recovery_area
   cd fast_recovery_area
   chmod 777 XE
   cd XE
   chmod 777 onlinelog 
   

   For oradata give 777 permissions to the following directory. The oradata folder is under Oracle home. Change back to the Oracle home first, then run the following command.

   chmod -R 777 oradata 
   

   For the Oracle product directory give 777 permissions to the following directories and files.

   chmod 777 11.2.0
   cd 11.2.0
   chmod 777 xe
   cd xe
   chmod 777 dbs
   cd dbs
   chmod 777 * ( changes permissions of these files hc_XE.dat  init.ora  lkXE  
   @ orapwXE  spfileXE.ora)
   

4. Under the directory where you installed Oracle Database 12c, create the log directory (for example: /scratch/logdir , and give 777 permissions to logdir ) where the log files will be written during database upgrade.

   Also create the backup folder (for example: /scratch/backup, and give 777 permissions to the backup folder ) where backup files will be stored.

5. Start DBUA with following parameter. See "Upgrading with Oracle Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA)" for more information about running DBUA.

   ./dbua -logDir /scratch/logdir -backupLocation /scratch/backup 
   

   When prompted, create the new listener with a new name and port because the upgrade cannot use the existing listener since it was created by root user.

6. Provide the required inputs during the DBUA interactive phase and click Finish when complete.