Patch and Update an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure System
User-Managed Maintenance Updates Maintaining a secure Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance in the best working order requires you to perform the following tasks regularly:
Maintaining a secure Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance in the best working order requires you to perform the
following tasks regularly:
Patching the Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database software on
the VM Cluster virtual machines. For information and instructions, see Patching
and Updating VM Cluster’s GI and Database Homes.
Updating the operating system on the VM Cluster virtual machines. See
Updating an Exadata Cloud VM Cluster Operating System for information and
instructions.
Patching and Updating an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure System
🔗
Learn how to perform patching operations on Exadata database virtual
machines and Database Homes by using the Console, API, or the CLI.
For information and instructions on patching the system by using the
dbaascli utility, see Patching and Updating
an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure System
Manually.
For more information and examples for applying database quarterly
patches on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure refer to My
Oracle Support note: How to Apply Database Quarterly Patch
on Exadata Cloud Service and Exadata Cloud at Customer Gen 2 (Doc ID
2701789.1).
For more guidance on achieving continuous service during patching operations, see
the Application Checklist for Continuous Service for MAA
Solutions white paper.
Updating an Exadata Cloud VM Cluster Operating System Exadata VM cluster image updates allow you to update the OS image on your Exadata cloud VM cluster nodes in an automated manner from the OCI console and APIs.
Upgrading Exadata Grid Infrastructure This topic describes how to upgrade the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on an Exadata cloud VM cluster using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console or API.
Upgrading Exadata Databases This topic describes the procedures to upgrade an Exadata database instance to Oracle Database 19c and Oracle Database 23ai by using the Console and the API. The upgrade is accomplished by moving the Exadata database to a Database Home that uses the target software version.
About Patching and Updating VM
Cluster's GI and Database Homes 🔗
This topic describes the types of patching performed on an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instances and
provides instructions for completing the patching operations.
Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) Patching Patching an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance updates the components on all the compute nodes in the instance. A VM cluster or DB system patch updates the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on the resource.
Database Home Patching A Database Home patch updates the Oracle Database software shared by the databases in that home.
Patching an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure
instance updates the components on all the compute nodes in the instance. A VM
cluster or DB system patch updates the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on the
resource.
A Database Home patch updates the Oracle Database software shared by the
databases in that home.
Thus, you patch a database by either of the following methods:
Move the database to a Database Home that has the correct patch version. This
affects only the database being moved.
Patching the Database Home the database is currently in. This affects all databases
located in the Database Home being patched.
When patching a Database Home, you can use an Oracle-provided database software image to
apply a generally-available Oracle Database software update, or you can use a custom
database software image created by your organization to apply a specific set of patches
required by your database. See Oracle Database Software Images for more
information on creating and using custom images.
Best Practices for Patching Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Components
Consider the following best practices:
Back up your databases before you apply any patches. For information
about backing up the databases, see Managing Exadata Database Backups .
Patch a VM cluster or an Exadata DB system before you patch the Databases Homes and
databases on that resource.
Before you apply any patch, run the precheck operation to ensure your VM cluster,
Exadata DB system, or Database Home meets the requirements for that patch.
To patch a database to a version other than the database version of the
current home, move the database to a Database Home running the target version. This
technique requires less downtime and allows you to easily roll back the database to
the previous version by moving it back to the old Database Home. See To move a database to another Database HomeTo patch a database by moving it to
another Database Home.
For the Oracle Database and Oracle Grid Infrastructure major version releases
available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, patches 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, patches are available for versions 19.8.0.0.0, 19.7.0.0,
19.6.0.0 and 19.5.0.0.
Customer-Managed Keys in Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Customer-managed keys for Exadata Cloud Infrastructure is a feature of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Vault service that enables you to encrypt your data using encryption keys that you control.
dbaascli database addInstance To add the database instance on the specified node, use the dbaascli database addInstance command.
dbaascli database convertToPDB To convert the specified non-CDB database to PDB, use the dbaascli database convertToPDB command.
dbaascli database getDetails This command shows the detailed information of a given database e.g. dbname, node information, pluggable databases information etc.
dbaascli database modifyParameters To modify or reset initialization parameters for an Oracle Database, use the dbaascli database modifyParameters command.
Customer-Managed Keys in Exadata Cloud Infrastructure
Customer-managed keys for Exadata Cloud Infrastructure is a feature of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Vault
service that enables you to encrypt your data using encryption keys that you
control.
The OCI Vault service provides you with centralized key management capabilities
that are highly available and durable. This key-management solution also
offers secure key storage using isolated partitions (and a lower-cost shared
partition option) in FIPS 140-2 Level 3-certified hardware security modules,
and integration with select Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services. Use
customer-managed keys when you need security governance, regulatory
compliance, and homogenous encryption of data, while centrally managing,
storing, and monitoring the life cycle of the keys you use to protect your
data.
