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Your Upgrade / Migration / Patching Guide for OCW23

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich OOW 4

Thanks for using this blog post. It will be your Upgrade / Migration / Patching Guide for OCW23. You will find the slide decks to download, the coming talks, the HOL as well as the survey links and other important sources. We wil update it every day throughout the conference. If you have questions, please use the “Comment” option below the blog post. And we won’t post content BEFORE the session but instead AFTER the sessions.

Your Upgrade / Migration / Patching Guide for OCW23

All you need, day by day

Please find – grouped day by day – each of our talks with the survey links and …

Your UPGRADE and MIGRATION program at OCW23

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich OOW 4

Are you coming to Oracle Cloud World 2023 and to Oracle DatabaseWorld at CloudWorld? Then you should read on since this may be your upgrade and migration program at OCW23. We are desperately looking forward to see and meet you in 2 weeks in Las Vegas. Don’t forget to add the talks you’d like to visit to your schedule as some of the rooms have limited capacity. And at least one of our labs is already sold out.

https://www.oracle.com/database/upgrades/#rc30p2

Who’s speaking and HOL’ing?

Speakers and your lab hosts will be:

Roy Swonger
Mike Dietrich
Daniel Overby Hansen
Rodrigo Jorge

Restricted Upgrade Support added for several releases of Oracle Database

Posted on August 23, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 5

You may have read my blog post from yesterday about the additional second year of Waived Extended Support for Oracle Database 19c. But there are more news such as Restricted Upgrade Support added for several releases of Oracle Database.

Restricted Upgrade Support added for several releases of Oracle Database

Photo by Georgi Kalaydzhiev on Unsplash

What has been announced?

When you consult our single-source-of-truth MOS Note: 742060.1 – Release Schedule of Current Database Releases you may see also this message:

Restricted Upgrade Support has been added for 2024 through Customer Success Services (aka ACS)

But you have to look a bit closer and either go through the long …

2 years of Extended Support get waived for Oracle Database 19c

Posted on August 22, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 6

I learned the other week that 2 years of Extended Support get waived for Oracle Database 19c. So, just in case you haven’t seen it, please take note since this is important to know.

Photo by Bob Brewer on Unsplash

Where can you find the updated information?

You can find the updated information in our single-source-of-truth MOS Note: 742060.1 – Release Schedule of Current Database Releases explaining:

Premier Support (PS) ends April 30, 2024, two years of waived Extended Support (ES) fees will be in effect from May 1, 2024 until April 30, 2026. Fees will be required

ORAdiff is live – compare two Oracle Database and Patch releases

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich ORAdiff 12

Did you ever wanted to find out the differences between two Oracle database releases? Today, I am super-super excited. Especially, since this was a long journey. And I have to thank our entire team, Rodrigo especially but also Bill and all the others working and helping here. THIS is the tool many of you have looking for since years. It is time now, ORAdiff is live – compare two Oracle Database and Patch releases.

ORAdiff is live - compare two Oracle Database and Patch releases

What is ORAdiff?

This tool is made for you. It allows you to compare two Oracle releases to each other. And not only core …

You may need to run root.sh again after RU patching

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 8

With the Oracle Critical Patch Update Advisory – July 2023 – you may have spotted a change in the Database Release Update READMEs: You may need to run root.sh again after RU patching. Why is that?

You may need to run root.sh again after RU patching

Photo by Mario Häfliger on Unsplash

Let us have a quick look

I verified this with the 19.20.0 README on Linux. But I guess this applies to the other READMEs as well. Please bare in mind that this applies to the Database RUs only, not to Grid Infrastructure. You can find this new paragraph in it:

3.3.5 Update Permissions for extjob

Going to India: Oracle Community Yatra (OCYatra) 2023

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Workshop 0

One year ago I’ve had the pleasure to visit India for the YATRA 2022 tour. I couldn’t do all 6 tour stops and had to skip Delhi and Hyderabad. But this year I will be there for all 6 cities. So I am going to India: Oracle Community Yatra (OCYatra) 2023. And I hope to see YOU there, will I?

