Overview of Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 to Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 Infrastructure
Gen1 is the first generation of Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer, which is deployed in conjunction with Gen1 Oracle Cloud At Customer (OCC) as Control Plane deployed in the customer data center. Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 is managed from Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Control Plane, which runs in OCI public cloud.
Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer Gen2 Infrastructure: If
you are running Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 on X6 or X7 infrastructure, with
this offering Oracle will replace Gen1 X6 or X7 infrastructure with new Gen2
Exadata Cloud@Customer Infrastructure, and provide instructions to use
Oracle Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) to migrate your databases on the
Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 platform to Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2
platform. Replacing your Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 X6 or X7 infrastructure
and migrating your databases to the Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2 platform is
called an out-of-place cloud upgrade.
Scope for Exadata Cloud@Customer
Gen1 to Gen2 Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade π
Exadata Cloud@Customer X6 and X7 System Shapes are eligible for the
out-of-place upgrade.
Databases on Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 which participate in a Data
Guard configuration are supported by migration. In this case, the primary should be
migrated to Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2 using the regular procedure. Once migration
is done, the Data Guard configuration should be set up on the Exadata Cloud@Customer
Gen2 side using the regular Gen2 procedure.
Upgrade from Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 to Gen2 is done only when
the software versions are compatible on the source and target systems.
Oracle Database software: The source and target must be at
the same major version. For example, both the source and target must be
at version 19c. However, the target can have a higher patch level than
the source. For example, the patch versions can be 19.3 for the source
and 19.8 for the target. The corresponding equivalence for 12.2 is, both
source and the target must be at Oracle Database software version
12.2.0.1, but the patch levels can be 2019JulyRU on the
source and 2020OctRU on the target.
Non-Container Database (CDB) to non-CDB.
Multitenant deployment (CDB/PDB) to Multitenant deployment
(CDB/PDB).
Single-instance Oracle Database: After migration,
single-instance database source will be converted to Oracle Real
Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database on the target.
Permitted differences in software versions include:
Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Exadata software
Guest VM operating system
DBaaS tools
Oracle Databases created on Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 using backend
tools, dbaasapi and dbaascli, are supported as well besides Oracle Databases created
using the Gen1 Console.
All supported versions of Oracle Database on Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1
are supported and will be migrated to the same major version on the target. The Gen2
environment will be on the latest supported version of Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2
for the Guest VM operating system and Oracle Grid Infrastructure.
Note that the following are not in scope for the out-of-place cloud upgrade
to new Gen2 hardware:
Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 deployment using Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1
features not yet available on Gen2 are not expected to use the upgrade procedures
until the relevant feature or equivalent is available on Gen2.
Only Exadata Cloud@Customer upgrade is in scope as part of the procedure
here. Upgrade or migration of OCC itself is not in the scope.
You can reverse the upgrade until both the primary and secondary
hardware is at your site. Loss of data is possible depending on the application
usage and cutover time. Once the Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 hardware is shipped
back to Oracle, you cannot reverse the upgrade and you cannot revert to Exadata
Cloud@Customer Gen1 as well.
Hardware and Software Required for Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to New Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 Infrastructure
π
Review this checklist to prepare for the out-of-place cloud upgrade to new
Gen2 infrastructure:
Setup Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2 Environment
A functioning base Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2 deployment is a
pre-requisite for starting any Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 to Gen2 out-of-place
upgrade.
For more information to setup your Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer, see
Preparing for Exadata Cloud@Customer.
Setup Hardware to Migrate Oracle Databases using Oracle Zero Downtime
Migration (ZDM). For more information, see Prepare a Host for Zero
Downtime Migration Software Installation
Configure network
Provide network access path from the Exadata Cloud@Customer
Gen1 servers and the Gen2 servers to the ZDM servers used for the
upgrade.
Provide network access and SSH access from the ZDM server to
the respective Exadata Cloud@Customer infrastructure.
For any client access to the target databases, ensure that a
network path is available from the client host to the new Exadata
Cloud@Customer Gen2 deployed databases.
Software
The upgrade will require minimum versions of the software stack
so prior to the upgrade, install the appropriate version of Oracle Grid
Infrastructure on the target Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2
infrastructure.
Oracle Database versions supported on Exadata Cloud@Customer
Gen1 will continue to be supported. On the target Gen2 infrastructure,
install appropriate versions of the Oracle Database software and the one-off
patches that exist in the source database.
Complete all requirements for ZDM servers in terms of
installation, configuration, network access, and SSH access.
Security
Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2 does not use Oracle Advanced
Support Gateway Security (OASG) so cannot request OASG logs.
Ensure that automatic backup is not configured on the Gen2 target prior
to migration.
Using Oracle Zero Downtime
Migration (ZDM) to Migrate Oracle Databases π
Use ZDM to migrate Oracle databases from Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 to Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 infrastructure.
To familiarize yourself with the features of ZDM, see Setting Up Zero
Downtime Migration Software. As the first step, download, install and
configure ZDM on the host identified for the ZDM server.
Zero Downtime Migration supports both online and offline (backup and recovery) migration.
For Exadata Cloud@Customer upgrade from Gen1 to Gen2, it is recommended to use ZDM
Physical Migration. Specifically, it is recommended to use Online Migration with
Direct Data Transfer (online physical migration
(MIGRATION_METHOD=ONLINE_PHYSICAL) using direct data transfer
(DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM=DIRECT). Online Migration with Direct Data
Transfer is available with Zero Downtime Migration 21.2 and supports direct data
transfer for the physical migration methodology. This new feature allows users to avoid
using an intermediate store for backups (normally NFS or the OCI Object Storage). ZDM
leverages either active database duplication (for 11.2 databases) or restore from
service (for 12+ databases). You can use this method to do migrate your Exadata
Cloud@Customer Gen1 databases to Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen2. Examples of the
command-line and response files are provided below for reference.
For more information, see:
Introduction to Zero Downtime Migration
Preparing for Database Migration
Migrating Your Database with Zero Downtime Migration
During Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to New Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 Infrastructure
π
Monitoring: Oracle will monitor the Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 installation from the beginning of the installation just like a regular Gen2 install.
Backups: Backups are done from the Exadata Cloud@Customer Gen1 VM cluster and they will continue to work during the upgrade. Post-migration to Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2, backups to the Gen1 Oracle Cloud At Customer (OCC) Object Storage Service (OSS) is not allowed and you must use supported backup methods for Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2.
Post Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to New Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 Infrastructure
π
The upgrade will move your resources into Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen 2 Cloud Control Plane and onto the new generation hardware.
Use the Gen2 OCI Console to manage your Oracle Exadata Database Service on
Cloud@Customer Gen2 infrastructure, clusters, databases, and users/groups.
The software stack is upgraded to newer versions, for example, as follows:
Exadata software: 19.x or later
Oracle Grid Infrastructure: 19c
Guest VM operating system: Oracle Linux 7
DBaaS Tools: 20.x
CSI: You will have a new CSI for your Cloud account.
Note
The software stack will be upgraded to
the latest versions at that point in time when you perform Out-of-Place Cloud Upgrade to
New Gen2 Hardware.
Patching: The infrastructure patching process and notification are
different in Gen2. For more information, see Maintaining an Exadata
Cloud@Customer System.
Note
Post-migration to Exadata
Cloud@Customer Gen2, Oracle recommends using supported backup methods for Exadata
Cloud@Customer Gen2. It's your responsibility to manually manage any backups to the Gen1
Oracle Cloud At Customer (OCC) Object Storage Service (OSS), and Oracle does not offer
it through the OCI Console, API, or CLI.