You can:
Enable customer-managed keys when you create databases in Exadata Cloud Infrastructure
Switch from Oracle-managed keys to customer-managed keys
Rotate your keys to maintain security compliance
Requirements
To enable management of customer-managed encryption keys, you must create a
policy in the tenancy that allows a particular dynamic group to do so,
similar to the following: allow dynamic-group dynamic_group_name to
manage keys in tenancy.
To enable Data Guard on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure databases that use customer-managed keys, the primary and standby databases must be in the same realm.
Task 1. Create a Vault and a Master Encryption Key
Create a vault in the Vault service by following the instructions in To create a new vault in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation. When following these instructions, Oracle recommends that you create the vault in a compartment created specifically to contain the vaults containing customer-managed keys, as described in Before You Begin: Compartment Hierarchy Best Practice.
After creating the vault, create at least one master encryption key in the vault by following the instructions in To create a new master encryption key in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation. When following these instructions, make these choices:
Create in Compartment: Oracle recommends that you create the master encryption key in the same compartment as its vault; that is, the compartment created specifically to contain the vaults containing customer-managed keys.
Protection Mode: Choose an appropriate value from the drop-down list:
HSM to create a master encryption key that is stored and processed on a hardware security module (HSM).
Software to create a master encryption key that is stored in a software file system in the Vault service. Software-protected keys are protected at rest using an HSM-based root key. You may export software keys to other key management devices or to a different OCI cloud region. Unlike HSM keys, software-protected keys are free of cost.
Key Shape Algorithm: AES
Key Shape Length: 256 bits
Oracle strongly recommends that you create a separate master encryption key for each of your container databases (CDBs). Doing so makes management of key rotation over time much simpler.
Task 2. Create a Service Gateway, a Route Rule, and an Egress Security Rule
Create a service gateway in the VCN (Virtual Cloud Network) where your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure resources reside by following the instructions in Task 1: Create the service gateway in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation.
After creating the service gateway, add a route rule and an egress security rule to each subnet (in the VCN) where Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure resources reside so that these resources can use the gateway to access the Vault service:
Go to the Subnet Details page for the subnet.
In the Subnet Information tab, click the name of the subnet's Route Table to display its Route Table Details page.
In the table of existing Route Rules, check whether there is already a rule with the following characteristics:
Destination: All IAD Services In Oracle Services Network
Target Type: Service Gateway
Target: The name of the service gateway you just created in the VCN
If such a rule does not exist, click Add Route Rules and add a route rule with these characteristics.
Return to the Subnet Details page for the subnet.
In the subnet's Security Lists table, click the name of the subnet's security list to display its Security List Details page.
In the side menu, under Resources, click Egress Rules.
In the table of existing Egress Rules, check whether there is already a rule with the following characteristics:
Stateless: No
Destination: All IAD Services In Oracle Services Network
IP Protocol: TCP
Source Port Range: All
Destination Port Range: 443
If such a rule does not exist, click Add Egress Rules and add an egress rule with these characteristics.
Task 3. Create a Dynamic Group and a Policy Statement
To grant your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure resources permission to access customer-managed keys, you create an IAM dynamic group that identifies these resources and then create an IAM policy that grants this dynamic group access to the master encryption keys you created in the Vault service.
When defining the dynamic group, you identify your Oracle Exadata Database Service on Dedicated Infrastructure resources by specifying the OCID of the compartment containing your Exadata Infrastructure resource.
Copy the OCID of the compartment containing your Exadata Infrastructure resource. You can find this OCID on the Compartment Details page of the compartment.
Create a dynamic group by following the instructions in To create a dynamic group in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation. When following these instructions, enter a matching rule of this format:
ALL {resource.compartment.id ='<compartment-ocid>'}
where <compartment-ocid> is the OCID of the compartment containing your Exadata Infrastructure resource.
After creating the dynamic group, navigate to (or create) an IAM policy in a compartment higher up in your compartment hierarchy than the compartment containing your vaults and keys. Then, add a policy statement of this format:
allow dynamic-group <dynamic-group-name>
to manage keys
in compartment <vaults-and-keys-compartment>
where all {
target.key.id='<key_ocid>',
request.permission!='KEY_DELETE',
request.permission!='KEY_MOVE',
request.permission!='KEY_IMPORT',
request.permission!='KEY_BACKUP’
}
If you are using a replicated virtual private vault for the Oracle Data Guard deployment, add an additional policy statement in this format:
allow dynamic-group <dynamic-group>
to read vaults
in tenancy | compartment <vaults-and-keys-compartment>
where <dynamic-group> is the name of the dynamic group you created and <vaults-and-keys-compartment> is the name of the compartment in which you created your vaults and master encryption keys.
