1 Introduction to the Oracle Fusion Applications Upgrade

This section provides an introduction to the process of upgrading Oracle Fusion Applications to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0). The following topics are discussed:

1.1 Upgrade Paths to Release 12

The following upgrade paths are supported for Release 12:

Release 8 (11.1.8.0.0) to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0)

Note that this is a direct upgrade path, with no requirement to upgrade to Release 9, Release 10, or Release 11 during the upgrade process.

Solaris platform supports direct upgrade from Release 8 (11.1.8.0.0) to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0)
Release 9 (11.1.9.x.0) to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0)

Note that this is a direct upgrade path, with no requirement to upgrade to Release 10 or Release 11 during the upgrade process.
Release 10 (11.1.10.x.0) to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0)

Note that this is a direct upgrade path, with no requirement to upgrade to Release 11 during the upgrade process.
Release 11 (11.1.11.x.0) to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0)

1.2 High Level Checklist to Perform the Upgrade

The following checklist provides the list of tasks necessary to perform the upgrade to Release 12 (11.12.x.0.0):

Table 1-1 Checklist of Upgrade Tasks

Task Name	Task Description	Reference Link
Preliminary steps for the Upgrade	Information about the resources you must have access to before starting the upgrade	Preliminary Steps
System Requirements	System requirements that must be met for the system to be upgraded	System Requirements
Create Directories and Stage the Software	Details about the directories that must be created and the software and patches that must be downloaded and staged before starting the upgrade	Set Up Upgrade Directories and Obtain Software
Set Up Upgrade Orchestrator	Steps to set up the orchestration software, followed by additional preparation steps for the upgrade	Set Up Upgrade Orchestrator
Verify Environment Before Proceeding With Downtime	Steps to verify your environment before starting the upgrade	Verify Environment Before Proceeding to Downtime
Update Oracle Fusion Applications and Oracle Identity Management Databases	Steps to update the databases	Update the Oracle Fusion Applications and Oracle Identity Management Databases
Run steps to ensure system reliability	Steps to run checks to ensure system reliability	Run Pre-Downtime Checks
Run Pre-upgrade Steps During Downtime	Steps that must be run if upgrading from Release 8 or Release 9	Perform Pre-Upgrade Steps During Downtime
Update the Database and Middle Tier Credential Stores	Pre-upgrade steps that must be performed Before running RUP Installer	Update the Database and Middle Tier Credential Stores
Run Upgrade Orchestrator During Downtime	Steps to run Upgrade Orchestrator to perform the upgrade	Run Upgrade Orchestrator During Downtime
Pause Point 1 - Run RUP Lite for OVM in Pre-Root Mode (Oracle VM Only)	Steps to run RUP Lite for OVM in pre-root mode. This pause point applies only to Oracle VM environments	Pause Point 1 - Run RUP Lite for OVM in Pre-Root Mode (Oracle VM Only)
Pause Point 2 - Upgrade Oracle Identity Management to Release 12	Steps to upgrade Oracle Identity Management, followed by steps to update the status of the pause point task to proceed with the upgrade.	Pause Point 2- Upgrade Oracle Identity Management to Release 12
Pause Point 3 - Reload Orchestration	Steps to reload orchestration, followed by steps to update the status of the pause point task to proceed with the upgrade	Pause Point 3 - Reload Orchestration
Pause Point 4 - Run RUP Lite for OVM in Post-Root Mode (Oracle VM Only)	Steps to run RUP Lite for OVM in post-root mode. This pause point applies only to Oracle VM environments	Pause Point 4- Run RUP Lite for OVM in Post-Root Mode (Oracle VM Only)
Pause Point 5 - Create the Incremental Provisioning Response File	Steps to create the response file if incremental provisioning is run	Pause Point 5 - Create the Incremental Provisioning Response File
Pause Point 6 - Perform Incremental Provisioning	Steps to run incremental provisioning	Pause Point 6 - Perform Incremental Provisioning
Run Upgrade Orchestrator in the Downtime During Language Pack (LP) phase	Steps to run orchestration to perform LP upgrade tasks	Resume Upgrade Orchestrator
Run Post Upgrade Tasks	Required post upgrade tasks that must be performed after Upgrade Orchestrator runs to successful completion	Run Post-Upgrade Tasks
Troubleshoot the Upgrade	Possible failure and error scenarios that may occur during the upgrade, including solutions or workarounds	Monitor and Troubleshoot the Upgrade

1.3 Hosts, Directories, and Files Required by Upgrade Orchestrator

Before proceeding with the upgrade, get familiar with the following concepts and information:

1.3.1 Host Types

The Release 12 upgrade must be performed on the following host types:

Primordial host: The location of the Common domain, specifically the Administration Server of the Common domain. Only one primordial host exists in each environment.
IDM host: A combination of hosts which hosts OID, OIM, OAM, IDM OHS, and IDM Database services. OIF is optional.
OHS host: The host where the Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) software is installed and configured.
DB host: The host where the Oracle Fusion Applications database is installed and configured.
Midtier hosts: Includes the following hosts:
- Primary host: The host on which the Administration Server of a domain runs. Only one primary host exists in a domain.
- Secondary host: The location of the managed servers for any application when they are not on the same host as the administration server of the same domain. Typically used when a domain spans two physical servers.
- BI host: The host where the Oracle Business Intelligence (Oracle BI) software is installed and configured.