Going to India: Oracle Community Yatra (OCYatra) 2023

Why you need to get your ticket NOW?

I guess, most of you in the area have tickets already. Just in case if you didn’t purchase one yet, it’s time to do so. It is not expensive but be …

Oracle Linux (OL), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Linux Operating System 9

Oracle isn’t always evil. And I personally never understood why not everyb0dy is on Oracle Linux (OL) already. It’s free, it gets extremely well maintained. And some issues my customers saw with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) were fixed with OL literally more than a year before RHEL did. No blame to anybody – but that is my experience when customers tell me about issues over the past two years. But what is the future of Oracle Linux (OL), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS? And why am I writing this blog post?

Oracle Linux (OL), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS

Photo by Brigitta Schneiter on

Oracle Database 19c on Arm platform is available

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Oracle Database 19c Release Schedule 16

I knew it would come – but we couldn’t tell you. And there were some rumors for a longer time. Anyhow, last week at the end of June 2023 Oracle Database 19c on Arm platform is available for download and in the Oracle Cloud. In case you wonder why I write “Arm” – I learned last week that the writing has been changed a while ago from ARM to Arm.

Oracle Database 19c on Arm platform is available

Where can you download it?

It is available for download already.

Oracle Database 19c(19.19) for Linux Arm (aarch64)
- https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/oracle-database-software-downloads.html#19c
19c Client(19.19) and Instant Client 19c(19.19) for Linux on Arm (aarch64)

June 2023 version of AutoUpgrade is available

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade 2

It’s time to exchange your AutoUpgrade tools with the most recent one when you plan to do upgrades or use it for patching already. The June 2023 version of AutoUpgrade is available for download from MOS Note:2485457.1. And in case you are still using DBUA for unknown reasons, please read this blog post, too.

June 2023 version of AutoUpgrade is available

Photo by Jason Hudson on Unsplash

Where to download?

As usual, please download the newest version of AutoUpgrade via MOS Note:2485457.1 – Download AutoUpgrade.

What does this version improve?

New Features

BUG-34010941 – Incorparated the Health check package to identify database dictionary inconsistencies

DBUA Deprecation and future Desupport in Oracle Database 23c

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade DBUA Deprecated / Desupported 14

Daniel pointed me to Tim Hall’s blog post about deprecated and desupported features in Oracle Database 23c. And his first bullet point mentioned is the DBUA Deprecation and future Desupport in Oracle Database 23c. Since Daniel and I agree that this needs a bit more explanation, we would like to share more background information with you.

Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash

Deprecated vs Desupport?

At first, let me refresh an old topic. What does deprecated mean, and what is the difference to desupport? A long while ago I wrote this blog post about it, and nothing …

Virtual Classroom Seminar 17: From SR to Patch

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Workshop 4

This is your chance to sign up to our Virtual Classroom Seminar 17: From SR to Patch – Insights into the Oracle Database Development process. It will happen Thursday, June 22 at 16:00h CET. As usual, this is free of charge. It is your unique chance to get insights into our database development process. We lift the curtain for a bit, and tell you what’s happening behind the scenes. Don’t miss this chance.

Photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash

Why and how register?

This is the seminar telling you what happens behind the scenes. We will tell …

Patch Download Assistant has now MRPs as well

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 12

You gave feedback – we discussed it, and Muthu implemented it right away. This will be a shorter blog post about one of our most favorite MOS notes, MOS Note: 2118136.2 since the Patch Download Assistant has now MRPs as well.

Patch Download Assistant has now MRPs as well

Photo by Ben Pattinson on Unsplash

What is the Download Assistant all about?

We call MOS Note: 2118136.2 – Assistant: Download Reference for Oracle Database/GI Update, Revision, PSU, SPU(CPU), Bundle Patches, Patchsets and Base Releases one of our top 5 MOS notes because it is so handy. You need to download an RU? 3 clicks later you download it. …

Zero Downtime Upgrade of Timezone Data in Oracle 21c and 23c?

