AutoUpgrade and Cluster-Managed Oracle Database Upgrades

Starting with Oracle Database 21c, AutoUpgrade can automate Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) and Oracle RAC One Node upgrades using the multitenant architecture.

When you run Autoupgrade on an Oracle Database instance that is managed with Oracle Clusterware, and that database instance is a pluggable database (PDB) on a container database (CDB), AutoUpgrade detects how the database is configured:

• Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) cluster member node, using Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM), or a supported shared file system.
• Oracle Real Application Clusters One Node (Oracle RAC One Node) using Oracle ASM

Based on that detection, AutoUpgrade proceeds with the upgrade steps required for that configuration type.

Note:

Choosing this upgrade option requires downtime of the cluster while AutoUpgrade completes upgrades of database instances, and system configuration. If you use Oracle Enterprise Manager, then you must reconfigure it after the upgrade.

Overview of Steps for Cluster-Managed Oracle Database Instances

When you have installed the new release binaries, and AutoUpgrade detects cluster-managed databases, Autoupgrade completes the following steps in sequence:

1. Disables Oracle RAC services (if needed).
2. Disables Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node databases managed by Oracle Clusterware.
3. Shuts down all Oracle Database instances in the cluster.
4. Starts the local instance, with the cluster initialization parameter CLUSTER_DATABASE=FALSE.
5. Upgrades the local Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node database instance.
6. Registers and enables Oracle RAC in target version in the clusterware (CLUSTER_DATABASE=TRUE).
7. Starts all Oracle Database instances on the cluster.

Requirements for Using AutoUpgrade to Upgrade Oracle Databases Managed with Oracle Clusterware

Your source release Oracle Database instances and your target release Oracle Database instances must meet the following requirements:

• You must address any issues that are identified by AutoUpgrade pre-upgrade validation checks.
• The source release Oracle Database instances that you want to upgrade must be supported for direct upgrade to the target Oracle Database release.
• The source Oracle Database release and the target Oracle Database release must be running on an operating system supported for Oracle Database on both the source and target releases. If your source database is running on an operating system that is not supported with the target Oracle Database release, then you must migrate your source Oracle Database to a supported operating system before upgrade.
• The source release Oracle home must be installed on all cluster member nodes, and configured as an Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node database.
• The target release Oracle home must be installed and configured as an Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node database
• The source Oracle Database must be up and running.
• The operating system must be either Oracle Linux (formerly Oracle Enterprise Linux), or a supported Portable Operating System Interface POSIX Linux or Unix operating system.
• The user account performing the upgrade must be configured with operating system authentication.
• The system uses Oracle Automatic Storage Management for storage (recommended), or a supported shared storage system.
• The system must have a properly configured and functioning Oracle Grid Infrastructure software configuration for Oracle RAC or Oracle RAC One Node.

Required Tasks for Database Administrators to Use AutoUpgrade

As the database administrator, you must complete the following tasks:

• Create an adequate backup strategy to prevent data loss from any problems resulting from the upgrade.
• Configure Listener and Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) files, both for local tnsnames.ora and SCAN listeners, if needed.
• Configure Oracle Wallet certificates and management (if needed). The Oracle Wallet must be set for automatic login.