1.5 Upgrade Checklist for Oracle RAC

Review the checklist for additional requirements related to upgrading an existing Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) installation to Oracle Database 21c.

The system must meet the following requirements:

• Each server must use the same Windows user account as the Oracle Home User across all Oracle homes.

• When upgrading, if the Oracle home from which you run the database upgrade uses a Windows Domain User as the Oracle Home User, then the Oracle Home User on the target version must use the same Windows Domain User.

• When upgrading, if the Oracle home from which you run the database upgrade uses the built-in account (LocalSystem) as the Oracle Home User, then the Oracle Home User on the target version may use the built-in account, a Windows Domain User account, or a Windows Group Managed service account (GMSA).

Table 1-5 Upgrade Checklist for Oracle RAC

Item	Task
Review existing Oracle installations and upgrade plans	To install Oracle RAC 21c, you must have Oracle Grid Infrastructure (Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM) 21c installed on your cluster. See Also: Oracle Database Upgrade Guide Oracle Grid Infrastructure Installation Guide
Ensure that Oracle RAC Databases you are installing are compatible with existing databases	Oracle Clusterware and Oracle ASM are both 21c after you perform an Oracle Grid Infrastructure 21c installation or upgrade. If you have an existing Oracle home, then you can create a new Oracle home and install Oracle Database 21c into the new Oracle home. Ensure that Oracle Grid Infrastructure is installed in a separate Oracle home. Do not install Oracle Grid Infrastructure in the same Oracle base directory that is used for Oracle Database homes.
Migrate files off of RAW devices	If you have any database data stored on RAW devices, then before you start Oracle Grid Infrastructure and Oracle RAC installation, you must use RMAN to copy that data to Oracle ASM or to another supported file system.
Prepare to upgrade all existing nodes	The Oracle RAC database instance is running on the same nodes that you intend to make members of the new cluster installation. For example, if you have an existing Oracle RAC database running on a three-node cluster, then you must select all three nodes when upgrading the database using Oracle Universal Installer. You cannot upgrade only two nodes of the cluster, removing the third instance in the upgrade.
Ensure that Oracle RAC database version is equal to or earlier than the version of Oracle Clusterware	Before you upgrade Oracle RAC database, ensure that Oracle Grid Infrastructure is upgraded to an equal or a later release. You can have multiple Oracle homes for Oracle databases on your cluster. However, the Oracle RAC database software in these homes must be from a version that is equal to or before the version of Oracle Clusterware that is installed. For example: If your servers use Oracle Grid Infrastructure 21c, then you can have an Oracle Database 21c single-instance database running on one node, and separate Oracle RAC 12c Release 2 (12.2), Oracle RAC 18c, Oracle RAC 19c, or Oracle RAC 21c databases also running on the cluster. You cannot have Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c installed on your cluster, and install Oracle RAC 21c.