Changes in this Release for Oracle Database Installation Guide

Changes in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Oracle Database 18c.

• Changes in Oracle Database 18c
  New features, deprecated features, and desupported features in this release.

Changes in Oracle Database 18c

New features, deprecated features, and desupported features in this release.

The following are changes in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Oracle Database 18c:

• New Features for Oracle Database 18c
  New features for Oracle Database Release 18c.
• Deprecated Features for Oracle Database 18c
  Deprecated feature for Oracle Database 18c.
• Desupported Features for Oracle Database 18c
  Desupported feature for Oracle Database 18c.

New Features for Oracle Database 18c

New features for Oracle Database Release 18c.

Read-Only Oracle Home

Starting with Oracle Database 18c, if you choose a read-only Oracle home, then the database tools and processes write under the ORACLE_BASE path instead of under the Oracle home directory. A read-only Oracle home separates the software from the database configuration information and log files. This separation enables you to easily share the software across different deployments. A read-only Oracle home also simplifies version control and standardization.

For more information, see Read-Only Oracle Homes

Simplified Image-based Oracle Database Installation

Starting with Oracle Database 18c, the Oracle Database software is available as an image file for download and installation. You must extract the image software into the directory where you want your Oracle home to be located, and then run the setup.exe to start the Oracle Database installation.

For more information, see About Image-Based Oracle Database Installation

Deprecated Features for Oracle Database 18c

Deprecated feature for Oracle Database 18c.

The following feature is deprecated for this release:

• Deprecation of crsuser on Windows

  Starting in Oracle Database 18c, the  SQL*Plus table PRODUCT_USER_PROFILE (PUP) table is deprecated.

  The only use for the PRODUCT_USER_PROFILE (PUP) table is to provide a mechanism to control product-level security for SQL*Plus. Starting with Oracle Database 18c, this mechanism is no longer relevant. This SQL*Plus product-level security feature will be unavailable in Oracle Database 19c. Oracle recommends that you protect data by using Oracle Database settings, so that you ensure consistent security across all client applications.

Desupported Features for Oracle Database 18c

Desupported feature for Oracle Database 18c.

The following feature is desupported in this release:

• Oracle Administration Assistant for Windows

  The Oracle Administration Assistant tool for Windows is desupported in Oracle Database 18c.

• Deprecation of crsuserThe crsuser utility and and the CRSToken method to change the Windows service user is desupported in Oracle Database 18c.

  In Oracle Grid Infrastructure releases before Release 12c (12.1), it was supported to use the crsuser utility with Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) to modify the database logon properties of the Oracle Database service from LocalSystem to a user ID.

  Oracle introduced the Oracle Home User system privileges role for the DB home in Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12c Release 1 (12.1). This role makes the need for the crsuser functionality unnecessary. The crsuser facility was also previously used to create user-defined CRS resources that ran as a Windows user other than LocalSystem. However, Oracle Grid Infrastructure 12c Release 1 (12.1) and later releases provide that same functionality with crsctl add wallet -type OSUSER The crsuser feature no longer works. It is no longer developed or supported.

  For more information about the crsctl add wallet -type OSUSER command, refer to Oracle Clusterware Administration and Deployment.