Create a DB System

This article provides the details and procedure to create a DB system.

General Information

The DB systems will be provisioned with Oracle Linux 8 (OL8) for Oracle Database versions 26ai, 21c, and 19c with 23.4.0.24.05, 21.12.0.0, 19.21.0.0, and later release updates (RU).

Prerequisites

• A correctly configured virtual cloud network (VCN) to launch the DB system. Its related networking resources (gateways, route tables, security lists, DNS, and so on) must also be configured as necessary. For more information, see VCN and Subnets.
• Oracle recommends using a service gateway to enable necessary access if you plan to back up your DB system or use the managed update feature.
• For a multi-node RAC DB system, ensure that port 22 is open for both ingress and egress on the subnet and that the security rules you create are stateful (the default). Otherwise, the DB system might fail to provision successfully.

• Optionally, a public key, in OpenSSH format, from the key pair that you plan to use for connecting to the DB system via SSH. A sample public key, abbreviated for readability, is shown below. For more information, see Managing Key Pairs on Linux Instances.

  ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAA....lo/gKMLVM2xzc1xJr/Hc26biw3TXWGEakrK1OQ== rsa-key-20160304

Procedure

Perform the following steps to create a DB system using the OCI Console:

On the DB Systems list page, select Create DB system. If you need help finding the list page or the DB system, see List the DB Systems.

Basic details

• DB system name: Enter a name for the DB system. Avoid entering confidential information. OCI assigns an unique Oracle Cloud Identifier (OCID) to the DB system, so the name you enter can be nonunique.
• Compartment: Select a compartment for your new DB system from the list. By default, the current compartment is selected.
• Availability domain: Select an availability domain in which the DB system must reside.
• Oracle Database software edition: The database edition supported by the DB system. The database edition cannot be changed later.

Shape

Shape: The shape determines the type of DB system created and the resources allocated to the system. For a complete list of shapes, see Available Shapes and How It Determines the Resources Allocated.

• By default, the AMD VM.Standard.E5.Flex shape with 4 OCPUs is selected.
• The Enterprise Edition Developer is supported only on the Ampere A1 shape.
• If Enterprise Edition Developer is selected for the Oracle Database software edition, then by default, the VM.Standard.A1.Flex shape with 1 OCPU is selected.
• The Standard Edition is not supported on the Ampere A1 shape.
• By default, the same shape as the primary is selected for standby.
• To specify a shape other than the default, select Change shape.

In the Change shape panel, provide the following details to select from available shapes:

Shape series

Select a processor from the following processor group.

• Base DB x86: Flexible shapes that uses generation-agnostic x86 processor.
• Standard x86: Flexible shapes that uses generation-agnostic x86 processor.
• AMD: Flexible shapes that use current-generation AMD processors.
• Intel: Standard and optimized shapes that use current-generation Intel processors. Both fixed and flexible Intel shapes are available.
• Ampere: Flexible shapes that use Arm-based Ampere processors.

Note: If you select Base DB x86 or Standard x86 shapes, the memory scales proportionally with ECPU count. If you select Ampere A1, AMD E4, AMD E5, or Intel X9 flexible shapes, the memory, network bandwidth, and maximum theoretical IOPS scale proportionally with OCPU count.

Configure ECPU

Select the ECPU shape you want to use for this instance.

To change the number of ECPUs, perform the following steps:

• From the actions menu of the desired shape, select Update ECPU count.
• Select the desired number of ECPUs per node from the list.
• Select Update.

You can update the number of ECPUs allocated to Base DB x86 and Standard x86 flexible shapes.

Shape	Minimum ECPUs	Maximum ECPUs	Memory Allocation
Base DB x86	4	256	8 GB for every 4 ECPUs, up to 512 GB
Standard x86	4	252	8 GB for every 4 ECPUs, up to 504 GB

Configure OCPU

Select the OCPU shape you want to use for this instance.

To change the number of OCPUs, perform the following steps:

• From the actions menu of the desired shape, select Update OCPU count.
• Select the desired number of OCPUs per node from the list.
• Select Update.

