Release Schedule

Restricted Upgrade Support added for several releases of Oracle Database

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.

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 …

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

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.

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

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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

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Oracle Database 19c on Arm platform is available

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.

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

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.

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 …

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

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.

Why are patches missing?

At first, I …

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Patching News: RURs are gone – long live MRPs

Sorry for the headline using TLAs (three letter acronyms). But I was tempted – and those of you being interested in Oracle Database patching my quickly realize that there are some Patching News: RURs are gone – long live MRPs.

Patching News: RURs are gone - long live MRPs

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RURs are gone?

Andy Mendelsohn announced the MRPs (Monthly Recommended Patches) in October at DOAG Conference in Nuernberg already. Due to Oracle Cloud World bussiness, I’ve had no time to write about it yet. And the introduction of the MRPs means that we won’t produce RURs anymore after a transition grace period.…

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Certifying an application on a specific RU-only is wrong

Well, there are still 80+ comments I need to answer and reply to on the blog. So please be patient – nothing gets deleted or ignored. But it happens that a topic crosses my inbox, and I need to blog about it right now. Today, it is a case where a customer asked me for advice, and mentioned on the side that they are going to 19.6.0 in OCI. In this relation I’d like to explain why Certifying an application on a specific RU- only is wrong.

What’s the story?

At first, …

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Why you simply can’t upgrade from Oracle 11g or 12c to Oracle 23c

It’s time for a Monday morning rant. I receive more and more questions which all start similar. “My customer is on Oracle 11g and/or 12c, and want to know whether the next long term support release …“. Now let me clarify Why you simply can’t upgrade from Oracle 11g or 12c to Oracle 23c. And why you MUST upgrade to Oracle Database 19c.

Why you simply can't upgrade from Oracle 11g or 12c to Oracle 23c

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What is the intention?

After a lot of discussions across many regions, especially in JAPAC during the past weeks I realized that there is a reason for all …

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Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 – End of Support and Patch Bundles

This will be a short blog post but since I received a number of messages yesterday after I published my usual Patching all my environments with the April 2022 Patch Bundles blog post I need to clarify a few things regarding Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 – End of Support and Patch Bundles.

Premier Support for Oracle 12.2.0.1

If you remember this, the Premier Support period for Oracle 12.2.0.1 ended on November 30, 2020.

Limited Error Correction Support for Oracle 12.2.0.1

Since many of you were still on Oracle 12.2.0.1 when the end of Premier Support …

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Why you can’t stay on Oracle Database 11g forever

Oracle Database 11g? In 2022? Yes, I know – and you know too – there are Oracle 11g databases out there in production. And blindly I’d say: Too many. Of course, we are the “upgrade guys” trying to convince you to move to Oracle Database 19c. And I bet, for each of your 11g databases there’s a valid and legit reason why they haven’t upgraded yet. But there is one often neglected technical reason Why you can’t stay on Oracle Database 11g forever. So let me explain this below.

 

Oracle Database 11g?

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How to get access to download older Oracle versions?

Today a friend asked me whether I know where to download Oracle 10g. Not a typo where I mixed 9 and 0 on my keyboard. So what if … How to get access to download older Oracle versions?

What’s on oracle.com and eDelivery

In the Software Delivery Cloud (formerly known as eDelivery) you will find the following base releases of the Oracle database:

How to get access to download older Oracle versions?

And the other source for downloads is oracle.com. But there you currently will be able to download Oracle Database 19c and Oracle Database 21c.

But there is no sight …

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Bug Fixing Support for Oracle 18c ends June 30, 2021

Time flies so quickly. I remember when we had intense discussions with a very large automotive customer whether they should use Oracle 18c, or rather wait for Oracle 19c. They went straight to Oracle 19c. But I know that many customers out there are still on Oracle 18c. So this date coming up in less than 3 weeks is very important for you. Bug Fixing Support for Oracle 18c ends June 30, 2021.

Oracle Database 18c

I quickly checked on my blog. On March 20, 2018 I wrote When will Oracle Database 18c

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No RURs for 12.2.0.1 – and Oracle 11.2.0.4 left Extended Support

Last week I blogged about the quarterly patching fun when applying the Release Updates to my environments. But I completely forget to mention and explain a few things. There are No RURs for 12.2.0.1 – and Oracle 11.2.0.4 left Extended Support.

No RURs for 12.2.0.1 - and Oracle 11.2.0.4 left Extended Support

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No Release Update Revisions for Oracle 12.2.0.1

Thanks to my friend Rodrigo Jorge who messaged me on the weekend. He goes way deeper with applying the quarterly patches and highlights the differences. And he recognized and blogged already about the fact that there are no RURs available for Oracle 12.2.0.1.

And …

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

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 …

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Oracle Long Term Support vs Innovation Releases

Earlier this week I wrote about the recent exciting news: Oracle Database 19c Premier Support extended by more than 1 year. But if you went to MOS 742060.1 to read the fine print, you may have spotted another change as well: A differentiation between Oracle Long Term Support vs Innovation Releases.

Oracle Long Term Support vs Innovation Releases

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What is a Long Term Support Release?

MOS 742060.1 explains:

Oracle Database Long Term Releases are ideal for use cases that benefit from less frequent upgrades to newer releases. Long Term Releases offer the highest level of stability and the l

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Oracle Database 19c Premier Support extended by more than 1 year

Exciting news. And some of you may have spotted it already due to an update on the Single Source of Truth note, MOS 742060.1 last week: Oracle Database 19c Premier Support extended by more than 1 year.

