Patching all my environments with the January 2021 OJVM Bundles

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich JVM Patch Recommendation 0

You may have read my blog post from the other day about patching my environments with the January 2021 Release Updates. But as I installed now Java in all my databases for testing purposes, I will quickly demonstrate how Patching all my environments with the January 2021 OJVM Bundles works.

Patching all my environments with the January 2021 OJVM Bundles

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Security Alert January 2021

Let me start with the Security Alert for January 2021. And don’t forget to take a look at the Oracle Database Server Risk Matrix for January 2021. This time, the is a 4.8 risk score issue with …

Sign up for the Upgrade 19c Virtual Classroom Seminars for the US, Canada and LAD

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Workshop 0

It took a while. And many of you asked whether we will run our Virtual Classroom Seminars we ran successfully for Australia and New Zealand in April and from June to now in EMEA for the US, Canada and South and Latin America time zones as well. And we do. It’s time to Sign up for the Upgrade 19c Virtual Classroom Seminars for the US, Canada and LAD.

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Everything you need to know about Upgrade, Migration and Consolidation

When we ran these events especially for EMEA, a lot of colleagues asked us whether …

Patching all my environments with the January 2021 Patch Bundles

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 4

Groundhog day on the upgrade blog. It’s time for my quaterly Patching all my environments with the January 2021 Patch Bundles blog post. And still no RAC and ASM. Sorry for that … too many virtual events and other tasks since months unfortunately.

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As usual, an important annotation upfront: I patch in-place due to space issues. But in reality, you please patch always out-of-place with a separate home. Please see this blog post about how to apply the RU directly when you provision a new home with OUI.

Security Alert January 2021

Find …

Cool Features Web Seminar Jan 2021 – Quick Recap

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Workshop 2

Thanks to everyone attending our Cool Features – not only for DBAs web seminar yesterday on Jan 14, 2021. As over 500 attendees stayed until the end of the 2 hour long session with not less than 16 different features, we assume that you’ve enjoyed it. And from the questions you did ask, it looks like as some of the features really caught your attention. On Feb 10 it’s time for the next session for EMEA and India. But beforehand, let’s do a Cool Features Web Seminar Jan 2021 – Quick Recap, especially regarding the questions you’ve had.

Cool Features Web Seminar Jan 2021 - Quick Recap

Photo

Cool Features not only for DBAs – Virtual Classroom Series No.7

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Workshop 0

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope you are all well. After an heavily active 2020 with more virtual seminars than ever before it’s time to start in 2021 with Cool Features not only for DBAs – Virtual Classroom Series No.7 on Jan 14, 2021.

Cool Features not only for DBAs - Virtual Classroom Series No.7

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Why Cool Features for DBAs?

Actually the idea is not new. And we’ve included some slides into our workshops already for quite a while. But there are simply too many cool features. Our focus is in features which usually don’t make it into advertising or …

Why is there a lib32 directory in Oracle 19.8.0 and 19.9.0?

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Flaws and Pitfalls Installation Patch Recommendation 0

I received two emails from different customers within a week – and both asked the same thing: Why is there a lib32 directory in Oracle 19.8.0 and 19.9.0? In one case, it was more like “We are wondering” but in the other case it caused issues during patching.

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What happens?

Due to a packaging issue most likely, there is a lib32 directory appearing after you patch your homes to either 19.8.0 or 19.9.0. With the next RU, 19.10.0, this should not be the case anymore.

Why does this sound strage?

The first customer who …

Recap: Support Periods for Oracle 11.2.0.4, on-prem and in the cloud

Posted on December 17, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Cloud Release Schedule 4

You may have recognized that I don’t update the blog as frequent as usual. But these times are very busy with plenty of conferences and many of our customers preparing for the move to 19c in the more quieter period of the year. And this is the right time to do a quick recap: Support Periods for Oracle 11.2.0.4, on-prem and in the cloud.

