1 Introduction to the Oracle WebCenter 12c (12.2.1.1) Upgrade

When upgrading your Oracle WebCenter 11g environment to 12c (12.2.1.1), you should understand how your pre-upgrade environment will be affected by the upgrade.

1.1 Understanding the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade to 12c

When upgrading your Oracle WebCenter environment to 12c (12.2.1.1), you should understand how your pre-upgrade environment will be affected by the upgrade. For example, schemas and domain directory upgrades are performed "in place" which updates the existing 11g files during the upgrade. The 12c (12.2.1.1) Oracle Home binaries are upgraded "out of place" as the binaries are installed in a new directory.

The upgrade to 12c (12.2.1.1) includes the midtier and the schemas. You cannot perform a midtier-only or schema-only upgrade.

  • Oracle WebLogic Server, JRF and WebCenter Oracle Home Binaries - Upgraded Out of Place

    You will install the Oracle Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.1) (which includes WebLogic Server and JRF) and Oracle WebCenter distribution binaries in a new Oracle home. The upgrade of binaries is considered "out of place" as the 11g binaries are not overwritten.

  • Schemas - Upgraded In Place

    The 11g schemas are upgraded to 12c "in place" which means that the Upgrade Assistant updates and overwrites the schemas during the upgrade process. The servers must be down during this process.

    Exception: The Oracle WebCenter Sites schemas are upgrade Out of Place.

  • Domain Directory Reconfiguration - Upgraded In Place

    The existing domain is upgraded "in place". During the upgrade you will identify the location of the 11g domain will be reconfigured to point to the new 12c (12.2.1.1) home directory.

  • Domain Component Configuration - Upgraded In Place

    After the reconfiguration of the 11g domain, the Upgrade Assistant is used again to upgrade any remaining domain component configurations to point to the new 12c (12.2.1.1) home directory.

1.2 Understanding the Starting Points for an Oracle WebCenter 12c Upgrade

The starting points for Oracle WebCenter vary by component. Review the table to determine which versions are supported for an upgrade to Oracle WebCenter 12c (12.2.1.1).

Component Name Supported Starting Points for Upgrade

Oracle WebCenter Enterprise Capture1

11.1.1.8

11.1.1.9

12.2.1.0

Oracle WebCenter Content

11.1.1.7

11.1.1.8

11.1.1.9

12.2.1.0

Oracle WebCenter Portal

11.1.1.7

11.1.1.8

11.1.1.9

12.2.1.0

Oracle WebCenter Sites

11.1.1.8

12.2.1.0

1.3 Understanding the Interoperability and Compatibility Restrictions

Before you begin the upgrade process from 11g to 12c, you must read and understand how all of the components within your 11g domain will be impacted by the upgrade. Understanding Interoperability and Compatibility provides a detailed matrix of which components can and cannot be upgraded together.

In general, you cannot upgrade a domain that contains components that are not yet available in Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.1). There are other restrictions on the components that can be upgraded to 12c (12.2.1.1) and you need to be sure that you have reviewed this information carefully before you proceed with the upgrade.

WebCenter Web UI 12c is not compatible with WebCenter Content or Application Development Framework 11g.

WebCenter Web UI 12c (12.2.1.1) cannot be used with WebCenter Content 11g or Application Development Framework 11g. Web UI can only be used with 12c (12.2.1.1).

1.4 Understanding the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade Process Flow

This section describes the high-level steps for upgrading Oracle WebCenter products:

Figure 1-1 Upgrading Oracle WebCenter to 12c

Description of Figure 1-1 follows
Description of "Figure 1-1 Upgrading Oracle WebCenter to 12c"

1.5 Understanding the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade Procedures

The following table describes the tasks required to upgrade Oracle WebCenter 11g to 12c.

Step Description More Information

1

Complete all of the Oracle Fusion Middleware standard pre-upgrade tasks, as well as any additional component-specific tasks you may be required to perform.

Pre-Upgrade Tasks for Oracle WebCenter Components

2

Install the product distributions for all the products that are part of the domain.

Note that in 12c, the WebLogic Server and JRF are part of the Infrastructure distribution and must be installed first.

The binaries should be installed into a new Oracle home on the same host as the existing deployment.

Installing the Required Oracle Fusion Middleware Distributions for WebCenter

3

Stop the Administration Server, Managed Servers and any other running applications in your existing deployment.

Starting and Stopping Administration Server

4

For 11g to 12c Upgrade Only:

Run the 12c Repository Creation Utility (RCU) to create the required 12c schemas (_STB and _OPSS).

The Service Table(STB) schema is required in 12c.

The OPSS schema is required if OID-based policy store was used in 11g.

Creating Schemas for WebCenter 12c

5

When run in -readiness mode, the Upgrade Assistant performs a read-only check to determine if there might be problems in the starting point environment that would prevent a successful upgrade.

The checks vary by component and a complete report is generated to help troubleshoot any potential issues.

Running a Pre-Upgrade Readiness Check

6

Run the Upgrade Assistant to upgrade individually selected schemas or all schemas used by the domain.

Upgrading Schemas with the Upgrade Assistant

7

Run the Reconfiguration Wizard to reconfigure the domain. The Reconfiguration Wizard is a new tool in Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c.

Reconfiguring the WebCenter Domain with the Reconfiguration Wizard

8

WebCenter Portal and Sites Users Only: Run the Upgrade Assistant (again) to upgrade any remaining component configurations.

WebCenter Content Users Only: You will not run the Upgrade Assistant as the necessary configuration changes are performed automatically at server startup (post upgrade) without user intervention.

Upgrading the Component Configuration with the Upgrade Assistant

9

WebCenter Portal Users Only: You must complete a set of additional procedures to upgrade Oracle WebCenter Portal to 12c.

Upgrading Oracle WebCenter Portal 11g Installations

10

Complete all of the required post-upgrade tasks described in your component-specific documentation.

Some components will not work correctly if these tasks are not performed after the upgrade.

Performing Post-Upgrade Configuration Tasks

11

Restart the administration server and the managed servers.

Starting and Stopping Administration Server

12

Verify the upgrade was successful (applications function as expected, etc.)

Verifying the New Applications Work as Expected

13

Upgrade WebCenter for a cluster topology, if applicable

Upgrading WebCenter in a Clustered Topology

1

If you installed WebCenter Capture 11.1.1.9.0, then the schema version will still be 11.1.1.8.0 as there were no schema changes in 11.1.1.9.0.