What’s New in This Release

1 What’s New in This Release

Oracle Database Appliance 18.3 release supports Oracle Database 18c functionality on Oracle Database Appliance hardware models.

New Features

This release supports Oracle Database Appliance models X7-2-HA, X7-2S, X7-2M, X6-2S, X6-2M, X6-2L, X6-2-HA, X5-2, X4-2, and X3-2. You can either create a new deployment or patch your existing Oracle Database Appliance deployment to 18.3 .

Migration from OAKCLI to ODACLI Stack

When you provision or patch to Oracle Database Appliance release 18.3, then your bare metal deployment is migrated from the OAKCLI to the ODACLI stack. You must use odacli commands instead of oakcli commands for lifecycle management through command line interface.

You can use the Web Console to provision, patch, backup, recover, and manage your bare metal deployments, for all hardware models.

You can continue to use oakcli to manage Oracle Database Appliance virtualized platforms.

For specific instructions on patching, provisioning, and lifecycle management of your appliance, and the CLI Command Reference, see the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Network File System (NFS) Server Location Option for Backup, Recover, and Restore

You can specify a Network File System (NFS) server location for backup, recovery, and restore of Oracle Database Appliance. Use the Web Console (the external FRA option in the Web Console) or the command-line interface for this feature.

For more information, see the About Database Backup and Recovery Options topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Cloning Databases (Database Snapshots)

This feature enables to create an Oracle Database from an existing Oracle ACFS database, on an ODACLI stack. Cloning ensures standardization of gold images, and ease of deployment. A new CLI command odacli clone-database with supported options is available in this release. The copy-on-write method of creating a database clone (snapshot) is storage-efficient and quick.

For more information, see the Cloning a Database topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Support for Oracle ASM Flex Disk Groups

Oracle ASM Flex disk groups are supported. You can use this feature when you specify the database redundancy while creating a database. This feature is available in the Web Console and command line interface.

For more information, see the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
New CLI Commands for Oracle Database Appliance

New Command Line Interface (CLI) commands such as odacli describe-dgstorage and odacli list-dgstorages that display usable disk group space for your appliance.

For information about the storage commands, see the Oracle Database Command-Line Interface chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Update Pre-Checks Enhancements

This release continues to enhance the Update pre-checks for Oracle Database Appliance to ensure potential problems are detected before patching. New update pre-checks commands odacli list-prepatchreports and odacli delete-prepatchreport are introduced in this release.

See the Oracle Database Command-Line Interface chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Enhancements to Oracle Trace File Analyzer (TFA) Collector

New options -mask and -sanitize to ensure security of confidential information are introduced in Oracle Trace File Analyzer (TFA) Collector. Use these options when you collect diagnostic logs or run TFA collector.

For information about TFA options, see the Troubleshooting Oracle Database Appliance chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Enhancements in Log Collection and Analysis

New commands to collect and manage diagnostic logs for Oracle Database Appliance components are introduced in this release.

For information about the log commands, see the Oracle Database Command-Line Interface chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Secure Erase of Data

By running the secure erase tool, you can delete data permanently from storage disks. For more information, see the Performing Secure Erase of Data on Storage Disks topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Adding Repositories for Installing Operating System RPMs

This feature enables you to configure repositories for installing operating system RPMs outside of the Oracle Database Appliance Patch Bundle release. The repositories can be local or on a public location.

For the procedure to configure additional RPM repositories, see the Adding Repositories for Patch Updates topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Bill of Materials Information About Installed Components

The details of all the components installed on the appliance, and the RPM drift information is now available in the Web Console. You can also use the command line and access the components report, for both bare metal and virtualized platforms deployments. The report can help diagnose deployment issues with your appliance.

For more information, see the Viewing Component Information on the Appliance topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Save and Load Configuration from the Web Console

You can load a saved JSON file and use it to configure your appliance, and save an existing configuration as a JSON file from the Web Console.

For more information, see the Loading and Saving Appliance Configurations topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Rolling Patching of Shared Disks

This release introduces the option to patch shared disks in a rolling fashion, to ensure high-availability of disks. For information about using the -rolling option to patch shared disks, see the Oracle Database Command-Line Interface chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Other Web Console Changes

You must now create a password at first logon. For more information about logging into the Web Console, see the Errors Logging into the Web Console topic in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.

The Restore a Database option in the Web Console is now called the Clone Database from Backup option in the Web Console. For more information, see the Cloning a Database and Recovering a Database topics in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
Checklists for Easy Reference

The documentation includes checklists for deployment and patching of Oracle Database Appliance on bare metal and virtualized platforms. The System Requirements checklist provides details about the setup information you need before you start your deployment. Use these checklists as a reference for the steps in your deployment process.