Recap: Support Period for Oracle 11.2.0.4, on-prem and in the cloud

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11.2.0.what?

Ah, well. Do you remember when Oracle Database 11.2.0.1 got released?

No worries, I’ve had to look it up by …

Download the newest AutoUpgrade for 19c and 21c upgrades

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade Oracle Database 19c Oracle Database 21c 12

It’s out now and available since yesterday: AutoUpgrade 21c. Download the newest AutoUpgrade for 19c and 21c upgrades with many new features and improvements.

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Download it!

This is the current version of AutoUpgrade:

build.hash 8ee6880
build.version 21.1.1
build.date 2020/12/14 14:41:34
build.max_target_version 21
build.supported_target_versions 12.2,18,19,21
build.type production
48 bug fixes since v21.0.0 release
Tag: v21.1.1
Description: This is the release for 21.1.1 MOS only

As usual, download it please from:

MOS Note: 2485457.1 – AutoUpgrade Tool

What’s new?

Non-CDB to PDB Upgrades
- AutoUpgrade can upgrade and convert a non-CDB to a PDB in a new

Apply Patch 31088341 before Upgrade to prevent ORA-1403

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Flaws and Pitfalls 4

As I learned from a customer this week, this patch is a must have when you use Partitioning and you attempt to upgrade to Oracle 19.9.0 or earlier. So please apply patch 31088341 before Upgrade to prevent ORA-1403 happening.

Apply Patch 31088341 before Upgrade to prevent ORA-1403

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What is the issue?

This applies to all 19c upgrades at least until 19.9.0. You may see this error pattern in catupgrd0.log:

==Error from catupgrd0.log===

=================================================================
20:34:11 SQL> Rem BEGIN bug 28757685: repair tabpart$
20:34:11 SQL> Rem
=========================================================================
20:34:11 SQL> /* bug 28757685: tabpart$.hiboundval and tabpart$.hiboundlen
are incorrect
20:34:11 SQL> * when tables are

Fixed Objects Stats Gathering Fails – what do you do now?

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Flaws and Pitfalls 0

A few days ago I blogged about what you could do when Fixed Objects Stats Gathering is slow in an upgrade process. You can skip the preupgrade gathering, and the postupgrade gathering does not happen anymore since the October 2020 version of AutoUpgrade. Still, I came across another issue the other day: Fixed Objects Stats Gathering Fails – what do you do now?

Fixed Objects Stats Gathering Fails - what do you do now?

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What happened?

Actually this is connected to the Fixed Objects Stats Gathering is slow in an upgrade case. The customer encountered an incredible long runtime. And the support engineer …

ORA-29702 – and your instance does not startup in the cluster anymore

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich ASM / RAC / GI Flaws and Pitfalls Patch Recommendation 3

This is the right blog post for a Friday 13th. And please forgive me – I wanted to put this on the blog earlier as two of my customers hit this weeks ago already. But it must have fallen through the cracks. Still, now it is hopefully not too late to tell you what you should do if you hit ORA-29702 – and your instance does not startup in the cluster anymore. Especially when you tested a database upgrade – and after a restore, the database doesn’t want to start, no matter what you try.

ORA-29702 - and your instance does not startup in the cluster anymore

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Upgrade Essentials – Videos for the Virtual Classroom Series 2020

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Video / Viewlet Workshop 0

Roy, Daniel and I ran 6 workshops in our Virtual Classroom Series 2000 format. Each of them is between 90 and 120 minutes. This sounds quite long but of course you can scroll forward if you are interested in only a part of it. We consider those the Upgrade Essentials – Videos for the Virtual Classroom Series 2020. As as we now completed the 6th web seminar, it’s time for a short recap.

Upgrade Essentials - Videos for the Virtual Classroom Series 2020

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Is Upgrade that complicated?

Good question. If upgrade is so easy as we say, why do you need 6 virtual sessions …

Why is the 19.9.0 Release Update not available yet for MY platform?