--cdbName specifies the name of the target CDB
in which the PDB will be created. If the CDB does not exist, then it will be
created in the same Oracle home as the source non-CDB
--executePrereqs specifies to run only the
pre-conversion checks
--copyDatafiles specifies to create a new copy
of the data files instead of using the ones from the source database
--keepSourceDB - to preserve the source database after
completing the operation.
--backupPrepared - flag to acknowledge that a proper
database backup is in place for the non CDB prior to performing the
conversion to PDB.
--backupPrepared flag to acknowledge that a proper database
backup is in place for the non-CDB prior to performing the conversion to
PDB
--targetPDBName specifies the name of the PDB
that will be created as part of the operation
--waitForCompletion specifies
false to run the operation in the background. Valid
values: true|false
--resume specifies to resume the previous
execution
--sessionID specifies to resume a
specific session ID
--setParameters specifies a comma-delimited
list of parameters to modify with new values. For example:
parameter1=valueA,parameter2=valueB, and so on. For blank values use
parameter1=valueA,parameter2='',etc.
--resetParameters specifies a comma-delimited
list of parameters to be reset to their corresponding default values. For
example, parameter1,parameter2, and so
on.
--responseFile specifies the absolute location of the
response JSON file to modify the database parameters
--backupPrepared acknowledges that a proper
database backup is in place prior to modifying critical or sensitive
parameters.
--instance specifies the name of the instance
on which the parameters will be processed. If not specified, then the
operation will be performed at the database level.
--allowBounce grants permission to bounce the
database in order to reflect the changes on applicable static
parameters.
--dbname (mandatory) specifies the name of the
database.
--targetHome specifies the target Oracle home
location
--targetHomeName specifies the name of the target Oracle
Database home
--standBy use this option to upgrade standby
databases in Data Guard configurations
--allStandbyPrepared required for Data Guard
configured primary databases. Flags to acknowledge that all the required
operations are performed on the standby databases prior to upgrading primary
database
--removeGRP automatically removes the
Guaranteed Restore Point (GRP) backup only if the database upgrade was
successful
--increaseCompatibleParameter automatically
increases the compatible parameter as part of the database upgrade. The
parameter will get increased only if the database upgrade was
successful
--executePrereqs runs only the preupgrade
checks
--postUpgrade use this option if postupgrade
fails and needs to rerun the postupgrade steps
--rollback reverts an Oracle Database to its
original Oracle home
--upgradeOptions use this option to pass
DBUA-specific arguments to perform the Oracle Database upgrade. Refer to the
corresponding Oracle documentation for the supported arguments and
options.
--standby
--resume to resume the previous execution
--sessionID to resume a specific session id.
--waitForCompletion specify false to run the operation in
background. Valid values : true|false.
Example 5-5 dbaascli database upgrade pre-upgrade requisite checks
Prerequisites for Patching and
Updating an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure System
🔗
The Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance
requires access to the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage service, including
connectivity to the applicable Swift endpoint for Object Storage
Oracle recommends using a service gateway with the VCN to enable this access. For more
information, see these topics:
Using the Console to Patch and
Update Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Instances
🔗
You can use the Console to view the history of patch operations on Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instances, apply
patches, and monitor the status of patch operations.
Viewing Patch History Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry.
To patch the Oracle Grid Infrastructure on an
Exadata DB system
How to apply patches and monitor the status of patch operations on Exadata
DB systems
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Bare
Metal, VM, and Exadata.
Choose your Compartment.
In the list of DB systems, click the name of the Exadata DB system you want to
patch to display the DB system details.
Under DB System Version, click the View link beside the Latest Patch
Available field.
Review the list of available patches for the DB system.
Click the Actions menu for the patch you are interested in, and then click one
of the following actions:Run Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to make sure
that the patch can be successfully applied.Apply: Applies the selected patch.
Oracle highly recommends that you run the precheck operation for a patch before
you apply it.
Run Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to make sure that the
patch can be successfully applied.
Apply: Applies the selected patch. Oracle highly recommends that
you run the precheck operation for a patch before you apply it.
Confirm when prompted.
The patch list displays the status of the operation. While a patch is being applied,
the patch's status displays as Patching and the DB system's status displays
as Updating. Lifecycle operations on the DB system and its resources might be
temporarily unavailable. If patching completes successfully, the patch's status
changes to Applied and the status of the DB system changes to
Available. You can view more details about an individual patch operation
by clicking Patch History.