You can change the number of OCPUs for Ampere A1, AMD E4, AMD E5, and Intel X9 flexible shapes.

• For the Ampere A1 shape, a minimum of 1 OCPU and a maximum of 57 OCPUs can be selected.
• For AMD E4 and E5 shapes, a minimum of 1 OCPU and a maximum of 64 OCPUs can be selected.
• For the Intel X9 shape, a minimum of 1 OCPU and a maximum of 32 OCPUs can be selected.

The following resources scale proportionately to the number of OCPUs you selected.

• Memory (GB): The amount of memory you want to allocate to this instance.

  For Ampere A1, AMD E4, AMD E5, and Intel X9 shapes, the memory will scale proportionally based on the number of OCPUs selected.

  • For the Ampere A1 shape, for each OCPU, 8 GB of memory is allocated. A minimum of 8 GB and a maximum of 456 GB of memory is allocated.
  • For AMD E4 and E5 shapes, for each OCPU, 16 GB of memory is allocated. A minimum of 16 GB and a maximum of 1024 GB of memory is allocated.
  • For the Intel X9 shape, for each OCPU, 16 GB of memory is allocated. A minimum of 16 GB and a maximum of 512 GB of memory is allocated.

• Network bandwidth (Gbps): The amount of network bandwidth you want to allocate to this instance.

  For Ampere A1, AMD E4, AMD E5, and Intel X9 shapes, the bandwidth will scale proportionally based on the number of OCPUs selected. For each OCPU, 1 Gbps of network bandwidth is allocated.

  • For the Ampere A1 shape, a minimum of 1 Gbps and a maximum of 40 Gbps of network bandwidth is allocated.
  • For AMD E4 and E5 shapes, a minimum of 1 Gbps and a maximum of 40 Gbps of network bandwidth is allocated.
  • For the Intel X9 shape, a minimum of 1 Gbps and a maximum of 32 Gbps of network bandwidth is allocated.

• Theoretical max IOPS: The amount of input and output per second (IOPS) you want to allocate to this instance. Theoretical max IOPS is also dependent on the storage you select.

  For standard x86 shapes, the theoretical max IOPS will scale proportionally based on the number of ECPUs selected. For each ECPU, 8K theoretical max IOPS is allocated.

  For Ampere A1, AMD E4, AMD E5, and Intel X9 shapes, the theoretical max IOPS will scale proportionally based on the number of OCPUs selected. For each OCPU, 16K theoretical max IOPS is allocated.

  • For the Ampere A1 shape, a minimum of 16K and a maximum of 640K theoretical max IOPS is allocated.
  • For AMD E4 and E5 shapes, a minimum of 16K and a maximum of 640K theoretical max IOPS is allocated.
  • For the Intel X9 shape, a minimum of 16K to a maximum of 512K theoretical max IOPS is allocated.

Storage

• Storage management software: The storage determines how much storage to provision and the performance settings. By default, Logical Volume Manager with Higher performance is selected.
• To specify a storage other than the default, select Change storage.

Note: Ampere A1 shape is only supported on Logical Volume Manager. When the Ampere A1 shape is selected, the storage management software type changes to Logical Volume Manager with the Higher Performance option.

In the Change storage panel, provide the following details to select from available storage:

Storage management software

For the storage management software type, select one of the following:

• Oracle Grid Infrastructure to use Oracle Automatic Storage Management (recommended for production workloads)
• Logical Volume Manager to quickly provision your DB system using Logical Volume Manager storage management software.

Note: The Available storage (GB) value you specify during provisioning determines the maximum total storage available through scaling. For total storage available for each choice, see Storage Scaling Considerations While Using Fast Provisioning.

Storage performance

For the storage performance type, select one of the following:

• Balanced for most workloads that require a good balance between performance and cost savings.
• Higher performance for large databases and workloads with high I/O requirements. It is the default performance level.

Provide the following details:

• Available data storage (GB): Select the amount of Block Storage in GB to allocate to the DB system. Available storage can be scaled up as needed after provisioning your DB system.
• Recovery area storage (GB): (Read-only) This field displays the amount of storage available for recovery log data (RECO storage). The recovery area storage is determined based on the storage selected. However, you can change the recovery area storage independently after provisioning. For more information about changing the recovery area storage, see Scale the DB System.

