Release Schedule

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.

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Why are patches missing?

At first, I …

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.

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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.…

Certifying an application on a specific RU-only is wrong

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Mike.Dietrich Best Practice Patch Recommendation Release Schedule 15

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.

Certifying an application on a specific RU only is wrong

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What’s the story?

At first, …

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

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 5

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 …

Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 – End of Support and Patch Bundles

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 1

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.

Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 - End of Support and Patch Bundles

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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 …

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

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 24

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.

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Oracle Database 11g?

How to get access to download older Oracle versions?

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 9

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?

How to get access to download older Oracle versions?

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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 …

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

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Oracle Database 18c Release Schedule 0

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.

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

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Oracle Database 18c

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

No RURs for 12.2.0.1 – and Oracle 11.2.0.4 left Extended Support

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Mike.Dietrich Patch Recommendation Release Schedule 0

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 …

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 6

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 …

Oracle Long Term Support vs Innovation Releases

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 0

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

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

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 0

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.

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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…

Oracle 12.2.0.1 – Clarification for Limited Error Correction Support

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 4

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 …

Oracle 12.2.0.1 Support extended with Limited Error Correction Support

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 Release Schedule 14

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

To which release should you upgrade to? Revisited …

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 0

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:…

Extended Support for Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 extended

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 13

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:

MOS Note: 742060.1 – Release Schedule of

Market Driven Support for Oracle Database 11.2.0.4

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 7

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 …

How long will Oracle Database 12.2 be supported?

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 19

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 …

Premier Support Extension for Oracle 19c – and more

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 2

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 …

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

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Cloud Release Schedule 0

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. …

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

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 4

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 …

To which release should you upgrade to? Plus: Extended Support?

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 6

To which release should you upgrade to? Plus: Extended Support?

A few days ago I blogged about the Current Support Status for Oracle Database Releases. And you’ve sent several questions to me. Some asked about clarification to which release should you upgrade to? Plus: Extended Support questions were quite frequent. So let me clarify this previous blog post a bit.

To which release should you upgrade to?

A few weeks ago we initiated global communication to all customers who had opened an SR within the past 3 years explaining to which release you should upgrade to. Just in case you haven’t seen this communication, I will give you more …

Current Support Status for Oracle Database Releases

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 11

Yesterday a former colleague from the UK pointed me to a very old blog post about the fact that no patches will be produced for Oracle 11.2.0.3 anymore. Which is a true fact. But it reminded me that it may be time for an overview on the current support status for Oracle database releases as of October 2018.

Current Support Status for Oracle Database Releases

First of all, the single source of truth in case you’d like to look up support dates and patching periods is MOS Note:742060.1. Please always check this note first. Our Support Lifetime …

Oracle Database 18.3.0 on SPARC Solaris is available

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 2

Usually I don’t post twice on a day, especially not on a Friday and not in the holiday season. But since last night, Aug 2, Oracle Database 18.3.0 on SPARC Solaris is available for download from OTN.

Oracle Database 18.3.0 on SPARC Solaris is available

You can download it from OTN:

https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/downloads/index.html

And I couldn’t find it on eDelivery – where I find only the 18.1.0 version. But I simply may be not clever enough to use the right search phrase (I used “Oracle Database” as “18” leads to something different).

Further Information

Oracle Database 18.3.0 on premises is available

Clarification: Support Periods for Oracle 12.2.0.1 and 18c

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Mike.Dietrich Release Schedule 12

Monday morning, another way-too-hot July day. Summer is crazy this year in Europe. We all enjoy nice sunny weather but nobody does enjoy a serious drought. Nowhere. While going through my inbox I spot this statement: ““Why should we go to 18.x with support till 2020?“. And this is not an unusual question. But I think I should write a Clarification: Support Periods for Oracle 12.2.0.1 and 18c. I receive plenty of such questions in the past weeks. And actually many from my colleagues.

Clarification: Support Periods for Oracle 12.2.0.1 and 18c

First of all, your Single …

Release Schedule

Why are patches missing?

RURs are gone?

What’s the story?

What is the intention?

Premier Support for Oracle 12.2.0.1

Limited Error Correction Support for Oracle 12.2.0.1

Oracle Database 11g?

What’s on oracle.com and eDelivery

Oracle Database 18c

No Release Update Revisions for Oracle 12.2.0.1

11.2.0.what?

What is a Long Term Support Release?

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

What has been announced in April 2020?

Limited Error Correction announced for 12.2.0.1 Database

Overview

Extended Support Extension for Oracle 12.1.0.2

Overview Support Periods Oracle 11g Release 2

Lifetime Support Policy Brochure

What has been announced?

What has changed since the original post?

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

To which release should you upgrade to?

Current Support Status for Oracle Database Releases

Oracle Database 18.3.0 on SPARC Solaris is available

Further Information

Clarification: Support Periods for Oracle 12.2.0.1 and 18c

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