To patch the Oracle Database software in a
Database Home (DB system)
How to apply patches and monitor the status of patch operations on Exadata
Database Homes for DB Systems.
Note
This patching procedure updates the Oracle Database software for all databases
located in the Database Home. To patch an individual database, you can move it to another Database Home that
uses the desired Oracle Database software configuration.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Bare
Metal, VM, and Exadata.
Choose your Compartment.
In the list of DB systems, click the name of the Exadata DB system with the
Database Home you want to patch to display the DB system details.
Under Resources, click Database Homes.
Click the name of the Database Home you want to patch to display the Database
Home details.
Under Database Software Version, locate the Latest Patch Available
field and click View.
Review the available patches for the Database Home. You can choose to patch
using an Oracle-provided software image or a custom software image.
Oracle-provide images are generally available release updates. Custom software
images are created by your organization with a specified set of patches. See
Oracle Database Software Images for
information on creating custom software images. The image you use to patch must
be based on either the latest version of the Oracle Database software release or
one of the three prior versions of the release.
Click the Actions menu at the end of the table row that lists the patch you are
interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to make sure that the patch
can be successfully applied.
Apply: Applies the selected patch. Oracle highly recommends that
you run the precheck operation for a patch before you apply it.
Confirm when prompted.
The patch list displays the status of the operation. While a patch is being applied,
the status of the patch displays as Patching and the status of the Database
Home and the databases in it display as Updating. During the operation, each
database in the home is stopped and then restarted. If patching completes
successfully, the patch's status changes to Applied and the Database Home's
status changes to Available. You can view more details about an individual
patch operation by clicking Patch History.
To patch the Oracle Grid Infrastructure on an
Exadata cloud VM cluster
How to apply patches and monitor the status of patch operations on cloud VM
clusters.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then
click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Click Exadata VM Clusters.
In the list of cloud VM clusters, click the name of the cluster you want to
patch to display the cluster details.
Under Version, click the View Patches link beside the Updates
Availablefield.
Review the list of available patches for the cloud VM cluster.
Click the Actions menu for the patch you are interested in, and then click one
of the following actions:
Run Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to make sure that the
patch can be successfully applied.
Update Grid Infrastructure: Applies the selected patch. Oracle
highly recommends that you run the precheck operation for a patch before
you apply it.
Confirm when prompted.
The patch list displays the status of the operation. While a patch is being
applied, the patch's status displays as Patching and the cloud VM
cluster's status displays as Updating. Lifecycle operations on
the cluster and its resources might be temporarily unavailable. If patching completes
successfully, the patch's status changes to Applied and the
status of the cluster changes to Available. You can view more
details about an individual patch operation by clicking Update
History.
To patch the Oracle Database software in a
Database Home
Note
This patching procedure updates the Oracle Database software for all databases located
in the Database Home. To patch an individual database, you can To move a database to another Database Home that uses the desired Oracle Database software configuration.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database,
then click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Click Exadata VM Clusters.
In the list of cloud VM clusters, click the name of the cluster you want to patch to
display the cluster details.
Under Resources, click Database Homes.
Click the name of the Database Home you want to patch to display the Database Home
details.
Under Database Software Version, locate the Latest Patch
Available field and click View.
Review the available patches for the Database Home. You can choose to patch using an
Oracle-provided software image or a custom software image. Oracle-provide images are
generally available release updates. Custom software images are created by your
organization with a specified set of patches. See Oracle Database Software Images for
information on creating custom software images. The image you use to patch must be
based on either the latest version of the Oracle Database software release or one of
the three prior versions of the release.
Click the Actions menu at the end of the table row that lists the patch you are
interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to make sure that the patch can
be successfully applied.
Apply: Applies the selected patch. Oracle highly recommends that you
run the precheck operation for a patch before you apply it.
Confirm when prompted.
The patch list displays the status of the operation. While a patch is being
applied, the status of the patch displays as Patching and the status of
the Database Home and the databases in it display as Updating. During the
operation, each database in the home is stopped and then restarted. If patching
completes successfully, the patch's status changes to Applied and the
Database Home's status changes to Available. You can view more details
about an individual patch operation by clicking Update History.
To move a database to another Database Home This task explains how to patch a single Oracle Database in your Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance by moving it to another Database Home.
This task explains how to patch a single Oracle Database in your Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance by moving it to another
Database Home.
You can move a database to any Database Home that meets at either of the following
criteria:
The target Database Home uses the same Oracle Database software version (including
patch updates) as the source Database Home
The target Database Home is based on either the latest version of the Oracle
Database software release used by the database, or one of the three prior versions
of the release
Moving a database to a new Database Home brings the database up to the patch
level of the target Database Home. For information on patching Database Homes, see Database Home Patching and .
