What's New in Oracle Base Database Service

Oracle is constantly adding new capabilities to the Base Database Service. This article provides a brief overview of the new features and enhancements made to the Base Database Service. It is organized by the date a particular feature or capability became available.

Table - Whats New in Oracle Base Database Service

Release Date Feature Description
April 03, 2024 Restore a backup to create a database across regions

You can now use an existing backup and restore it to create a database (out-of-place restore) across availability domains within the same region or in a different region using a backup created with Object Storage or Autonomous Recovery Service.

You can also restore a backup taken on either a database that was configured using host-based wallets (local wallets) or OCI Vault.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

February 05, 2024 OCI Vault integration for cross-region Data Guard

You can now set up a cross-region Data Guard between two databases if their keys are residing in a virtual private vault and are managed by the OCI Vault service. It enables you to have the encryption keys used for the primary and standby databases available in the primary and standby regions, respectively, so that they provide protection against a single point of failure for the OCI Vault key.

For more information, see Use Oracle Data Guard on a DB System
December 13, 2023 Use SQL Worksheet for Pluggable Databases

The SQL Worksheet provides a web-based SQL workspace where you can work with SQL statements directly in the browser.

You can now launch and use the SQL Worksheet for your Pluggable Databases from the Console.

For more information, see SQL Worksheets.

December 06, 2023 Upgrade operating system to Oracle Linux 8

You can now upgrade the operating system of your DB system to Oracle Linux 8 (OL8) using the Console or APIs.

For more information, see Upgrade a DB System.

December 06, 2023 Backup and restore from a standby database in a Data Guard association

You can now backup and restore from a standby database in a Data Guard association.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

October 11, 2023 Enhancements to Pluggable Database (PDB) management

You can now restore, relocate, and refresh Pluggable Databases.

For more information, see About Pluggable Databases.

September 19, 2023 Oracle Database 23c on Base Database Service

Oracle Database 23c is the next long term support release of Oracle Database, and it is now available on the Base Database Service.

For more information, see About Oracle Base Database Service.

August 21, 2023 Autonomous Recovery Service as the Default Backup Destination

Autonomous Recovery Service is now the default backup destination for automatic backups in all regions and includes default limits without having to request them.

For more information, see Back Up a Database Using the Console.

July 26, 2023 Restore a backup to create a database across availability domains within the same region

You can now use an existing backup and restore it to create a new database (out-of-place restore), either within the same availability domain or in a different availability domain within the same region, using a backup created with Object Storage or Autonomous Recovery Service.

For more information, see Create a DB System from a Backup Using the Console.

June 28, 2023 Ampere A1 flex shape

You can now use Arm-based Ampere A1 flexible shape for your DB system. Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

May 17, 2023 Enhanced controls to configure automatic full (L0) and incremental (L1) backups

You can now use these enhanced controls for database backups. With these enhanced controls, you can:

  • Specify whether you want the initial L0 backup to start immediately or according to the L0 schedule.
  • Choose a time window for the future full backups to start.
  • Choose a time window for the incremental backups to start, which can be different from the time window for the L0 backups.

The time windows will remain the same, two-hour scheduling windows and the default six-hour window.

For more information, see:
April 26, 2023 Cancel a running full or incremental backup

You can now cancel an ongoing backup, allowing you to free up system resources. You will no longer have to call the Oracle Cloud Operations team to have this backup job canceled.

For more information, see:
March 29, 2023 Health and performance metrics for DB Systems and databases in the Console

You can now monitor the health, capacity, and performance of your DB systems and databases with metrics, alarms, and notifications.

You can use Console, Monitoring APIs, or Database Management APIs to view metrics.

For more information, see:
March 22, 2023 Configure Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service as a backup destination

Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service provides an optimized policy-driven automatic backup and recovery system for the Base Database Service. It also offers a real-time data protection feature that enables protected databases with zero data loss recovery in the event of a database failure. Since real-time data protection is an extra cost option, you can choose to enable or disable it.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

January 20, 2023 Service gateway rules to support upcoming features

To support upcoming features, OCI cloud automation needs to communicate with various OCI services such as Identity, Object Storage Service (OSS) etc. either using an internet gateway or a service gateway.

