About the Reduced Downtime Upgrade Process

C About the Reduced Downtime Upgrade Process

Review the flowchart and roadmap for an overview of the upgrade process for Oracle Fusion Middleware if you are performing a reduced downtime upgrade.

A reduced downtime upgrade process is different from a standard Fusion Middleware upgrade process. This type of upgrade requires at least a two-node cluster environment and is performed in a rolling fashion so that one node is always up to accomplish the reduced downtime upgrade. In the standard upgrade flow, all servers and processes are stopped prior to initiating the upgrade.

Before you begin the reduced downtime upgrade:

Back up the database schemas.
Back up the domain directory and the application directory.
Back up the UI /similar customizations.

For details about backing up, see Creating a Complete Backup.

After taking the required back ups, uninstall the previous version of the software to ensure that an empty Oracle Home is available to install the new product distributions. This is the key difference between the two upgrade processes. In addition, if your product requires a schema and/or a config upgrade, you will need to run the Upgrade Assistant twice, once each for schema upgrade and for config upgrade.

Note:

For a managed/collocated Oracle HTTP Server, if the WebLogic Server and OHS binaries are installed in the same Oracle Home, ensure that this directory is empty before you install the new binaries in the same directory.

Note:

Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3) is the only supported starting point for a reduced downtime upgrade. You cannot perform a reduced downtime upgrade if you are upgrading from a supported Fusion Middleware 11g or 12c (12.2.1.2.0 or earlier) release, or if you do not have a multi-node environment. To perform a reduced downtime upgrade from 12c (12.1.3 or 12.2.1.2), you must first upgrade to 12.2.1.3 using the standard upgrade process. See Upgrading Oracle HTTP Server from a Previous 12c Release.

Figure C-1 Process Flowchart for a Reduced Downtime Upgrade

Description of "Figure C-1 Process Flowchart for a Reduced Downtime Upgrade "

Table C-1 lists the high-level steps that you need to perform for a reduced downtime upgrade of the Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) release. You must repeat these steps for each additional host.

Table C-1 Tasks for Performing a Reduced Downtime Upgrade of Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) Release

Task Description

Task	Description
Required Before you begin a reduced downtime upgrade, you must complete the required pre-upgrade tasks.	The pre-upgrade tasks include reviewing the pre-upgrade checklists; backing up the Oracle home, domain directory, and component schemas; and using the appropriate JDK version. For a complete list of the pre-upgrade tasks, see Required Tasks that Must be Completed Before You Begin.
Required Create a complete backup of your existing environment, on all hosts.	See Creating a Complete Backup.
Required Stop the servers and processes on Host 1.	Before starting the upgrade process, stop all the servers, components, and processes on Host 1. See Stopping Components, Servers and Processes on Host 1.
Required Uninstall the Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) product distributions on Host 1.	Uninstall the Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) product distributions from the exisiting `ORACLE_HOME` so you can install the Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) into the same directory. See Uninstalling the Software.
Required Install 12c (12.2.1.4.0) product distributions into the existing Oracle Home on Host 1.	Install Oracle Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) by using the Oracle Universal Installer. You must install 12c (12.2.1.4.0) product distributions into the same `ORACLE_HOME`. See Installing the Product Distributions.
Optional Run the Readiness Check.	Running the Readiness Check by using the Upgrade Assistant helps you determine whether your pre-upgrade environment is ready for upgrade. See Running a Pre-Upgrade Readiness Check.
Required If applicable to your product, perform the schema and config upgrade separately on Host 1, by using the Upgrade Assistant.	Note: Schema and configuration upgrade is not applicable for upgrading Oracle HTTPS Server.
Required Restart the servers and processes on Host 1.	The upgrade process is complete. You can now restart the servers, components, and processes. See Restarting Node Manager, Administration Server, Managed Servers and Components on Host 1.
Required Validate the upgrade on Host 1.	After you complete the upgrade, perform the upgrade validation tasks. See Validating the Upgrade.
Required Stop the servers and processes on Host 2.	Before starting the upgrade, you must stop the system components, managed servers and node manager on Host 2. See Stopping the Components, Servers and Processes on Host 2.
Required Uninstall Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12 c (12.2.1.3.0) on Host 2.	Uninstall Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.3.0) from the exisiting `ORACLE_HOME` so you can install the Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) into the same directory. See Uninstalling the Software.
Required Install Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) and any other product distributions that you run in your domain on Host 2.	See Installing the Software into the Existing Middleware Home
Required Restart the servers and processes on Host 2.	After the upgrade is complete, restart the servers and processes. See Restarting the Managed Servers and Processes.
Required Validate the upgrade on Host 2.	After restarting the servers and processes, perform the upgrade validation tasks. See Validating the Upgrade.

Required

Before you begin a reduced downtime upgrade, you must complete the required pre-upgrade tasks.

The pre-upgrade tasks include reviewing the pre-upgrade checklists; backing up the Oracle home, domain directory, and component schemas; and using the appropriate JDK version.

For a complete list of the pre-upgrade tasks, see Required Tasks that Must be Completed Before You Begin.

Required

Create a complete backup of your existing environment, on all hosts.

See Creating a Complete Backup.

Required

Stop the servers and processes on Host 1.

Before starting the upgrade process, stop all the servers, components, and processes on Host 1.

See Stopping Components, Servers and Processes on Host 1.

Required

Uninstall the Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) product distributions on Host 1.

Uninstall the Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3.0) product distributions from the exisiting ORACLE_HOME so you can install the Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) into the same directory.

See Uninstalling the Software.

Required

Install 12c (12.2.1.4.0) product distributions into the existing Oracle Home on Host 1.

Install Oracle Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) by using the Oracle Universal Installer. You must install 12c (12.2.1.4.0) product distributions into the same ORACLE_HOME.

See Installing the Product Distributions.

Optional

Run the Readiness Check.

Running the Readiness Check by using the Upgrade Assistant helps you determine whether your pre-upgrade environment is ready for upgrade.

See Running a Pre-Upgrade Readiness Check.

Required

If applicable to your product, perform the schema and config upgrade separately on Host 1, by using the Upgrade Assistant.

Note:

Schema and configuration upgrade is not applicable for upgrading Oracle HTTPS Server.

Required

Restart the servers and processes on Host 1.

The upgrade process is complete. You can now restart the servers, components, and processes.

See Restarting Node Manager, Administration Server, Managed Servers and Components on Host 1.

Required

Validate the upgrade on Host 1.

After you complete the upgrade, perform the upgrade validation tasks.

See Validating the Upgrade.

Required

Stop the servers and processes on Host 2.

Before starting the upgrade, you must stop the system components, managed servers and node manager on Host 2.

See Stopping the Components, Servers and Processes on Host 2.

Required

Uninstall Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12 c (12.2.1.3.0) on Host 2.

Uninstall Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.3.0) from the exisiting ORACLE_HOME so you can install the Fusion Middleware Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) into the same directory.

See Uninstalling the Software.

Required

Install Fusion Middleware Insfrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) and any other product distributions that you run in your domain on Host 2.

See Installing the Software into the Existing Middleware Home

Required

Restart the servers and processes on Host 2.

After the upgrade is complete, restart the servers and processes.

See Restarting the Managed Servers and Processes.

Required

Validate the upgrade on Host 2.

After restarting the servers and processes, perform the upgrade validation tasks.

See Validating the Upgrade.

Performing a Reduced Downtime Upgrade
If you are upgrading from Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.3) release, you can use this process to upgrade your multi-node domain without shutting down all of the servers at the same time.