• Expected theoretical max IOPS for data storage: (Read-only) This field displays the maximum theoretical IOPS that is achievable for the storage you have selected.

  For Standard x86 shapes, the theoretical max IOPS for data storage will scale proportionally based on the amount of data storage selected. For each GB of data storage, 100 theoretical max IOPS are allocated.

DB system configuration

• Total node count: The number of nodes in the DB system. You can specify either one or two nodes. It also depends on the shape and storage you select.

  • Multi-node RAC DB systems require a minimum of two OCPUs per node and are not available on Logical Volume Manager.
  • Ampere A1 shape and VM.Standard 2.1 shape are only available on single-node DB systems.
• Total storage (GB): Read-only. Displays the total amount of storage that will be used by the DB system, including storage required by the DB system software. The size of the backup determines the minimum value for available storage.
• Cluster name: Optional. Displays only for multi-node DB systems to enable you to specify the cluster to store the node.
• Theoretical max IOPS: Read-only. Displays the maximum IOPS that is supported for the instance. It is the minimum of the network IOPS and storage IOPS you selected in the Shape and storage sections. Maximum theoretical IOPS is calculated based on a database with an 8K block size.
• IOPS limiting factor: Read-only. Displays either Storage or Network based on which the theoretical max IOPS is determined. It helps identify if you need to increase storage or increase the network bandwidth (by increasing the number of OCPUs proportionally) for your shape if more IOPS are required.

• SSH keys: Add the public key portion of each key pair you want to use for SSH access. Select one of the following options:

  • Generate SSH key pair: Use this option to create a new SSH key pair. Select both Save private key and Save public key when using this option. The private key is downloaded to your local system and must be stored in a safe location. You cannot download another copy of the private key generated during this operation after completing the operation.
  • Upload SSH key files: Select this option to browse or drag and drop your existing public key (.pub) files.
  • Paste SSH keys: Select this option to paste in individual public keys. To paste multiple keys, select + Another SSH key and supply a single key for each entry.

• License type: The type of license you want to use for the DB system. Your choice affects metering for billing.

  • License included means the cost of this OCI Database service resource will include both the Oracle Database software licenses and the service.
  • Bring Your Own License (BYOL) means you will use your organization’s Oracle Database software licenses for this OCI Database service resource. For more information, see Bring Your Own License.

Network information

• Select Compartment to select a VCN in a different compartment.
• Virtual cloud network: From the list, select a VCN in which to create the DB system. Select Change compartment to select a VCN in a different compartment.
• Select Compartment to select a subnet in a different compartment.

• Client subnet: The subnet to which the DB system attaches. For both single-node and multi-node RAC DB systems, do not use a subnet that overlaps with 192.168.16.16/28, which is used by the Oracle Clusterware private interconnect on the database instance. Specifying an overlapping subnet causes the private interconnect to malfunction.

  Choose a dual stack subnet if you want to configure the DB system with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

• Network security groups: Optionally, you can specify one or more network security groups (NSGs) for your DB system. NSGs function as virtual firewalls, enabling you to apply a set of ingress and egress security rules to your DB system. A maximum of five NSGs can be specified.

  For more information, see Access and Security and Security Rules for the DB System.

  Note: If you select a subnet with a security list, the security rules for the DB system will be a union of the rules in the security list and the NSGs.

  To use network security groups:

  • Switch on the Use network security groups to control traffic toggle. Note that you must have a virtual cloud network selected to be able to assign NSGs to your DB system.
  • Specify the NSG to use with the DB system. You may need to use more than one NSG. If you’re not sure, contact your network administrator.
  • To use additional NSGs, select + Another network security group.

• Hostname prefix: Enter a hostname prefix for the DB system. The host name must begin with an alphabetic character and can contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens (-). The maximum number of characters allowed is 16.

  Caution: The host name must be unique within the subnet. If it is not unique, the DB system will fail to provision.

• Host domain name: The domain name for the DB system. If the selected subnet uses the Oracle-provided Internet and VCN Resolver for DNS name resolution, then this field displays the domain name for the subnet, and it can’t be changed. Otherwise, you can provide your choice of a domain name. Hyphens (-) are not permitted.
• Host and domain URL: Combines the host and domain names to display the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the database. The maximum length is 64 characters.

• Private IP type: Optionally, for non-RAC DB systems, you can define the IP address of the new DB system. This is useful in development contexts where you create and delete a DB system over and over, and you need each new iteration of the DB system to use the same IP address. If you specify an IP address that is currently in use within the subnet, the provisioning operation will fail with an error message regarding the invalid IP address.

  If a dual stack subnet is selected, then both IPv4 and IPv6 address options are displayed.

  • IPv4 address: You can either automatically assign an IPv4 address or enter it manually.

    • Select the Automatically assign IPv4 addresses from subnet option to assign an address automatically.
    • Select the Manually assign IPv4 addresses option to manually enter a private IP address. The IP address should be within the subnet CIDR range.

  • IPv6 address: You can either automatically assign an IPv6 address or enter it manually.

    • Select the Automatically assign IPv6 addresses from subnet option to assign an address automatically.
    • Select the Manually assign IPv6 addresses option to manually enter an IP address. The IP address should be within the subnet CIDR range.

Diagnostics collection

The diagnostics collection and notifications feature enables Oracle Cloud Operations and you to identify, investigate, track, and resolve guest VM issues quickly and effectively. Subscribe to events to get notified about resource state changes. You can enable or disable this feature at anytime.

By default the options are selected for enabling. However, you can select to uncheck the diagnostic collection check boxes if you do not require the diagnostic feature.

• Enable diagnostic events: Enables and allows Oracle to collect and send fault notifications about critical, warning, and information events for you.
• Enable health monitoring: This diagnostics collection for Oracle Cloud operations viewing is not available for the Base Database Service.
• Enable incident logs and trace collection: Enables and allows Oracle to receive event notifications and collect incident logs and traces for fault diagnosis and issue resolution.

Note: You are opting in with the understanding that the list of events and log files can change in the future. You can opt out of this feature at any time.

Advanced options

Expand Advanced options to provide the advanced options for this resource.

Management

Expand Management to provide the following details:

• Fault domain: The fault domain(s) in which the DB system resides. You can select which fault domain to use for your DB system. For multi-node RAC DB systems, you can specify which two fault domains to use. Oracle recommends that you place each node of a multi-node RAC DB system in a different fault domain. For more information about fault domains, see About Regions and Availability Domains.

• Time zone: The default time zone for the DB system is UTC, but you can specify a different time zone. The time zone options are those supported in both the Java.util.TimeZone class and the Oracle Linux operating system. For more information, see DB System Time Zone. The following options are available:

  • UTC: configures your DB system to use coordinated universal time.
  • Browser-detected: The console displays the time zone detected by your browser for this option.
  • Select another time zone: To manually specify a time zone, first make a choice using the Region or country selector to select a geographic region, then use the Time zone selector to select your required time zone.

  Tip: If you want to set a time zone other than UTC or the browser-detected time zone, and if you do not see the time zone you want, try selecting “Miscellaneous” in the Region or country list.

Security

Expand Security to provide security details. Optionally, you can specify one or more security attributes to configure Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR) for the DB system.

• Select the Namespace in which the required security attribute is available.
• Select the Key and Value of the required security attribute.
• Select Add security attribute.

Note:

• Administrators must set up security attribute namespaces and security attributes in a tenancy before users can apply security attributes to the DB systems.

• A security attribute is effective only with appropriate policies. If a security attribute without any policies is added, all access will be denied by default, even if allowed in the Security List or NSGs.

• If you use the security attribute, the security rules for the DB system will be a union of the rules in the security attributes along with any rules in the security list and the NSGs.

• You may need to use more than one security attribute. If you're not sure, contact your network administrator.

• A maximum of 3 security attributes can be specified for a DB system.