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 0

I’ve had a week off and tried to relax and stay away from work topics (which worked quite well this time). The downside is 300+ emails in the inbox. And I spotted several ones already asking: Why is the 19.9.0 Release Update not available yet for MY platform?

Why is the 19.9.0 Release Update not available yet for MY platform?

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Details for Patch 123456789 not found.

At first, this is not a uncommon question. And the root cause is two-fold. As you know from my quarterly blog posts such as Patching all my environments with the October 2020 Patch Bundles, these notes are important:

Solution for ORA-02303 from JSON_OBJECT_INVALID in upgrade to 19c

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Flaws and Pitfalls 0

I just learned yesterday about this error – and as it seems to happen occasionally, you may want to read more about the Solution for ORA-02303 from JSON_OBJECT_INVALID in upgrade to 19c.

Solution for ORA-02303 from JSON_OBJECT_INVALID in upgrade to 19c

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What happens?

You are upgrading a database to Oracle 19c, and you see this error pattern:

CREATE OR REPLACE TYPE JSON_Object_T AUTHID CURRENT_USER UNDER JSON_Element_T(
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02303: cannot drop or replace a type with type or table dependents

This is coming when catjson.sql gets executed.

Why does it happen?

Unfortunately the FORCE option is missing when we create …

October 2020 Version of AutoUpgrade is available

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade 6

The October 2020 Version of AutoUpgrade is available now for download since Friday last week. As usual, you can access it easily via MOS Note: 2485457.1 – AutoUpgrade Tool.

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What’s new in the October 2020 version?

As usual you find the change.log at the end of MOS Note: 2485457.1 – AutoUpgrade Tool for the most recent Oracle Database upgrade tool. You will find the following fixes and enhancements:

Enahancements
- BUG_31709141 Allow the job state to be reset when database is restored manually
Fixes
- AUPG-1862 ORA-65173 occurs when running the fix for

Receiving ORA-55940: An error occurred during execution of ktliIngestExternData

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Auditing Flaws and Pitfalls 2

During my previous test with Unified Auditing Policies anomalies after upgrade to Oracle 19c, I also hit and error when I queried the unified audit trail. Hence, I make a reminder to myself and would like explain what to do in case you are Receiving ORA-55940: An error occurred during execution of ktliIngestExternData as well.

Receiving ORA-55940: An error occurred during execution of ktliIngestExternData

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What a strange error

I created a few policies by myself and did a database upgrade from Oracle 12.2.0.1 to Oracle 19.8.0. And after upgrade, I wanted to check the records in my audit trail. But instead of …

Patching all my environments with the October 2020 Patch Bundles

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 23

I have to confess: Time didn’t allow to rearrange my lab yet to have GI and ASM. Hence, this will be another blog post about Patching all my environments with the October 2020 Patch Bundles with only non-RAC patching. But it is in the works …

Patching all my environments with the October 2020 Patch Bundles

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Security Alert

Check your Unified Auditing Policies after upgrading to Oracle 19c

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Auditing Flaws and Pitfalls Oracle Database 19c 3

This may become a longer blog post. One of the customers I work with for many years contacted me a few weeks ago. After upgrade to 19c, it looked like as if some Unified Auditing Policies weren’t correct anymore. It started as a tiny issue, but thanks to the customer who analyzed down to the bones, it seems to be bigger than we thought at the beginning. So you may Check your Unified Auditing Policies after upgrading to Oracle 19c as well.

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Unified Auditing

Actually a lot of my customers use Unified Auditing these …

When Fixed Object Stats Gathering takes very long during upgrade …

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Auditing AutoUpgrade Flaws and Pitfalls 4

Over the past days I exchanged several emails with a very important customer regarding Fixed Objects Stats gathering in relation to database upgrade. The customer found out that it takes very long in their environment – over an hour to be precise. Relaxing on the weekend helped me a bit. And this morning, it dawned me that I’ve had two similar cases before already. Plus I didn’t blog about it yet. Now it’s time to tell you a little but about Unified Auditing and the situation when Fixed Object Stats Gathering takes very long during upgrade …

When Fixed Object Stats Gathering takes very long during upgrade ...