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Best Practice Oracle Database 21c Oracle Database 23c Time Zone - DST 2

There is a feature in Oracle Database 21c I planned to write about for a very long time: Zero Downtime Upgrade of Timezone Data in Oracle 21c and 23c. This sounds very promising – but let us take a closer look together in this blog post.

Photo by Bruno Figueiredo on Unsplash

Time Zone Upgrade?

There is of course an ongoing discussion whether and when you should upgrade the DST version of your database to a current value. Since we all live in a more and more globalized world, this topic becomes more and more important. Even more important …

Choose your desired time zone version (DST) upgrade

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Time Zone - DST Transportable 6

This morning I received a very reasonable question from a customer who has a time zone mismatch between source and target database. And he wants to transport into a PDB on Exadata. Even though, this sounds trivial at first sight, unfortunately it isn’t. But a bug fix done recently for a German automotive customer is very handy here. So let me show you how you can Choose your desired time zone version (DST) upgrade.

Choose your desired time zone version (DST) upgrade

Photo by Vince Veras on Unsplash

Where does the problem start?

In this particular – and not unusual case – the customer wants to migrate …

Patching to Oracle 19.19.0 out-of-place with additional patches

Posted on May 23, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade Patch Recommendation 46

From all my quarterly blog posts you know that I patch usually in-place for space and other reasons. And you may have similar reasons when you patch. But it is not ideal – and just speaking about risk and downtime, you should always patch out-of-place. So let me show you how Patching to Oracle 19.19.0 out-of-place with additional patches works.

Patching to Oracle 19.19.0 out-of-place with additional patches

Photo by Stefano Ferretti on Unsplash

What do I need?

Actually, this is not complicated at all. And if you never done it this way, give it a try now please.

Base release Oracle Database 19.3.0 image
opatch 37 from

Patching process changes with MRPs

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 10

I blogged about the Monthly Recommended Patches (MRP) several times before. And due to the feedback you and we had given, a few things got changed. The main change is from having the MRP bundled as a system patch making opatchauto a requirement. See below what Patching process changes with MRPs were implemented recently.

Photo by Karthik Sreenivas on Unsplash

Before …

As you could read already in:

the introduction of the MRPs added one major flaw: They’ve been built as system patches which made …

Cleaning up older patch artifacts – improving opatch performance

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation 26

This blog post is about a feature not only I but you did ask for actually for a long time. Cleaning up older patch artifacts – improving opatch performance. Both in one opatch release. And opatch 12.2.0.1.37 from April 2023 has it.

Cleaning up older patch artifacts - improving opatch performance

Photo by Toon Lambrechts on Unsplash

A little bit of history

One of the longest journey I had ever done in my long time in Oracle was helping customers to find a voice for patch cleanup. Oracle 19c is a long term support release. Many customers upgraded to it already. And you apply patches on a regular …

Virtual Classroom Seminar 16: Release and Patching Strategy for Oracle 19c and 23c

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation Release Schedule Workshop 9

There are just two days left to sign up for our Virtual Classroom Seminar 16: Release and Patching Strategy for Oracle 19c and 23c. We’ll talk to you on Wednesday, May 10 at 16:00h CET.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

What’s the topic?

We’ll try to cover everything for your best release and patching strategy with Oracle Database 19c of course, but also moving forward to Oracle Database 23c. Our big focus will be several aspects of patching. You’ll hear us talking not only about standard database patching but especially about patching in RAC environments.

We’ll put together a …

Datapatch may be slower when Traditional and Unified Auditing are on

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Auditing Flaws and Pitfalls 7

I wrote several times especially about Unified Auditing in the past. It is a very efficient and useful way to audit operations in the database. But you need to be a bit careful about what’s on, and what isn’t. Now we recently had a customer case where it was clearly proven that Datapatch may be slower when Traditional and Unified Auditing are on. But how can this happen?