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database,
then click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Navigate to the database you want to move.:
Cloud VM clusters ( The New Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Resource Model ): Under Oracle Exadata Database
Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata VM
Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, click the name of the VM
cluster that contains the database you wan to move.
DB systems: Under Bare Metal, VM, and
Exadata, click DB Systems. In the list of DB
systems, find you want to access, and then click the name of the Exadata DB
system that contains the database you want to move..
Click More Actions, then click Move to Another
Home.
Select the target Database Home.
Click Move Database.
Confirm the move operation.
The database is moved in a rolling fashion. The database instance
will be stopped, node by node, in the current home and then restarted in the
destination home. While the database is being moved, the Database Home status
displays as Moving Databse. When the operation completes,
Database Home is updated with the current home. Datapatch is executed
automatically, as part of the database move, to complete post-patch SQL actions
for all patches, including one-offs, on the new Database Home. If the database
move operation is unsuccessful, then the status of the database displays as
Failed, and the Database Home field provides information
about the reason for the failure.
Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and
indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch
operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry.
Patch history views in the Console do not show patches that were applied by using
command line tools such as dbaascli.
If your service instance uses the new resource model, the patch history
available by navigating to the VM Cluster Details page. If your service instance uses
the DB system resource model, the patch history is available by navigating to the DB
System Details page.
To view the patch history of a DB system Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry. For a service instance using the DB system resource model, the patch history is available by navigating to the DB System Details page
To view the patch history of a Database Home Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry. If your service instance uses the new resource model, the patch history available by navigating to the VM Cluster Details page.
Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and
indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch
operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry. For a service
instance using the DB system resource model, the patch history is available by navigating to
the DB System Details page
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Bare
Metal, VM, and Exadata.
Choose your Compartment.
In the list of DB systems, click the name of the Exadata DB system with the
information you want to view to display the DB system details.
Under DB System Version, click the View beside the Latest
Patch Available field.
Click Patch History.
The Patch History page displays the history of patch operations for that DB system
and for the Database Homes on that DB system.
Each patch history entry represents an attempted patch operation and
indicates whether the operation was successful or failed. You can retry a failed patch
operation. Repeating an operation results in a new patch history entry. If your service
instance uses the new resource model, the patch history available by navigating to the VM
Cluster Details page.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then
click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Navigate to the cloud VM cluster or DB system that contains the Database
Home.
Cloud VM clusters (The Exadata Cloud Infrastructure 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.
Under Resources, click Database Homes.
Click the name of the Database Home you want to view to display the Database
Home details.
Under Database Software Version, click View by the Latest
Patch Available field.
Click Patch History (DB systems) or Update History (cloud VM
clusters).
The history page displays the history of patch operations for that
Database Home and for the cloud VM cluster or DB system to which it
belongs.
Updating an Exadata Cloud VM
Cluster Operating System 🔗
Exadata VM cluster image updates allow you to update the OS image on your
Exadata cloud VM cluster nodes in an automated manner from the OCI console and
APIs.
This automated feature simplifies and speeds up VM cluster patching, makes
patching less error-prone, and eliminates the need to use Patch Manager.
When you apply a patch, the system runs a precheck operation to ensure your cloud VM
cluster, Exadata DB system, or Database Home meets the requirements for that
patch. If the precheck is not successful, the patch is not applied, and the
system displays a message that the patch cannot be applied because the
precheck failed. A separate precheck operation that you can run in advance
of the planned update is also available.
Supported Software Versions and Update
Restrictions 🔗
Minimum requirements for updating to Exadata image release 23.1.0.0.0
(Oracle Linux 8-based image):
Note
These are just the minimum requirements. If you want to update Grid Infrastructure
and/or Oracle Database to meet the Exadata 23.1 requirements, then the recommendation is
to update to the latest available versions of Grid Infrastructure and Oracle Database,
and not to the minimum.
Exadata Image (Guest OS): Exadata image release 22.1.0 (May 2022) or 21.2.10
(March 2022). Systems running versions older than 21.2.10 will first need to upgrade
to at least 22.1.0 (May 2022) or 21.2.10 (March 2022) before updating to 23.1.0.0.0.
This applies to both storage and database servers.
In addition to performing minor version updates to the Exadata VM Cluster
images, you can update to a new major version if the currently installed
version is 19.2 or higher. For example, if the VM cluster is on version 20,
then you can update it to version 21.
The latest 4 (N to N-3) or more minor versions of each major version of the
VM Cluster images are available through the console to apply.