Note that all of these host types can be scaled out to multiple hosts, and Upgrade Orchestrator must be run on each scaled out host for all host types, with the exception of DB hosts. See Scale Oracle Fusion Applications in the Oracle Fusion Applications Installation Guide.

1.3.2 Directories and Files Required by Upgrade Orchestrator

The following directories and files are referenced in this guide and are required by Upgrade Orchestrator:

SHARED_LOCATION: This directory is created in a shared location, which is accessible to all hosts in the environment, including scaled out hosts. See Create Directories in a Shared Location.
ORCHESTRATION_CHECKPOINT_LOCATION and ORCHESTRATION_CHECKPOINT_ARCHIVE_LOCATION: These directories are created under SHARED_LOCATION, where orchestration checkpoint related files are saved. See Create Orchestration Checkpoint Locations. These directory locations are stored as properties in the pod.properties file. See Table 11-1.
SHARED_UPGRADE_LOCATION: This temporary directory is created to copy files and perform write operations. See Create the Shared Upgrade Location Directory.
ORCH_LOCATION: This directory is created when unzipping orchestration.zip and is referred to as the orchestration directory. See Unzip Orchestration.zip.
POD_NAME: This is the name used throughout this guide to refer to the directory created. It is possible to create the POD_NAME directory under ORCH_LOCATION.
Manifest files: Manifest files are .xml type distribution files that are required by both Upgrade Orchestrator and Health Checker. These files are used throughout this guide to define specific tasks performed during the upgrade process.

1.4 Back Up Strategy

Before starting the upgrade process, knowledge of the backup requirements is needed, as there are multiple components involved in an Oracle Fusion Applications environment. An effective and accurate backup strategy helps to restore from the point of failure without having to restart from the beginning. Backups are manual steps and can be automated outside of Upgrade Orchestrator based on the IT requirements and processes.

The following components must be backed up:

Oracle Fusion Applications, including the following:
- Oracle Fusion Applications database
- APPLICATIONS_BASE directory
- APPLICATIONS_CONFIG directory
- Oracle Identity Management database
- Upgrade Orchestration directories
- OHS and /etc/hosts files
- Central Inventory
OPSS Security Store: This component is backed up by Upgrade Orchestrator.

Note:

Back up the Oracle Fusion Applications upgrade at multiple stages during the upgrade process. It is recommended to back up the entire Fusion Applications environment, including the databases before and after the upgrade.

1.5 Plan the Downtime

Consider the following suggestions when planning the downtime for the upgrade:

Perform pre-downtime steps ahead of time. See Prepare for the Release 12 Upgrade Before Downtime.
Perform the database patching in a separate maintenance window. See Update the Oracle Fusion Applications and Oracle Identity Management Databases.
Perform steps to check system reliability in pre-downtime mode after all prerequisites are met. See Run Pre-Downtime Checks.

1.6 Directories Structure Overview

Upgrade Orchestrator references and uses the following directories:

1.6.1 The ORCH_LOCATION Directory

The following figure shows the directory structure that is created when the Orchestration.zip file is unzipped, and is referred to as ORCH_LOCATION. See Unzip Orchestration.zip.

Figure 1-1 Directory Structure of Upgrade Orchestrator

1.6.2 Download Directories

The following figure shows the directory structure that is created during the preparation of the environment for the upgrade. There are specific files that must be downloaded into each of these directories. See Create Directories in a Shared Location.

Figure 1-2 Directory Structure of Downloaded Patches and Repositories

Directory structure of download directories

1.6.3 Oracle Fusion Applications Shared Directories

The following home directories are referenced during the upgrade steps:

APPLICATIONS_CONFIG

The root directory for the Oracle Fusion Applications configuration and instance files.
APPLICATIONS_BASE

The root directory for the Oracle Fusion Applications product binary files.
FA_ORACLE_HOME

The Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle home directory. This directory is located under the APPLICATIONS_BASE/fusionapps directory (net/mount1/appbase/fusionapps). The /fusionapps directory is an Oracle Fusion Applications Middleware home (APPLICATIONS_BASE/fusionapps).

See Oracle Fusion Applications Shared Directory Structure in the Oracle Fusion Applications Installation Guide.

1.7 Incremental Provisioning

Incremental provisioning provides the ability to extend the Oracle Fusion Applications environments during the upgrade. This extension is done by adding product offerings that are introduced in a release that is higher than the release of the existing Oracle Fusion Applications environments. A product offering is a logical grouping of features and functionality of Oracle Fusion Applications.

To use incremental provisioning, the Provisioning Wizard from a prior release must have been used to create the environment. See Extend an Oracle Fusion Applications Environment Using Incremental Provisioning During Upgrade in the Oracle Fusion Applications Installation Guide. Alternatively, use incremental provisioning if the Oracle Fusion Applications environment is created from Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle Virtual Machine (VM) templates. See Deployment of Oracle VM Templates in the Oracle Fusion Applications Installing and Managing in an Oracle VM Environment.

Adding optional VM hosts for product offerings such as, Value Chain Planning (VCP) and Governance, Risk and Control (GRC) during upgrade for environments previously created from a prior release of Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle Virtual Machine (VM) templates is not supported.