You can add Oracle Database homes (referred to as Database Homes in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure) to an existing VM cluster by using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console, the API, or the CLI.

A Database Home is a directory location on the Exadata database virtual machines that contains Oracle Database software binary files.

You can also add and remove Database homes, and perform other management tasks on a Database home by using the dbaascli utility.

To create an Oracle Database home in an existing VM cluster with the Console, be prepared to provide values for the fields required.

1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure
2. Choose your Compartment.
3. Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system you want to create the new Database Home on:

   • Cloud VM clusters (new resource model): Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.

   • DB systems: Under Bare Metal, VM, and Exadata, click DB Systems. In the list of DB systems, find the Exadata DB system you want to access, and then click its name to display details about it.

4. Under Resources, click Database Homes.
   A list of Database Homes is displayed.
5. Click Create Database Home.
6. In the Create Database Home dialog, enter the following:
   • Database Home display name: The display name for the Database Home. Avoid entering confidential information.

     Database image: Determines what Oracle Database version is used for the database. You can have databases with different minor versions the same database home. The major versions must remain the same. By default, the latest Oracle-published database software image is selected.

     Click Change Database Image to use a desired Oracle-published image or a custom database software image that you have created in advance, then select an Image Type:

     • Oracle Provided Database Software Images: These images contain generally available versions of Oracle Database software.

     • Custom Database Software Images: These images are created by your organization and contain customized configurations of software updates and patches. Use the Select a compartment, Select a region, and Select a Database version selectors to limit the list of custom database software images to a specific compartment, region, or Oracle Database software major release version.

       Region filter defaults to the currently connected region and lists all the software images created in that region. When you choose a different region, the software image list is refreshed to display the software images created in the selected region.

       Note
       
       For the Oracle Database major version releases available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, images are provided for the current version plus the three most recent older versions (N through N - 3). For example, if an instance is using Oracle Database 19c, and the latest version of 19c offered is 19.8.0.0.0, images available for provisioning are for versions 19.8.0.0.0, 19.7.0.0, 19.6.0.0 and 19.5.0.0.
       Note
       
       

       The custom database software image must be based on an Oracle Database release that meets the following criteria:

       • The release is currently supported by Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
       • The release is supported by the hardware model on which you are creating the Database Home.

     After choosing a software image, click Select to return to the Create Database dialog.

   • Unified Auditing: Select this check box to enable Unified Auditing framework.
     Note
     
     You cannot disable Unified Auditing after provisioning the Database Home.
     • For Oracle Database versions lower than 12.1: You cannot use the Unified Auditing framework and should instead use the Traditional Audit, the legacy Oracle Database audit framework.
     • For Oracle Database versions 12.1 or higher: You can enable Unified Auditing from the OCI Console. For Oracle Database versions 12.1 or higher but lower than version 23, the Unified Auditing check box is not selected by default. However, it is selected by default for Oracle Database version 23.
     Unified Auditing field in the General Information section on the Database Home Details page displays if Unified Auditing is Enabled or Disabled.

   • Click Show Advanced Options to specify advanced options for the Database Home.

     • Tags: If you have permissions to create a resource, then you also have permissions to apply free-form tags to that resource. To apply a defined tag, you must have permissions to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure whether to apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
7. Click Create.

1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure .
2. Choose your Compartment.
3. Navigate to the Database Home: Under Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, find the VM cluster you want to access and click its highlighted name to view the details page for the cluster.
4. Click Database Homes under Resources.
5. Find the Database Home you want to use to create the database software image in the list of Database Homes. Click the name of the Database Home to display details about it.
6. Click Create Image from Database Home.
7. In the Create Database Software Image panel, enter a Display name and select a compartment for the software image.
8. Click Create.

To create an Oracle Database home, review the list of API calls.

For information about using the API and signing requests, see "REST APIs" and "Security Credentials". For information about SDKs, see "Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface".

To create Database Homes in Exadata Cloud Infrastructure, use the API operation CreateDbHome.

For the complete list of APIs, see "Database Service API".