Oracle Database 19c Premier Support extended by more than 1 year

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Oracle Database 19c Premier Support extended by more than 1 year

This is an important message some customers have already asked for. Originally, the Premier Support period for Oracle Database 19c was supposed to run until end of March 2023. Now you may relax in your chair as this seems unbelievably far away. But that’s only

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Oracle 12.2.0.1 – Clarification for Limited Error Correction Support

A few weeks ago, you read the announcement of the availability of Limited Error Correction Support for Oracle Database 12.2.0.1. But many of you had some questions right away. I could answer most of them easily. But it was clear to us that there was more information needed. Hence, we published more information for Oracle 12.2.0.1 – Clarification for Limited Error Correction Support.

Oracle 12.2.0.1 - Clarification for Limited Error Correction Support

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What has been announced in April 2020?

Just a few weeks ago we announced the availability of Limited Error Correction Support for Oracle 12.2.0.1 after November 2020. You could find …

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Oracle 12.2.0.1 Support extended with Limited Error Correction Support

There was sort of a rumor already as some customers sent mail to me last week whether we may extend the support period for Oracle 12.2.0.1. And thanks to my friend, Robert Pastijn, who alerted me minutes ago, you can find this information now as well in the single source of truth, MOS Note:742060.1.

Oracle 12.2.0.1 Support extended with Limited Error Correction Support

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Limited Error Correction announced for 12.2.0.1 Database

There are three important bullet points in the Patching End Dates table for Oracle Database 12.2.0.1:

  • Error Correction / Patching is available until Nov 30, 2020
  • Limited Error Correction (Sev 1 and
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To which release should you upgrade to? Revisited …

I’ve had so many discussions with customers and partners, and also with colleagues in the past weeks and months about the support time frames for Oracle Database 12.2. Now I checked the blog, and I found so many posts about support periods. And I wrote a similar blog post already 1.5 years ago. I think it’s time to summarize all that. And give you some guidance as well about to which release should you upgrade to? Revisited …

To which release should you upgrade to? Revisited ...

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Overview

Basically there are 2 sources to learn about Support time frames for the database release:…

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Extended Support for Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 extended

These are good new in case you plan to use Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 longer in production. Just last week we extended the Extended Support for Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 by one additional year.

Extended Support for Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 extended

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Extended Support Extension for Oracle 12.1.0.2

Before, the Extended Support for Oracle 12.1.0.2 ended end of July 2021. Now you can purchase it until end of July 2022. For those of you who have it included in your contract anyway (for instance if you have a ULA or PULA), these are great news.

Please see:

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Market Driven Support for Oracle Database 11.2.0.4

I know that some of you are still on Oracle 11.2.0.4. And I don’t want to argue, why. I’m pretty sure there’s a good reason that you haven’t upgraded yet. Just remember: You can upgrade directly from Oracle 11.2.0.4 to Oracle 19c. Just in case you plan to stay longer than end of 2020 on this ancient release, then you may want to read about the Market Driven Support for Oracle Database 11.2.0.4.

Market Driven Support for Oracle Database 11.2.0.4

Overview Support Periods Oracle 11g Release 2

First of all, let me give a quick overview on Oracle Database 11g Release 2 – usually …

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How long will Oracle Database 12.2 be supported?

This question sounds very simple: How long will Oracle Database 12.2 be supported? Right? But I learned at a customer site recently that the information about the support periods for Oracle 12.2 may puzzle people sometimes. Hence I thought some clarification may be useful.

Lifetime Support Policy Brochure

First of all, when you have a look into the Lifetime Support Policy brochure the answer you’ll read there is:

  • Premier Support until March 2023
  • Extended Support until March 2026

How long will Oracle Database 12.2 be supported?

But this doesn’t give you any distinction between Oracle 12.2.0.1, Oracle 18c and Oracle 19c. These three releases fall under the Oracle

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Premier Support Extension for Oracle 19c – and more

Wait a bit. Oracle Database 19c is not out yet (only in beta right now) but how can we initiate a Premier Support Extension for Oracle 19c already? Well, Oracle 12.2.0.1, Oracle 18c and Oracle 19c all together sail under the cover of the “Oracle 12.2 Release Family” and hence have a common support frame.

What has been announced?

The single-source-of-truth MOS Note:742060.1 got updated. Roy tweeted about it already. And the major change in the note is the extension of the Premier Support for Oracle 19c until March 2023. That is one year more than it was …

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How long can you provision database version X in the Cloud? – NEW

A few weeks ago I published a blog post about provisioning dates in Oracle Cloud environments for different databases releases. As we did an important update, I rewrite today: How long can you provision database version X in the Cloud? – NEW.

What has changed since the original post?

The key point in the previous blog post was:

“And by end of this calendar year, the option to provision an Oracle 12.2.0.1 instance will go away. The same will happen in less than 1 year with Oracle 11.2.0.4 instances.”.

With “this calendar year” I pointed to end of 2018. …

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Oracle Database 18c for AIX, HP-UX and zLinux available

I rarely blog twice a day – but this message is the one a good number of people have waited for quite a while. Oracle Database 18c for AIX, HP-UX and zLinux available for download from eDelivery as of now. The software is not on OTN or oracle.com yet in the usual download section. I’m blindly guessing that it will be there soon, maybe tonight already.

Oracle Database 18c for AIX, HP-UX and zLinux available

→ Please go to eDelivery (also known as the Oracle Software Cloud) and type into the search line:
Oracle Database” – then hit …

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