For more information about:

• Add, edit, or remove a security attribute after a DB system is created, see Manage Security Attributes for the DB System.
• Defining appropriate ZPR policies, see Zero Trust Packet Routing.
• Creating a security attribute, see Creating a Security Attribute.

Tags

Expand Tags to provide tag details for this resource.

You can add free-form tags or defined tags to this resource. You must have permission to use the tag namespace for defined tags. For information about using tags to manage your OCI resources, see Resource Tags.

Tip: Tags can be applied later or at any time to a resource.

Database basic details

• Database name: Enter a name for the database. It is also known as the DB_NAME. The database name must begin with an alphabetic character and can contain a maximum of eight alphanumeric characters. Special characters are not permitted.

• Database unique name suffix: Optional. The second portion of the database’s unique name. The complete database unique name is created by appending the database unique name suffix to the database name you specify.

• Database unique name: Read-only. Displays the complete database unique name (DB_UNIQUE_NAME). The database unique name is a globally unique name for the database. Primary and standby databases in a Data Guard association can share the same database name but must have different database unique names.

• Unified Auditing: Select this to enable the unified auditing framework. Unified auditing provides selective and effective auditing inside the Oracle database using policies and conditions. The unified auditing option needs to be specified during provisioning. Unified auditing is enabled by default for Oracle AI Database 26ai. For more information, see Introduction to Auditing.

• Database image: Determines what Oracle Database version is used for the database. You can mix database versions on the DB system, but not editions. By default, the latest Oracle-published database software image is selected.

  The latest approved Release Update is available by default. You can also select one of the two preceding Release Updates (N-1 or N-2) after acknowledging the message displayed. To use a Release Update older than N-2, you must submit a Service Request.

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

  • Oracle 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 Compartment and Database version filters to select the custom database software images from a specific compartment or Oracle Database software major release version.

  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 you are provisioning.

  For more information about database software images, see Oracle Database Software Images.

  After selecting a software image, select the Select button.

• PDB name: Optional. The name of the pluggable database. The PDB name must begin with an alphabetic character and can contain a maximum of eight alphanumeric characters. The only special character permitted is the underscore ( _ ).

Administrator credentials

• Username: sys (This is a read-only field). A database administrator named sys will be created with the password you supply.

• Password: Enter a password for the administrator. The password must meet the following criteria:

  • A strong password for SYS, SYSTEM, TDE wallet, and PDB administrator.
  • The password must be 9 to 30 characters and contain at least two uppercase, two lowercase, two numeric, and two special characters.
  • The special characters must be _, #, or -.
  • The password must not contain the user name (SYS, SYSTEM, and so on) or the word “oracle” either in forward or reversed order and regardless of casing.
• Confirm password: Reenter the password you specified.

• Using a TDE wallet password is optional. If you are using customer-managed encryption keys stored in a vault in your tenancy, the TDE wallet password is not applicable to your DB system. Use Show advanced options at the end of the Database Information section to configure customer-managed keys.

  If you are using customer-managed keys, or if you want to specify a different TDE wallet password, switch off the Use the administrator password for the TDE wallet toggle. If you are using customer-managed keys, leave the TDE password fields blank. To set the TDE wallet password manually, enter a password in the Enter TDE wallet password field, and then confirm by entering it into the Confirm TDE wallet password field.

Database backups

Switch on or off the Enable automatic backups toggle as per your requirement. If you are enabling automatic backups, you can select to configure the Recovery Service or Object Storage as the backup destination.

Note: To use Recovery Service as a backup destination, the Oracle Database version must be 19.18 or later.

Your choice to use Recovery Service as the backup destination depends on the available limits in your tenancy and the available capacity in the specific region. The following restrictions apply to all regions when you enable automatic backups and want to use Recovery Service as the backup destination:

• If you have available limits and if there is available capacity in the region, then your choices are Recovery Service (default) and Object Storage.
• If you have exhausted the default limits for the Recovery Service, then you can only use Object Storage. However, you can make an additional limits request and then use Recovery Service.
• If there is no available capacity in the region, then you can use only Object Storage. However, after the required capacity becomes available in the region, you can seamlessly switch from Object Storage to Recovery Storage.
• Ampere A1 shape-based DB systems can only be backed up in the Object Storage.