Oracle Grid Infrastructure: Exadata image release 23.1.0.0.0 supports the
following minimum or newer Oracle Grid Infrastructure versions.
Release 19c: Version 19.15, April 2022 Release Update (RU) and newer
(Default)
Release 21c: Version 21.6, April 2022 Release Update (RU) and newer
Oracle Database: Exadata System Software 23.1 supports the following minimum
versions or newer for new database installations.
Release 19c: Version 19.15, April 2022 Release Update (RU) and newer
(Default)
Additional supported database releases under Market Driven Support or
Quarterly Updates exception approval:
If you have an Exadata infrastructure maintenance operation scheduled to start
within the next 24 hours, then the Exadata Image update feature is not
available.
Once the VM cluster is upgraded to Exadata Database Service Guest VM OS 23.1, you will be able to add a new VM or a new database server to this VM cluster if Exadata Cloud Infrastructure is running an Exadata System Software version 22.1.16 and later.
Note
Upgrade to Exadata System Software 23.1 for Exadata Cloud Infrastructure will be available with February 2024 update cycle.
Once the VM cluster is upgraded to Exadata Database Service Guest VM OS 23.1, you will be able to add a new VM or a new database server to this VM cluster if Exadata Cloud Infrastructure is running an Exadata System Software version 22.1.16 and later.
Upgrade to Exadata System Software 23.1 for Exadata Cloud Infrastructure will be available with February 2024 update cycle.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then
click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Under Oracle Exadata Database
Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata
VM Clusters.
In the list of cloud VM clusters, click the name of the cluster that you want
to patch to display the details page.
In the Version section, to the right of the Updates Available,
click View Updates to display the Updates page.
Review the list of available software updates and locate the OS patch you are
applying.
Click the Actions icon (three dots) at the end of the row listing the patch you
are interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
Run Precheck. Precheck checks the
prerequisites to ensure that the patch can be successfully applied. Oracle
highly recommends that you run the precheck operation before you apply a
patch. The reason is that things can change in a database at any time, and
the precheck you run just before running a patch may find errors that the
previous precheck did not find
Note
If the precheck fails,
the system displays a message in the Apply Exadata OS Image
Update dialog that the last precheck has failed. Oracle
recommends that you run the precheck again. Click the Actions icon
(three dots) at the end of the row listing the OS patch to view the
dialog.
Apply Exadata OS Image Update. This
link displays the Apply Exadata Image Update dialog that you use to apply
the patch. The dialog shows the name of the database system you are
patching, the current version of the database, and the new version of the
database after the patch is applied. To start the process, click
Apply Exadata OS Image Update.
Copy OCID. This copies the Oracle
Cloud ID. This can be used when troubleshooting a patch or to give to
Support when contacting them.
Note
While the patch is running:
Run Precheck and Apply OS Image Update are not
available. When the patch has completed, these actions are
available again.
If the Exadata infrastructure containing this VM
cluster is scheduled for maintenance that conflicts with the
patching operation, the patch fails and the system displays a
message explaining why. After the infrastructure maintenance is
complete, run the patch operation again.
Confirm when prompted.
The patch list displays the status of the operation in the Version section of the
database details page. Click View Updates to view more details about an
individual patch status and to display any updates that are available to run. If no
new updates are available, the system displays a message that says No Updates
Available.
This topic describes how to upgrade the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on
an Exadata cloud VM cluster using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console or
API.
Upgrading allows you to provision Oracle Database Homes and databases that use the most
current Oracle Database software. For more information on Exadata cloud VM clusters and
the new Exadata resource model, see Overview of X8M, X9M, and X11M Scalable Exadata Infrastructure .
About Upgrading Oracle Grid Infrastructure Upgrading the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on a VM cluster involves upgrading all the compute nodes in the instance. The upgrade is performed in a rolling fashion, with only one node being upgraded at a time.
Upgrading the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) on a VM cluster involves
upgrading all the compute nodes in the instance. The upgrade is performed in a rolling
fashion, with only one node being upgraded at a time.
Oracle recommends running an upgrade precheck to identify and resolve any issues
that would prevent a successful upgrade.
You can monitor the progress of the upgrade operation by viewing the associated
work requests.
If you have an Exadata infrastructure maintenance operation scheduled to
start within the next 24 hours, then the GI upgrade feature is not available.
During the upgrade, you cannot perform other management operations such as starting,
stopping, or rebooting nodes, scaling CPU, provisioning or managing Database Homes
or databases, restoring a database, or editing IORM settings. The following Data
Guard operations are not allowed on the VM cluster undergoing a GI upgrade:
Enable Data Guard
Switchover
Failover to the database using the VM cluster (a failover operation to
standby on another VM cluster is possible)
To Upgrade the Oracle Grid Infrastructure of a
Cloud VM Cluster
Procedure for upgrading the Oracle Grid Infrastructure of a Cloud VM
Cluster.