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Does Data Pump import only serially into PDBs?

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Data Pump 0

Daniel and I did Web Seminars this week. One of them was about the different migration strategies. We did talk a lot about Data Pump. One attendee mentioned that Data Pump Import does not work parallel into PDBs in Oracle 12.2.0.1 and Oracle 18c. We were skeptical, and today I tried out to check: Does Data Pump import only serially into PDBs?

Does Data Pump import only serially into PDBs?

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Very simple test setup

For this test, I take a schema export from an 11.2.0.4 database in our Hands-On Lab, the TPCC user HammerORA uses in the UPGR database.…

Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 certified on Oracle Linux 8 and RHEL8

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Operating System 7

The other day I received a question on Twitter regarding my experience with Oracle 12.1.0.2 on Linux 8. I first thought this may be an error. Why should Oracle 12.1.0.2 been certified on Linux 8. And I didn’t see anything internally about Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 certified on Oracle Linux 8 and RHEL8.

Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 certified on Oracle Linux 8 and RHEL8

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But it is true …

Thanks to Marian Bednar (Thanks a lot!!) who couldn’t find any information on my blog, now I know. Marian pointed me to the Release Notes Oracle Database 12.1.0.2. They’ve got updated in July 2020 already …

Which database version can be used with Grid Infrastructure 19c?

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich ASM / RAC / GI 9

This will be a very short blog post today. But a colleague asked me this question just a few minutes ago: Which database version can be used with Grid Infrastructure 19c? And I realized that I neither put it on the blog yet nor did I bookmark it. But I answered this question several times already.

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Which database version can be used with Grid Infrastructure 19c?

There are 4 sources I did check:

MOS Notes on MyOracle Support
Oracle Documentation
Certification Information on MyOracle Support
Database Upgrade Blog

At first, I answered with MOS …

Transportable Tablespaces: Keep tablespace files read-only

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Transportable 4

When you Transport Tablespaces, you may be aware of a change in behavior a long while ago. When your tablespace import has been finished, a tablespace will be taken read-write automatically. But there may be situations when you’d like the previous behavior. Now you can have this with Transportable Tablespaces: Keep tablespace files read-only.

Transportable Tablespaces: Keep tablespace files read-only

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Default Behavior

Since Oracle Database 12c a tablespace will be taken read-write once the meta data import has been completed automatically. This was different in previous database releases. We used the technique a long time ago for a telco provider …

Test Transportable Tablespaces without Read-Only Mode

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Transportable 0

From time to time I deal with Transportable Tablespaces as an upgrade and migration approach. But TTS has one major flaw, especially when databases get really really big in the 3-digit-terabyte sizes or more: You will need to switch your tablespaces into read-only mode. But since Oracle Database 19c, you can Test Transportable Tablespaces without Read-Only Mode.

Test Transportable Tablespaces without Read-Only Mode

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Transport Constraints

Transportable Tablespaces (TTS) is a very common technique, especially when you need to migrate databases across Endianness. Since Oracle 10g, TTS works even from Big Endianness to Little Endianness platforms, and vice versa. Only if …

Security Alert January 2021

Everything you need to know about Upgrade, Migration and Consolidation

Security Alert January 2021

Why Cool Features for DBAs?

What happens?

Why does this sound strage?

11.2.0.what?

Download it!

What’s new?

Oracle Database 21c

What is the issue?

What happened?

Is Upgrade that complicated?

Details for Patch 123456789 not found.

What happens?

Why does it happen?

What’s new in the October 2020 version?

What a strange error

Security Alert

Unified Auditing

Very simple test setup

But it is true …

Which database version can be used with Grid Infrastructure 19c?

Default Behavior

Transport Constraints

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