19 Upgrade databases and Grid Infrastructure Using Fleet Maintenance
Upgrading transforms an existing Oracle Database environment (including installed components and associated applications) into a new release Oracle Database environment. The data dictionary for the database is upgraded to the new release.
Upgrading does not directly affect user data; no data is touched, changed, or moved during an upgrade. Review the supported options for direct upgrades to the latest Oracle Database release. The path that you must take to upgrade to the latest Oracle Database release depends on the release number of your current database.
Note:
The process of upgrading databases and Grid Infrastructure follows the same model as discussed for patching in the previous section. Unless otherwise explicitly specified, the process documented below for databases applies for Grid Infrastructure as well.Upgrade is broken down into the following steps: