Change the Shape of a DB System

This article provides the details and procedure to change the shape of a DB system.

After you provision a DB system, you can change the shape at any time to adapt to changes in performance requirements. For example, you might require a system with more OCPUs, or you might want to reduce costs by reducing the number of OCPUs.

Note: The shape-changer operation takes place in a rolling fashion for multi-node RAC DB systems, allowing you to change the shape with no database downtime.

Changing the shape does not affect the amount of storage available to the DB system. However, the new shape can have different memory and network bandwidth characteristics, and you can reapply any customizations to these aspects after the change.

Prerequisites

• The DB system and database are in the ‘Available’ state.
• The DB system is registered with the Cluster Ready Services (CRS) Grid Infrastructure stack. By default, the DB systems use CRS.
• Database can be successfully restarted.
• Database is configured to use SPFILE (server parameter file), not PFILE. By default, databases in the DB systems use the SPFILE configuration.
• The SGA_TARGET parameter for Automatic Shared Memory Management (ASMM) has a nonzero value. By default, the DB systems use this ASMM configuration.

Migration to BaseDB x86 Shape

You can migrate your DB system from Standard x86 shape to Base DB x86 shape using the Change shape operation. The following prerequisites and restrictions apply to the migration of DB systems.

• Migration from Base DB x86 to any other shape is not supported.
• The DB system must use Oracle Database version 26ai only.

Migration to AMD Shapes

You can migrate your DB system from Intel X7 shapes and AMD E4 shapes to AMD E5 shapes using the Change shape operation. The following prerequisites and restrictions apply to the migration of DB systems.

• Migration from Ampere A1 and Intel X9 shapes to AMD E4 and E5 shapes and vice versa is not supported.
• The DB system must use the kernel UEK5. If the DB system is on UEK4, the migration operation will automatically update it to UEK5.
• For migration from Intel X7 shapes to Intel X9 or AMD E4 shapes, the DB system must use Oracle Linux 7 (OL7) or later. If a DB system is running on a version below OL7, you must upgrade the DB system to OL7 or later before migration. Oracle recommends OL8.
• For migration from Intel X7 or AMD E4 shape to AMD E5 shape, the DB system must use Oracle Linux 8 (OL8). If a DB system is running on a version below OL8, you must upgrade the DB system to OL8 before migration.
• The DB system must use an Oracle Grid Infrastructure version later than or equal to 19.15.

• The DB system must use the following Oracle Database versions or later versions for respective database version series.

  • 23.4.0.24.05
  • 21.6.0.0.0
  • 19.15.0.0.0
  • 12.2.0.1.220418
  • 12.1.0.2.220419
• The DB systems based on Oracle Database 11.2 cannot be migrated.
• You can migrate from Intel-based 2.X to AMD-based X OCPUs only. For example, if you are in the Intel VM.Standard2.2 shape, you will be able to migrate to the AMD 2 OCPU shape. However, after you have migrated, you will be able to change the AMD-based OCPUs according to the available options.
• After migrating to an AMD shape, you can scale up the storage to a maximum of 40 TB (the maximum allowed storage options available on Intel X7 shapes).
• After migration to an AMD shape, you will be on the same storage performance option as the previous shape. You will not be able to change to a different option.
• While creating a clone for a migrated DB system, the clone will have the same characteristics as the migrated DB system.
• While creating Oracle Data Guard for a database in a migrated DB system, the standby will have the same characteristics as the migrated DB system.
• After successful migration, you will not be able to migrate back from AMD to Intel shapes.
• After successful migration, you will not be able to restore to an old boot volume backup.

Procedure

Perform the following steps to change the shape using the OCI Console:

Caution: Changing shape requires a restart.

Note: Shape change from AMD E5 flexible shape is currently not supported.

1. On the DB Systems list page, select the DB system that you want to work with. If you need help finding the list page or the DB system, see List the DB Systems.
2. On the DB system details page, from the Actions menu, select Change shape.
3. In the Change shape panel, enter the following details. For a complete list of shapes, see Available Shapes and How It Determines the Resources Allocated.

Shape series

This section displays the values you had selected while provisioning and cannot be changed.

• If you are changing the shape from Intel-based X7 shapes to AMD-based flexible shape E4, then the number of OCPUs cannot be changed. You can migrate from Intel-based 2.X to AMD-based X OCPUs only. For example, if you are in the Intel VM.Standard2.2 shape, you will be able to migrate to the AMD 2 OCPU shape. However, after you have migrated, you will be able to change the AMD-based OCPUs according to the available options.
• You can migrate from Standard x86 shape to Base DB x86 shape.

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.

Change shape

Select Change and confirm.

• If your shape change operation is not successful, see Troubleshoot Shape Change Failures.