Overview of Database Upgrade Assistant

Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA) guides you through the upgrade process and configures your database for the new release. DBUA automates the upgrade process and makes appropriate recommendations for configuration options such as tablespaces and online redo log files.

DBUA can be used to upgrade databases created using any edition of the Oracle Database software, including Express Edition (XE) databases.

Pre-Upgrade Checks

DBUA does not begin the upgrade until it completes all of the following pre-upgrade steps:

• Checks for any invalid user accounts or roles

• Checks for any invalid data types or invalid objects

• Checks for any desupported character sets

• Checks for adequate resources, including rollback segments, tablespaces, and free disk space

• Checks for any missing SQL scripts needed for the upgrade

• Backs up all necessary files (optional)

Automated Upgrade Tasks

After completing the pre-upgrade steps, DBUA automatically performs the following tasks:

• Modifies or creates new required tablespaces

• Invokes the appropriate upgrade scripts

• Archives the online redo log files

• Disables archiving during the upgrade phase (to improve performance)

While the upgrade is running, DBUA shows the upgrade progress for each component. DBUA writes detailed trace and log files and produces a complete HTML report for later reference. To enhance security, DBUA automatically locks new user accounts in the upgraded database. DBUA then proceeds to create new configuration files (initialization parameter and listener files) in the new Oracle home.

Support for Oracle Real Application Clusters

DBUA is fully compliant with Oracle Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) environments. In Oracle RAC environments, DBUA upgrades all database and configuration files on all nodes in the cluster.

About Upgrading Oracle Automatic Storage Management

Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) enables you to upgrade an existing Oracle ASM instance to the current software level. However, the recommended practice is to upgrade an Oracle ASM instance with Oracle Universal Installer (OUI). OUI automatically defaults to upgrade mode when it detects an Oracle ASM instance at a previous release level.

Support for Silent Mode

DBUA supports a silent mode of operation in which no user interface is presented to the user. Silent mode enables you to use a single statement for the upgrade.