Effective June 23, 2026, when you enable automatic backups using the OCI Console, the Autonomous Recovery Service will be the only available backup destination under the following conditions:

• The tenancy was created on or after June 23, 2026.

• The database is deployed in one of the following OCI regions:

  Netherlands Northwest (Amsterdam) AMS, Colombia Central (Bogota) BOG, Brazil East (Sao Paulo) GRU, Indonesia North (Batam) HSG, India South (Hyderabad) HYD, US East (Ashburn) IAD, South Korea Central (Seoul) ICN, Malaysia West 2 (Kulai) JBP, Saudi Arabia West (Jeddah) JED, Morocco West (Casablanca) LEJ, UK South (London) LHR, Italy Northwest (Milan) LIN, Spain Central (Madrid) MAD, Israel Central (Jerusalem) MTZ, Italy North (Turin) NRQ, Spain Central (Madrid 3) ORF, Chile Central (Santiago) SCL, Chile West (Valparaiso) VAP, Brazil Southeast (Vinhedo) VCP, Canada Southeast (Montreal) YUL, and Canada Southeast (Toronto) YYZ.

• The Oracle Database version is later than 19.18 or 23.4.

If any of these conditions are not met, OCI Object Storage will be shown as a backup destination.

Effective May 15, 2026, when you enable automatic backups using the OCI Console, Autonomous Recovery Service will be the only available backup destination under the following conditions:

• The tenancy was created on or after May 15, 2026.

• The database is deployed in one of the following OCI regions:

  Sweden Central (Stockholm) ARN, UAE Central (Abu Dhabi) AUH, India West (Mumbai) BOM, France Central (Paris) CDG, UK West (Newport) CWL, UAE East (Dubai) DXB, South Africa Central (Johannesburg) JNB, Japan Central (Osaka) KIX, Australia Southeast (Melbourne) MEL, France South (Marseille) MRS, Mexico Northeast (Monterrey) MTY, US Midwest (Chicago) ORD, Mexico Central (Queretaro) QRO, Saudi Arabia Central (Riyadh) RUH, US West (San Jose) SJC, Singapore (Singapore) SIN, Australia East (Sydney) SYD, Singapore West (Singapore) XSP, South Korea North (Chuncheon) YNY, or Switzerland North (Zurich) ZRH.

• The Oracle Database version is later than 19.18 or 23.4.

If any of these conditions are not met, OCI Object Storage will be shown as a backup destination.

Effective August 06, 2025, when you enable automatic backups through the OCI Console, Autonomous Recovery Service will be the only available backup destination under the following conditions:

• The tenancy was created on or after August 06, 2025.

• The database is deployed in one of the following OCI regions:

  Germany Central (Frankfurt) FRA, US West (Phoenix) PHX, or Japan East (Tokyo) NRT.

• The Oracle Database version is later than 19.18 or 23.4.

If any of these conditions are not met, OCI Object Storage will be shown as a backup destination.

Recovery Service

If Recovery Service is selected as the Backup destination, you can configure the following options:

• Protection policy: You can select from one of the preset protection policies or a custom policy. The system automatically deletes your backups at the end of your chosen protection policy recovery window.

  The following retention periods are available for Recovery Service. The retention periods (in days) are defined in the Recovery Service protection policy.

  • Bronze (14 days)
  • Silver (35 days) (default)
  • Gold (65 days)
  • Platinum (95 days)
  • Custom (User defined protection policy)

• Real-time data protection: Real-time protection is the continuous transfer of redo changes from a protected database to Recovery Service. This reduces data loss and provides a recovery point objective (RPO) near 0. This is an extra cost option.

• Deletion options after database termination: You can use the following options to retain managed database backups after the database is terminated. These options can also help restore the database from backups in case of accidental or malicious damage to the database.

  • Retain backups according to the retention period: When a database is terminated, the automatic database backups associated with the terminated database and all of its resources will be removed at the end of the specified retention period.
  • Retain backups for 72 hours, then delete: When a database is terminated, the automatic database backups associated with the terminated database and all of its resources will be retained for 72 hours and then deleted. The backups are retained for 72 hours to safeguard against accidental deletion by the user.