Note
When planning to upgrade your Grid Infrastructure to 23ai, make sure that for each ASM diskgroup, compatible.rdbms has a value set to 19.0.0.0 and later.
Minimum requirements for upgrading Grid Infrastructure from 19c to 23ai:
Exadata Guest VM running Exadata System Software 23.1.8
Exadata Infrastructure running Exadata System Software 23.1.x
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database,
then click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Click Exadata VM Clusters.
In the list of cloud VM clusters, click the name of the cluster you want to patch to
display the cluster details.
Under Version, click the View Patches link beside the Updates Available field.
Click Updates to view the list of available patches and upgrades.
Click the Actions icon (three dots) at the end of the row listing the Oracle Grid
Infrastructure (GI) upgrade, then click Upgrade Grid Infrastructure.
In the Upgrade Grid Infrastructure dialog, confirm you want to upgrade the GI
by clicking Upgrade Grid Infrastructure. If you haven't run a precheck, you
have the option of clicking Run Precheck in this dialog to precheck your
cloud VM cluster prior to the upgrade.
This topic describes the procedures to upgrade an Exadata database instance to Oracle Database 19c and Oracle Database 23ai by using the Console and the API. The upgrade is accomplished by moving the Exadata database to a Database Home that uses the target software version.
Review the list of prerequisites to upgrade an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Oracle Database instance.
To upgrade to 19c, Oracle Linux 7 is the minimum requirement, and to upgrade to 23ai, Oracle Linux 8 is the minimum requirement. For detailed instructions on manually updating the operating system, refer to How to Update the Exadata System Software (DomU) to 19 from 18 on the Exadata Cloud Service in OCI (My Oracle Support Doc ID 2521053.1).
The Oracle Grid Infrastructure can be version 19c or 23ai for Oracle Database 19c. However, the Oracle Grid Infrastructure must be version 23ai for Oracle Database 23ai. See Upgrading Exadata Grid Infrastructure for instructions on using the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console or API to upgrade Grid Infrastructure. If patches are available for your Grid Infrastructure, Oracle recommends applying them prior to performing a database upgrade.
You must have an available Oracle Database Home that uses the four most recent versions of Oracle Database 19c or Oracle Database 23ai available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. See To Create a new Oracle Database Home in an existing Exadata Cloud Infrastructure Instance for information on creating a Database Home. You can use Oracle-published software images or a custom database software image based on your patching requirements to create Database Homes.
You must ensure that all pluggable databases in the container database that is being
upgraded can be opened. Pluggable databases that cannot be opened by the system
during the upgrade can cause an upgrade failure.
If you are upgrading databases in a manually-created Data Guard association (an
association not created using the Console or APIs), the following apply:
Redo apply needs to be disabled during the upgrade of both the primary and
standby. For Oracle 11.2 and 12.1 databases, the Data Guard configuration
also has to be disabled.
If you have configured an observer, the observer needs to be disabled prior
to upgrade.
Your Oracle database must be configured with the following settings in order to
upgrade:
The database must be in archive log mode.
The database must have flashback enabled.
See the Oracle Database documentation for your database's release version to
learn more about these settings.
For database software version upgrades, note the following:
Database upgrades involve database downtime. Keep this in mind when
scheduling your upgrade.
Oracle recommends that you back up your database and test the new
software version on a test system or a cloned version of your database before you
upgrade a production database. See to create an on-demand full backup of a
database for information on creating an on-demand manual backup.
Oracle recommends running an upgrade precheck operation for your
database prior to attempting an upgrade so that you can discover any issues that
need mitigation prior to the time you plan to perform the upgrade. The precheck
operation does not affect database availability and can be performed at any time
that is convenient for you.
If your databases uses Data Guard, upgrading a primary or standby will disable
redo apply during the upgrade operation. After you upgrade both the primary and
standby, redo apply and open mode are re-enabled. Oracle recommends checking the
redo apply and open mode configuration after upgrading.
An upgrade operation cannot take place while an automatic backup
operation is underway. Before upgrading, Oracle recommends disabling automatic
backups and performing a manual backup. See to configure automatic backups for a
database and To create an on-demand full backup of a database for
more information.
After upgrading, you cannot use automatic backups taken prior to the
upgrade to restore the database to an earlier point in time.
If you are upgrading an database that uses version 11.2 software, the
resulting version 19c database will be a non-container database (non-CDB).
How the Upgrade Operation Is Performed by the
Database Service
During the upgrade process, the Database service does the
following:
Executes an automatic precheck. This allows the system to identify issues needing
mitigation and to stop the upgrade operation.