For more information, see VCN and Subnets.

January 11, 2023 Intel X9 flex shape

You can now use Intel X9 flexible shape for your DB system. Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

January 11, 2023 Performance Metrics for Pluggable Databases

You can now monitor the health and performance of your PDBs by using Database Management metrics and Performance Hub.

For more information, see:
December 21, 2022 Microsoft Azure Active Directory integration with Base Database Service

You can now configure the database in the Base Database Service to use Microsoft Azure Active Database authentication and authorization to allow Azure AD users to access the database with Azure AD credentials.

For more information, see Use Azure Active Directory Authentication with Base Database Service.

December 21, 2022 Documentation added on troubleshooting network connectivity failures

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in troubleshooting network connectivity failures.

For more information, see Troubleshoot Network Connectivity Failures.

December 21, 2022 Documentation added on managing Database Management

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in managing Database Management.

For more information, see:

December 1, 2022 Migration from Intel X7 to AMD E4 Shape

You can now migrate your DB system from Intel-based X7 shapes to AMD-based flexible shape E4 by using the Change shape operation.

For more information, see Change the Shape of a DB System.

December 1, 2022 New documentation added on security

New article have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you with security features.

For more information, see Security Guide for Base Database Service.

November 16, 2022 Documentation added on troubleshooting failures

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in troubleshooting failures.

For more information, see:

September 27, 2022 Identity and Access Management (IAM) integration with Base Database Service

With the latest Release Update, you can now configure the database in a DB system to use OCI Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication and authorization to allow IAM users to access the database with IAM credentials.

As of this release, IAM authentication and authorization:
  • will be available to enable on newly provisioned databases in a DB system and for existing virtual machines that have been patched to set the WALLET_ROOT system parameter.
  • can not be used with databases configured with Data Guard.

For more information, see Use Identity and Access Management Authentication with Base Database Service.

September 20, 2022 Oracle Standard Tags for Base Database Service Resources

Using the OCI tagging system, Base Database Service resources may now be tagged according to your organizational scheme, allowing you to group resources, manage costs, and gain usage insights.

For more information, see Tags for Base Database Service Resources.

August 30, 2022 Database Service Events and Log 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. Database Service Events feature enables you to get notified about health issues with your Oracle Databases or other components on the DB system.

For more information, see:
July 27, 2022 TCPS integration

You can now use TCPS to connect when enabling database management support for the Base Database Service.

For more information, see Enable Database Management for Oracle Cloud Databases.

July 19, 2022 Database Service Events name change

The event names for Base Database Service have changed.

For more information, see Event Types for Base Database Service.

July 14, 2022 Data Guard enhancements
The Data Guard has now been enhanced with the following functionalities:
  • Select your desired time zone for the standby database,
  • Change the database image for the standby database,
  • Have a different fault domain for primary and standby databases,

For more information, see Enable Oracle Data Guard on a DB System.

July 07, 2022 Database upgrade with Data Guard

You can now upgrade the database that has a Data Guard association. The upgrade options are available in the Console for Data Guard associations created using the Console.

For more information, see Upgrade a Database.

May 18, 2022 AMD E4 flex shape

Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance. When you create a DB system using a flexible shape, you select the number of OCPUs that you need for the workloads that run on the instance. This flexibility lets you build DB systems that match your workload, enabling you to optimize performance and minimize cost.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

April 30, 2022 Image based patching

You can now update a database using the database software images using the Console.

For more information, see Update a Database.

April 21, 2022 Upgrade operating system and Oracle Grid Infrastructure

You can now upgrade the operating system and the Oracle Grid Infrastructure using the Console or APIs.

For more information, see Upgrade a DB System.

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