• Scheduled day for initial backup: Select a day of the week for the initial backup to begin.

• Scheduled time for initial backup (UTC): Select a time for the initial backup to begin. The initial backup could start at any time or within the chosen two-hour scheduling window.

• Scheduled time for daily backup (UTC): Select a time for the daily backup to begin. The daily backup could start at any time or within the chosen two-hour scheduling window.

• Take the first backup immediately: A full backup is an operating system backup of all data files and the control file that constitute an Oracle Database. A full backup must also include the parameter files associated with the database. You can take a database backup when the database is shut down or while the database is open. You must typically not take a backup after an instance failure or other unusual circumstances. If you select to defer the initial backup, your database may not be recoverable in the event of a database failure.

Object Storage

If Object Storage is selected as the Backup destination, you can configure the following options:

• Backup retention period: If you select to enable automatic backups, you can select a policy with one of the preset retention periods. The system automatically deletes your incremental backups at the end of your chosen retention period. You can change the backup retention period after provisioning.

  The following retention periods are available for Object Storage.

  • 7 days
  • 15 days
  • 30 days (default)
  • 45 days
  • 60 days

• Deletion options after database termination: You can use the following options to retain managed database backups after the database is terminated. These options can also help restore the database from backups in case of accidental or malicious damage to the database.

  • Retain backups according to the retention period: When a database is terminated, the automatic database backups associated with the terminated database and all of its resources will be removed at the end of the specified retention period.
  • Retain backups for 72 hours, then delete: When a database is terminated, the automatic database backups associated with the terminated database and all of its resources will be retained for 72 hours and then deleted. The backups are retained for 72 hours to safeguard against accidental deletion by the user.

• Scheduled day for full backup: Select a day of the week for the initial and future full backups to begin.

• Scheduled time for full backup (UTC): Select a time for the full backup to begin. The full backup could start at any time or within the chosen two-hour scheduling window.

• Scheduled time for incremental backup (UTC): Select a time for the incremental backup to begin. The incremental backup could start at any time or within the chosen two-hour scheduling window.

• Take the first backup immediately: A full backup is an operating system backup of all data files and the control file that constitute an Oracle Database. A full backup must also include the parameter files associated with the database. You can take a database backup when the database is shut down or while the database is open. You must typically not take a backup after an instance failure or other unusual circumstances. If you select to defer the initial backup, your database may not be recoverable in the event of a database failure.

Advanced options

Expand Advanced options to provide the advanced options for this resource.

Management

Expand Management to provide the following details:

• Character set: The character set for the database. The default is AL32UTF8.
• National character set: The national character set for the database. The default is AL16UTF16.

Encryption

Expand Encryption to configure the encryption key management option for your database. By default, the database is configured using Oracle-managed encryption keys. To configure the database with encryption based on encryption keys you manage, provide the following details:

• Select Use customer-managed keys. You must have a valid encryption key in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Vault service. For more information, see the Let security admins manage vaults, keys, and secrets topic in Common Policies.

  Note: You must use AES-256 encryption keys for your database.

• Select a Compartment where the Vault is located.
• Select a Vault.
• Select a Master encryption key.

• To specify a key version other than the latest version of the selected key, check Choose the key version and enter the OCID of the key you want to use in the Key version OCID field.

  Note: The key version will only be assigned to the container database (CDB) and not to its pluggable database (PDB). The PDB will be assigned an automatically generated new key version.

Tags

Expand Tags to provide tag details for this resource.

You can add free-form tags or defined tags to this resource. You must have permission to use the tag namespace for defined tags. For information about using tags to manage your OCI resources, see Resource Tags.

Tip: Tags can be applied later or at any time to a resource.

Create

Select Create. The DB system appears in the list with a status of Provisioning. The DB system’s icon changes from yellow to green (or red to indicate errors).

After the DB system’s icon turns green, with a status of Available, you can select the highlighted DB system name to display details about the DB system. Note the IP addresses. You’ll need the private or public IP address, depending on network configuration, to connect to the DB system.