Sets a guaranteed restore point, enabling it to perform a flashback in the event of
an upgrade failure.
Moves the database to a user-specified Oracle Database Home that uses the desired
target software version.
Runs the Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA) software to perform the upgrade.
For databases in Data Guard associations, redo apply is disabled until both the
primary and standby databases are successfully upgraded, at which point redo apply
is re-enabled by the system. The system then enables Open Mode after redo apply is
enabled.
Rolling Back an Oracle Database
Unsuccessful Upgrade
If your upgrade does not complete successfully, then you have the option of
performing a rollback.
Details about the failure are displayed on the Database
Details page in the Console, allowing you to analyze and resolve the
issues causing the failure.
A rollback resets your database to the state prior to the upgrade. All changes to the
database made during and after the upgrade will be lost. The rollback option is provided
in a banner message displayed on the database details page of a database following an
unsuccessful upgrade operation. See Using the Console to Roll Back a
Failed Database Upgrade for more information.
For standby databases in Oracle Data Guard associations, rollback is accomplished by
moving the standby back to the original Database Home. See To move a database to another Database Home
for instructions.
Check that automatic backups are enabled for the database if you disabled them prior
to upgrading. See Customizing the Automatic Backup Configuration for
more information.
Edit the Oracle Database COMPATIBLE parameter to
reflect the new Oracle Database software version. See What Is
Oracle Database Compatibility? for more information.
If your database uses a database_name.env
file, ensure that the variables in the file have been updated to point to the 19c
Database Home. These variables should be automatically updated during the upgrade
process.
If you are upgrading a non-container database to Oracle Database version 19c, you
can convert the database to a pluggable database after converting. See How to
Convert Non-CDB to PDB (Doc ID 2288024.1) for instructions on converting
your database to a pluggable database.
If your old Database Home is empty and will not be reused, you can remove it. See
Using the Console to Delete an Oracle Database Home for more
information.
For databases in Data Guard associations, check the open mode and redo apply status
after the upgrade is complete.
Procedure to upgrade or precheck an Exadata database.
The following steps apply to databases for which either of the following apply:
The database is the primary database in a Data Guard association
The database is not part of a Data Guard association
To upgrade a standby database in a Data Guard configuration, move the standby to a
Database Home using the Oracle Database version you are upgrading to. See To move a database to another Database Home for details.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database,
then click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
UnderOracle Exadata Database
Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click
Exadata VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters,
click the name of the VM cluster that contains the database you want to
upgrade.
In the list of databases on the details page of the VM cluster, click the name of
the database you want to upgrade to view the Database Details page.
Click More Actions, then Upgrade.
In the Upgrade Database dialogue, select the following:
Oracle Database version: The drop-down selector lists only Oracle
Database versions that are compatible with an upgrade from the current
software version the database is using. The target software version must be
higher than the database's current version.
Target Database Home: Select a Database Home for your database.
The list of Database Homes is limited to those homes using the most
recent versions of Oracle Database 19c software. Moving the database to
the new Database Home results in the database being upgraded to the
major release version and patching level of the new Database Home.
Click one of the following:
Run Precheck: This option starts an upgrade precheck to identify any
issues with your database that need mitigation before you perform an
upgrade.
Upgrade Database: This option starts upgrade operation. Oracle
recommends performing an upgrade only after you have performed a successful
precheck on the database.
Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure .
Choose your Compartment.
A list of VM Clusters is displayed for the chosen
Compartment.
In the list of VM clusters, click the name of the VM cluster that contains the
database with the failed upgrade.
Find the database that was unsuccessfully upgraded, and click its name to
display details about it.
The database must display a banner at the top of the details page that includes
a Rollback button and details about what issues caused
the upgrade failure.
Click Rollback.
In the Confirm rollback dialog, confirm that you want to
initiate a rollback to the previous Oracle Database version.
Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service
on Dedicated Infrastructure
Choose your Compartment.
Under Oracle Exadata Database
Service on Dedicated Infrastructure, click Exadata
VM Clusters. In the list of VM clusters, click the name of the
VM cluster that contains the database you want to upgrade.
Note
If your database is in an Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance that does not use the new Exadata
resource model , you will need to switch the instance to the new
Exadata resource model before you can upgrade your database.
In the list of databases on the details page of the VM cluster, click the name of
the database for which you want to view the upgrade history.
On the Database Details page, under Database
Version, click the View link that is
displayed for databases that have been upgraded. This link does not appear for
databases that have not been updated.
The Updates
History page is displayed. The table displayed on this page
shows precheck and upgrade operations performed on the database.