For more information, see the Oracle Database Appliance Checklists chapter in the Oracle Database Appliance Deployment and User’s Guide for your model.
New Help Center Interface for Oracle Database Appliance Documentation Libraries

There are updates to the Oracle Database Appliance Documentation Library interface pages to ensure easy navigation and access to information about the product.

Deprecated and Desupported Features

The -local option for the oakcli update-patch command is deprecated and may be desupported in a future release.
The describe-appliance command is deprecated and may be desupported in a future release. Instead, use the describe-system command.

Oracle Database Appliance Server Patches

Oracle Database Appliance Server Patch for X7-2S, X7-2M, and X7-2-HA (Bare Metal), X6-2S, X6-2M, and X6-2L: Use patch 28864490 to update Oracle Database Appliance to release 18.3. The patch is available in My Oracle Support.
Oracle Database Appliance Server Patch for X6-2-HA, X5-2, and X4-2, and X3-2 (Bare Metal and Virtualized Platforms): Use patch 28864520 to update Oracle Database Appliance Bare Metal and Virtualized Platforms to release 18.3. The patch is available in My Oracle Support.

GI Clone, Database RDBMS Clone, and ISO Image Patches

See the chapter Oracle Database 18.3 Patches for patch details and links.

Oracle Database Appliance patches are available in My Oracle Support. When selecting a patch, ensure that you select the 18.3 release from the drop down box.

Oracle Database Appliance 18.3.0.0 GI Clone for ODACLI/DCS stack: Use patch 27604593 to perform an initial deployment of Oracle Database Appliance. The bundle contains the latest Grid Infrastructure components for deployment on an Oracle Database Appliance in the "shipped from factory" state, or an Oracle Database Appliance that has been re-imaged using the OS ISO Image. This patch is for Oracle Database Appliance X7-2S, X7-2M, X7-2-HA, X6-2S, X6-2M, X6-2L, X6-2-HA, X5-2, X4-2, and X3-2 Hardware Models (Bare Metal).
Oracle Database Appliance 18.3.0.0 RDBMS Clone for ODACLI/DCS stack: Use the Oracle 18.3.0.0.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 18.3.0.0 database homes. Patch 27604558 provides this update. This patch is for all Oracle Database Appliance Hardware Models (Bare Metal).
Oracle Database Appliance 12.2.0.1 RDBMS Clone File for ODACLI/DCS stack: Use the Oracle 12.2.0.1.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 12.2.0.1 database homes. Patch 27119402 provides this update. This patch is for all Oracle Database Appliance Hardware Models (Bare Metal).
Oracle Database Appliance 12.1.0.2 RDBMS Clone File for ODACLI/DCS stack: Use the Oracle 12.1.0.2.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 12.1.0.2 database homes. Patch 23494992 provides this update. This patch is for all Oracle Database Appliance Hardware Models (Bare Metal).
Oracle Database Appliance 11.2.0.4 RDBMS Clone File for ODACLI/DCS stack: Use the Oracle 11.2.0.4.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 11.2.0.4 database homes. Patch 23494997 provides this update. This patch is for all Oracle Database Appliance Hardware Models (Bare Metal).
(Optional) Oracle Database Appliance 18.3.0.0 ISO Image (Bare Metal): Use patch 27604623 to perform a bare metal restore (re-image) of the operating system. Bare metal is a non-virtualized Oracle Database Appliance configuration. Use only when you must re-image the operating system.
Oracle Database Appliance 18.3.0.0 ISO Image (Virtualized Platform): Use patch 16186163 to re-image the server with an operating system that includes virtualization capabilities. After re-imaging, use the VM Template to deploy ODA_BASE for the Virtualized Platform. The bundle contains the latest Grid Infrastructure components for deployment.
Oracle Database Appliance 18.3.0.0 RDBMS Clone for Virtualized Platform: Use the Oracle 18.3.0.0.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 18.3.0.0 database homes for Virtualized Platform. Patch 28864456 provides this update.
Oracle Database Appliance 12.2.0.1 RDBMS Clone File for Virtualized Platform: Use the Oracle 12.2.0.1.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 12.2.0.1 database homes for Virtualized Platform. Patch 27449599 provides this update.
Oracle Database Appliance 12.1.0.2 RDBMS Clone File for Virtualized Platform: Use the Oracle 12.1.0.2.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 12.1.0.2 database homes for Virtualized Platform. Patch 19520042 provides this update.
Oracle Database Appliance 11.2.0.4 RDBMS Clone File for Virtualized Platform: Use the Oracle 11.2.0.4.180717 RDBMS Software Clone file to create new 11.2.0.4 database homes for Virtualized Platform. Patch 17770873 provides this update.

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