Single-Server Rolling Database Maintenance

Starting with Oracle Database 23ai, you can apply rolling patches and perform maintenance operations locally for an Oracle RAC database with one instance or Oracle RAC One Node database on an Oracle Grid Infrastructure cluster.

In order to use Single-Server Rolling database Maintenance feature, you must first convert your single instance database to Oracle RAC database or Oracle RAC One Node database on a single-node cluster. Then, create a new database home and enable single-server rolling maintenance which creates and starts a new database instance of the same database from the new home. You can now transfer your database from the old Oracle home to the new Oracle home.

Note:

The conversion is possible if the single instance database uses file systems accessible to the single server.

Single-server rolling database maintenance provides uninterrupted database availability during maintenance operations (such as patching) for Oracle RAC and Oracle RAC One Node databases. This significantly improves the availability of your databases without expanding them to a multi-node cluster. The steps can be orchestrated with custom scripts or by using Oracle FPP.

To apply rolling patches for a single instance Oracle Database follow this procedure:

1. Converting Single Instance on a Single Server to Oracle RAC One Node Using Oracle DBCA
2. Patching Oracle Database in Local Rolling Mode