Database Reference
In-Depth Information
You will have to follow the typical RDBMS software installation in the RAC environment and complete the
software installation considering the preceding recommendations discussed a little earlier.
Once you successfully complete the software installation, you may then proceed with the database upgrade
process as per your schedule and convenience. Manual and Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA) upgrade methods
will be demonstrated in more detail in the subsequent section.
Database Upgrade
Although there are various methods, processes, and tools to perform an upgrade of an existing database to the new
Oracle release, this section mainly focuses on the manual and DBUA upgrade methods. Just before the upgrade,
it is important for you as a DBA to become familiar with those key enhancements brought into the upgrade procedure
of the new release for a successful database upgrade. The new enhancements with regard to the database upgrade
include the following:
Pre-upgrade tool:
The new
preupgrd.sql
script in Oracle database 12c replaces the previous Oracle release
pre-upgrade tool,
utlu112i.sql
script, which will provide recommendations to fix any pre- and post-database
upgrade chaos that might emerge and cause disruption in the upgrade process. Therefore, pre-database upgrade, you
must execute the script from the Oracle 12c home on the source database to gather the recommendations for pre- and
post-database upgrade. The DBUA tool uses this script by default.
Parallel Upgrade Utility (catctl.pl):
Unlike earlier releases of Oracle, with the introduction of the new Parallel
Upgrade Utility in Oracle 12c, you can now make full use of the system's CPU capacity by initiating the database
upgrade script,
catupgrd.sql,
in parallel. The new Parallel Upgrade Utility (
catctl.pl
) with Oracle 12c greatly
improves the database upgrade runtime by executing the
catupgrd.sh
script in parallel. The DBUA tool takes full
advantage of this utility by running it by default, as the utility is integrated with the DBUA tool. The following example
summarizes the use of the utility when you do a manual database upgrade:
$ORACLE_HOME/per/bin/perl catctl.pl -n 2 -l /tmp catupgrd.sql
The
-n
parameter indicates the range of parallelism: the value must be 0-8.
-l
is the location where the logs will be spooled.
Restart DBUA database upgrades:
Unlike the earlier Oracle releases, the DBUA tool in Oracle 12c has the ability
to resume the database upgrade process from the point where it failed without being started over again. The new
RMAN feature in 12c,
Guaranteed Restore Point
, in this context will help in resuming the failed database upgrades
initiated by the DBUA tool.
Database upgrade compatibility matrix:
Before you start upgrading the existing database to the new release,
it is essential to determine whether the new release will support a direct upgrade of an existing database version or
not. Table
13-2
outlines the database upgrade compatibility matrix of various Oracle releases that support direct and
indirect database upgrades to Oracle 12c.
Table 13-2.
Database Upgrade Compatibility Matrix
Direct Database Upgrade
Indirect Database Upgrade
10.2.0.5
11.1.0.7
11.2.0.2 or later
9.2.0.8 or earlier
10.1.0.5
10.2.0.2,10.0.2.3,10.0.2.4
11.1.0.6
11.2.0.1
