1 Introduction to the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade

Upgrading Oracle WebCenter to 12c (12.2.1.4.0) is a multi-step process. The procedures you perform to upgrade and reconfigure your current deployment depends on the configuration of your domain and the components you will be upgrading. Having a complete understanding of this process before you begin the upgrade can help you limit unnecessary downtime.

• Understanding the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade
  Before upgrading your Oracle WebCenter environment to 12c (12.2.1.4.0), you should understand how your pre-upgrade environment will be affected by the upgrade. Also, you must understand the difference between in place and out of place upgrades.
• Understanding the Starting Points for an Oracle WebCenter Upgrade
  Before you begin your upgrade, verify that your components are eligible for an upgrade to this release. If a component is not at a supported starting point, then you must upgrade it to a supported starting point before you can start an upgrade to 12c (12.2.1.4.0).
• Understanding the Interoperability and Compatibility Restrictions
  Before you begin the upgrade process, you should understand how all of the components within your existing domain will be impacted by the upgrade. Verify that components in your pre-upgrade environment will not have compatibility or interoperability issues post-upgrade.

Understanding the Oracle WebCenter Upgrade

Before upgrading your Oracle WebCenter environment to 12c (12.2.1.4.0), you should understand how your pre-upgrade environment will be affected by the upgrade. Also, you must understand the difference between in place and out of place upgrades.

For example, schemas and domain directory upgrades are performed in place, which updates the existing files during the upgrade. The 12c (12.2.1.4.0) Oracle Home binaries are upgraded out of place, as the binaries are installed in a new directory.

The upgrade to 12c (12.2.1.4.0) includes the midtier and the schemas. You cannot perform a midtier-only or schema-only upgrade.

• Oracle WebLogic Server, JRF and WebCenter Oracle Home Binaries - Upgraded Out of Place

  You install the Oracle Infrastructure 12c (12.2.1.4.0) (which includes WebLogic Server and JRF) and the Oracle WebCenter distribution binaries in a new Oracle home. The upgrade of binaries is considered out of place as the existing binaries are not overwritten.

• Schemas - Upgraded In Place

  The existing schemas are upgraded in place, which means that the Upgrade Assistant updates and overwrites the schemas during the upgrade process. The servers must be down during this process.

  Exception: The Oracle WebCenter Sites schemas are upgraded out of place.

• Domain Directory Reconfiguration - Upgraded In Place

  The existing domain is upgraded in place. During the upgrade you identify the location of the existing 12c domain that will be reconfigured to point to the new 12c (12.2.1.4.0) home directory.

• Domain Component Configuration - Upgraded In Place

  After the reconfiguration of the existing domain, the Upgrade Assistant is used again to upgrade any remaining domain component configurations to point to the new 12c (12.2.1.4.0) home directory.

Understanding the Starting Points for an Oracle WebCenter Upgrade

Before you begin your upgrade, verify that your components are eligible for an upgrade to this release. If a component is not at a supported starting point, then you must upgrade it to a supported starting point before you can start an upgrade to 12c (12.2.1.4.0).

The supported starting points for Oracle WebCenter vary by component. Review the table to determine which versions are supported for an upgrade to Oracle WebCenter 12c (12.2.1.4.0).

Component Name	Supported Starting Points for Upgrade
Oracle WebCenter Enterprise CaptureFoot 1	11.1.1.9 12.2.1.2 12.2.1.3
Oracle WebCenter Content	11.1.1.9 12.2.1.2 12.2.1.3
Oracle WebCenter Portal	11.1.1.9 12.2.1.2 12.2.1.3
Oracle WebCenter Sites	11.1.1.8.0 12.2.1.2 12.2.1.3
Oracle WebCenter Content: Imaging	11.1.1.9 12.2.1.2 12.2.1.3.0

^Footnote 1

If you installed WebCenter Capture 11.1.1.9.0, then the schema version will still be 11.1.1.8.0 as there were no schema changes in 11.1.1.9.0.

Understanding the Interoperability and Compatibility Restrictions

Before you begin the upgrade process, you should understand how all of the components within your existing domain will be impacted by the upgrade. Verify that components in your pre-upgrade environment will not have compatibility or interoperability issues post-upgrade.

In general, you cannot upgrade a domain that contains components that are not yet available or have been deprecated in Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.2.1.4.0). There are other restrictions on the components that can be upgraded to 12c (12.2.1.4.0) and you need to be sure that you have reviewed this information carefully before you proceed with the upgrade.

WebCenter Web UI 12c is not compatible with WebCenter Content or Application Development Framework 11g.

WebCenter Web UI 12c (12.2.1.4.0) cannot be used with WebCenter Content 11g or Application Development Framework 11g. Web UI can only be used with 12c (12.2.1.4.0).