1 Introduction to the Oracle WebCenter 12c Upgrade
When upgrading your Oracle WebCenter 11g environment to 12c (12.2.1), 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), 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) Oracle Home binaries are upgraded "out of place" as the binaries are installed in a new directory.
The upgrade to 12c (12.2.1) includes the midtier and the schemas. You cannot perform a midtier-only or schema-only upgrade.
The list below describes how the upgrade is performed for the following Infrastructure and SOA Suite components:
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Oracle WebLogic Server, JRF and WebCenter Oracle Home Binaries - Upgraded Out of Place
You will install the Oracle Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1) (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.
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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.
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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 and the 11g domain will be reconfigured to point to the new 12c (12.2.1) home directory.
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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) 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 WebCenter 12c.
| Component Name | Supported Starting Points for Upgrade |
|---|---|
| Oracle Enterprise CaptureFoot 1 | 11.1.1.8.0
11.1.1.9.0 |
| Oracle WebCenter Content | 11.1.1.6.0
11.1.1.7.0 11.1.1.8.0 11.1.1.9.0 |
| Oracle WebCenter Portal | 11.1.1.7.0
11.1.1.8.0 11.1.1.9.0 |
Footnote 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.
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). There are other restrictions on the components that can be upgraded to 12c (12.2.1) and you need to be sure that you have reviewed this information carefully before you proceed with the upgrade.
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 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 | Review the Oracle Fusion Middleware documentation library for important information about upgrading to 12c. | Planning an Upgrade of Oracle Fusion Middleware |
| 2 | Backup your entire 11g environment before you begin any part of this upgrade.
If the upgrade fails or encounters an error, you will have to redeploy your pre-upgrade environment and start the upgrade again. |
"Introducing Backup and Recovery"
"Backup and Recovery Recommendations for Oracle Fusion Middleware Components" |
| 3 | 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. | Oracle Fusion Middleware Pre-Upgrade Checklist |
| 4 | Oracle WebCenter Content Users Only: You must complete the Content-specific pre-upgrade tasks before you can upgrade. | Performing Pre-Upgrade Tasks for WebCenter Content |
| 5 | Oracle WebCenter Enterprise Capture Users Only: You must complete the Enterprise Capture-specific pre-upgrade tasks before you can upgrade. | Performing Pre-Upgrade Tasks for Oracle WebCenter Enterprise Capture |
| 6 | Oracle WebCenter Portal Users Only: You must complete the Portal-specific pre-upgrade tasks before you can upgrade. | Performing Pre-Upgrade Tasks for Oracle WebCenter Portal |
| 7 | If you are using a file-based policy store in your 11g environment, Oracle recommends that you reassociate it to a database-based store before the upgrade.
If you are using Oracle Internet Directory (OID) 11.1.1.6.0 as the policy store, Oracle recommends that you reassociate it to a database-based store before the upgrade. For information about supported OID versions, see Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c Certifications at |
Reassociating File-based Policy Stores to Database-based Policy Stores (Required) |
| 8 | 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 11g deployment. |
Installing the Required Oracle Fusion Middleware Distributions for WebCenter |
| 9 | Stop the Administration Server, Managed Servers and any other running applications in your 11g deployment. | Starting and Stopping Administration Server |
| 10 | 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 |
| 11 | 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. |
Performing a Readiness Check with the Upgrade Assistant |
| 12 | Run the Upgrade Assistant to upgrade individually selected schemas or all schemas used by the domain. | Upgrading Schemas with the Upgrade Assistant |
| 13 | 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 |
| 14 | Run the Upgrade Assistant (again) to upgrade any remaining component configurations. | Upgrading the Component Configuration with the Upgrade Assistant |
| 15 | WebCenter Portal Users Only: Complete a set of additional procedures to upgrade Oracle WebCenter Portal to 12c. | Upgrading Oracle WebCenter Portal 11g Installations |
| 16 | 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 |
| 17 | Restart the Administration Server and all the managed servers such as the Collaboration Server, Content Server (UCM_server1) and Portal Server (WC_Spaces). | Starting and Stopping Administration Server |
| 18 | Verify the upgrade was successful (applications function as expected, etc.) | Verifying the New Applications Work as Expected |
| 19 | Upgrade WebCenter for a cluster topology, if applicable | Upgrading WebCenter for a Cluster Topology |