Release Update 19.21 Features
AutoUpgrade Automates Data Guard Operations During Database Upgrade
AutoUpgrade automates the steps necessary to upgrade a database in an Oracle Data Guard configuration. Note that in Oracle Database 19c, Data Guard operations are not fully automated. Oracle only supports upgrading a primary database and shutting down of redo apply to a standby database.
Steps that AutoUpgrade automates includes disabling and re-enabling the Data Guard Broker (if present), and deferring log file transport while the upgrade takes place. Automation of these Oracle Data Guard operations in the context of a database upgrade eliminates the need for manual or scripted steps that you otherwise would have to perform yourself. This in turn makes it easier to automate upgrades of databases in Oracle Data Guard configurations. This feature particularly helps to automate upgrades in high-end environments, where there can be many hundreds of such databases that you upgrade as part of your upgrade project.
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AutoUpgrade Automates Steps Required for Oracle RAC Database Upgrade
AutoUpgrade automates all the steps needed to upgrade an Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database.
AutoUpgrade automates steps that previously had to be performed
manually or scripted. Steps that AutoUpgrade automates include the
SRVCTL commands to stop and restart instances on
multiple nodes, handling of CLUSTER_DATABASE, updating
initialization parameter files, and restarting services, where
appropriate.
This feature reduces the possibility of manual errors and decreases the work needed for DBAs to perform routine maintenance and upgrade activities.
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AutoUpgrade Automates Upgrade and Conversion of Non-CDB to PDB
To simplify upgrades to Oracle Database 21c, AutoUpgrade automates steps to convert a database from a non-CDB to a PDB as part of a database upgrade.
Oracle Database 21c requires multitenant architecture. With this release, you can use AutoUpgrade for non-CDB to PDB upgrades from Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2) and later releases. Using the automation features of AutoUpgrade reduces both the effort required of DBAs for upgrades, and the risk associated with typographical errors in a manual process.
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AutoUpgrade Automates Upgrade of a PDB via Unplug-Plug-Upgrade
AutoUpgrade automates unplugging a PDB from a CDB, plugging it into a higher version CDB, and upgrading the PDB to that new target version.
As part of the process to simplify upgrade, you can upgrade pluggable databases (PDBs) using an unplug/plug, where the upgrade occurs when you plug the PDB into the target release container database (CDB). This feature adds another scenario in which AutoUpgrade can automate the entire database upgrade process.
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AutoUpgrade Release Update (RU) Upgrades
AutoUpgrade supports the option of using AutoUpgrade to perform out-of-place Oracle home Release Update patching.
For an out-of-place patch of Oracle Database using AutoUpgrade, AutoUpgrade moves the source database that you want to patch to a new Oracle Database Oracle home, and then patches the database binaries in that target Oracle home with the Release Update that you select. With this option, you can use AutoUpgrade at any time that you want to move the database to a new Oracle home, either as part of a planned upgrade or as part of a patch plan. In a patch operation, AutoUpgrade performs the patch using the following workflow:
- AutoUpgrade recognizes that the source database and the target Oracle Database are the same base release.
- AutoUpgrade skips the upgrade steps.
- AutoUpgrade patches the target database using the Release Update.
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AutoUpgrade Sets Parallelism Based on System Resources
AutoUpgrade automatically evaluates system resources and makes an intelligent decision as to how many upgrade jobs can run simultaneously.
AutoUpgrade uses the CPU_COUNT value and system process parameters to determine available system resources, and calibrates both the number of upgrades that can run at a time and the number of parallel threads for each upgrade. Upgrades that exceed a safe threshold are put in a queue so that they can be run as system resources become available.
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AutoUpgrade Supports Upgrades with Keystore Access to Databases Using TDE
AutoUpgrade enhances support for databases that use transparent data encryption (TDE) by enabling keystore generation.
AutoUpgrade now enables you to provide passwords to an external key manager generated and maintained by AutoUpgrade. With this configuration, AutoUpgrade supports unmanned or automated operations of TDE-enabled databases. AutoUpgrade can open the source database keystore without prompting for the keystore password, and enroll the target database into the TDE external keystore for key management, so that the target database can start automatically.
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AutoUpgrade Unplug-Plugin Upgrades to Different Systems
You can now use the Oracle Database AutoUpgrade Unplug/Plug method to unplug a PDB from one system and plug into a different system and upgrade.
In earlier releases, AutoUpgrade supported unplug/plug/upgrades on the same server, but it was not possible to unplug a PDB from one server, plug it into a different system, and then upgrade the PDB. With this feature, you can now migrate and upgrade the PDB in a single operation, including migrations to the cloud.
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FPP Integration with AutoUpgrade
Fleet Patching and Provisioning (FPP) integration with AutoUpgrade provides a new tool for automating and simplifying Oracle Database Upgrade.
This feature makes Oracle Database AutoUpgrade more flexible, provides better control over the upgrade flow mechanism, and provides better usability by showing progress bar and additional elements. You can upgrade multiple databases in parallel.
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Oracle Database Automates Database Upgrades with AutoUpgrade
Oracle Database AutoUpgrade enables you to upgrade one or many databases without human intervention, all with one command, and with a single configuration file.
AutoUpgrade enables you to upgrade one or many Oracle Database instances at the command-line, using a single command and a single configuration file. AutoUpgrade runs the preupgrade tasks, performs automated fix-ups where needed, runs the database upgrade, and finishes by completing post-upgrade tasks. It includes automatic retry and fallback, the option to schedule upgrades for future points in time, and the ability to set, change, or remove initialization parameters as desired. Using AutoUpgrade can save you time and money by enabling you to upgrade hundreds of databases with one command, and avoid the need for high-maintenance upgrade solutions.
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REST APIs for AutoUpgrade
To facilitate safe and secure remote use of the AutoUpgrade for Oracle Database upgrades, AutoUpgrade now provides REST APIs (ORDS and OCI).
The Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS) database API is a database management and monitoring REST API embedded into Oracle REST Data Services. The Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) REST API is enabled by configuring the REST Adapter connection to use the OCI Signature Version 1 security policy. You can now use these features to run AutoUpgrade upgrades remotely over SSH.
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