Datapatch may be slower when Traditional and Unified Auditing are on

Photo by marcos mayer on Unsplash

Recapping Traditional Auditing

At first, I am neither a security not an auditing expert. But I played quite a bit with Unified Auditing over the …

Oracle Database World in London – THE event in April 2023

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Conference Workshop 7

You may have heard or seen – or even registered already – for the regional Oracle Cloud World in London on April 19, 2023 already. But were you aware that the “event to be at” happens just the next day on April 20? It will be Oracle Database World in London – THE event in April 2023.

When and where will it happen?

April 20, 2023, a Thursday will be the day to mark in your calendar. We’ll meet you at Oracle Database World, the regional database event to be at in London this year at the …

Oracle Database 23c Free Developer Release is available

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Oracle Database 23c 5

Yesterday at the regional Oracle Cloud World (OCW) in Singapore it got announced: Oracle Database 23c Free Developer Release is available for download from now on.

Oracle Database 23c Free Developer Release is available

Where can you download it?

That is most likely the most important link you are looking for. You can download the Oracle Database 23c Free Developer Release from here: Download Oracle Database 23c Free Developer Release. You will download an RPM.

Please note that Oracle Database 23c on Linux requires your OS to be either OL8 or RHEL8.

You can find the preinstall package here:

Release 8

And my colleague Gerald Venzl

Virtual Classroom Seminar #15: Data Pump Best Practices on April 5, 2023

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Best Practice Data Pump Workshop 4

We are quite busy these days. And I am lagging behind in answering your comments on the blog. So please be patient, nothing will be lost. Meanwhile, we work hard on the slides for our next Virtual Classroom Seminar #15: Data Pump Best Practices on April 5, 2023.

Virtual Classroom Seminar #15: Data Pump Best Practices on April 5, 2023

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

What will be the topic?

Data Pump Best Practices and Real World Scenarios tells you already what we are planning to do. After we had a “Data Pump Deep Dive with Development” seminar last year (time flies so quickly), we decided that we should tackle …

A patch (RU, OJVM, 32-bit) is not available yet – where will I find information?

Posted on March 7, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation Release Schedule 2

A longer while ago I wrote a blog post about the topic that a patch (RU, OJVM, 32-bit) is not available yet – where will I find information? But I wrote it too specific. And it is even hard for me to find my older blog post. Since several of you mailed me the past weeks with a variety of questions regarding patch availability I decided to write down my thoughts – but this time in a more generic way. And I hope it is helpful.

Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

Why are patches missing?

At first, I …

March 2023 release of AutoUpgrade is available

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Mike.Dietrich AutoUpgrade 17

It’s download time again. So please refresh the AutoUpgrade release you are using with the new one since the March 2023 release of AutoUpgrade is available now for download.

March 2023 release of AutoUpgrade is available

Photo by Mario von Rotz on Unsplash

Where to download?

As usual, please download the newest version of AutoUpgrade via MOS Note:2485457.1 – Download AutoUpgrade.

What does this version improve?

A lot.

Really, a lot of things got improved.

You’ll find the change.log for tracking purposes at the bottom of the note. I’d wish everybody would do such a transparent change tracking as the AutoUpgrade team does. This makes …

All you need, day by day

Who’s speaking and HOL’ing?

What has been announced?

Where can you find the updated information?

What is ORAdiff?

Let us have a quick look

3.3.5 Update Permissions for extjob

Why you need to get your ticket NOW?

Where can you download it?

Where to download?

What does this version improve?

New Features

Deprecated vs Desupport?

Why and how register?

What is the Download Assistant all about?

Time Zone Upgrade?

Where does the problem start?

What do I need?

Before …

A little bit of history

What’s the topic?

Recapping Traditional Auditing

When and where will it happen?

Where can you download it?

What will be the topic?

Why are patches missing?

Where to download?

What does this version improve?

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