Query on interoperability patches from 11.2.0.4 to 19C

[prabhunoule]

Hi Erman,
We are planning to upgrade our database from 11.2.0.4 to 19c in production this Saturday, following the document 2580629.1. Our EBS is R12.1.3 and as given in the document section interoperability patches. Can we apply these interoperability patches prior to 2 days ahead of downtime? Will this impact our application in anyways?

Could you please confirm this query?


Best Regards,
Prabhu Noule

[ErmanArslansOracleBlog]

Yes you can but you need to apply them to your TEST system first, and then carefully test the system.. Only after that you can apply them to PROD.. If you don't test them, it will bring you risks.. There are big patches (AD, TXK) there.. So you just can't apply them to PROD before testing them in TEST. You need to test your customizations and everything..

[PrasadK]

Hello,

I am sending this e-mail after reading your post "Query on interoperability patches from 11.2.0.4 to 19C" on 10/04/2023.  Yes around 18 months ago :-)

We are going thru exact same situation you described in your post.  Thought of consulting you on this topic.

We are currently using an Oracle 11.2.0.4 (64-bit) database on Linux 5.4 64-bit server.  This database is used with R12.1.3 EBS.

We want to upgrade the database from 11.2.0.4 to 19c on 64-bit Linux 8 server.  We have 2 options for this upgrade.

1) upgrade database from 11.2.0.4 to 19c on the current Linux 5.4 server and then migrate it to Linux 8 box

2) migrate 11.2.0.4 database from Linux 5.4 server to Linux 8 server and upgrade it on Linux 8 server.

In the case of first option, Oracle 19c is not certified with Linux 5.4.

In the case of second option, Oracle 11.2.0.4 is not certified with Linux 8.

How to resolve this issue?

Thought of consulting IT professionals like you who have a prior experience.

Regards,
Prasad

[ErmanArslansOracleBlog]

Hi,

You are wrong. "Oracle 11.2.0.4 is certified with Oracle Linux 8". So I guess this will help you decide your upgrade method and plan.

So, for instance you can migrate your env to Oracle Linux 8 and then do your upgrade there, in-place.

[PrasadK]

Sir,

Yes, you are correct. Oracle 11.2.0.4 is certified with Oracle & RH Linux 8 according to the certification matrix on MOS.

However, when I check certification matrix for Oracle Applications (aka EBS) R12.1.3 and Oracle 11.2.0.4 database combination, I don't see Oracle/RH Linux 8 listed.  The highest release is Oracle/RH Linux 7.

May I know whether we can still migrate our 11.2.0.4 database to Oracle Linux 8?

Regards,
Prasad

[ErmanArslansOracleBlog]

Combination? Where did you get that info?

EBS 12.1.3 is certified with Oracle Linux 8, Oracle Database 11.2.0.4 its own is certified with Oracle Linux. so I don't see an issue here.

[PrasadK]

ScreenShots.docx Sir, I have uploaded a Word document that has two screenshots. I don't see Linux 8 in the list of certified Operating systems. Thank you, Prasad

[ErmanArslansOracleBlog]

Good catch but! I can't be quite sure about the accuracy of the information that you get from there..
MOS note named Oracle E-Business Suite Installation and Upgrade Notes Release 12 (12.1.1) for Linux x86-64 (Doc ID 761566.1) is also a reference. But that 's also creating confusion here, cause there is nothing about such a restriction.

The only thing we see there is -> "Customers installing E-Business Suite 12.1.1 on the above operating systems using Rapid Install must upgrade the Oracle Database to 11gR2 (11.2.0.3 or higher for OL/RHEL 6, 11.2.0.4 for OL/RHEL 7 and SLES 12), 12c (12.1.0.1 or higher for OL/RHEL 6, 12.1.0.2 for OL/RHEL 7 and SLES 12) or 19c (for Oracle Linux/RHEL 7 and 8 and SLES 12) ...."

But this may be misleading and may not be up-to-date. Cause those products each are certified with Oracle Linux.

Well..
Linux 8 is certified with Oracle Database 11.2.0.4 .
Linux 8 is certified with Oracle EBS 12.1.3.

This makes -> Linux 8 is certified with Oracle EBS 12.1.3 (with 11.2.0.4 database) So it will run that s for sure.

additional ref: https://blogs.oracle.com/ebstech/post/ebs-1213-migration-to-oracle-linux-8-and-red-hat-enterprise-linux-8-now-certified

another ref: Requirements for Installing Oracle Database/Client 11.2.0.4 on OL8 or RHEL8 64-bit (x86-64) (Doc ID 2988626.1)

This is my opinion. But! 19C is strongly recommended (according to the MOS Notes) for EBS 12.1.3 customers who will run on Oracle Linux 8.

You can ask this question by creating a SR on Oracle support but make sure you tell them the whole story.

[PrasadK]

Thank you for your reply, Sir.

Our goal is to upgrade 11.2.0.1 Oracle database we are using now with EBS R12.1.3 on Linux 5 to 19c on Linux 8.

We followed same line of reasoning you listed in your e-mail below – both EBS R12.1.3 and Oracle 11.2.0.4 are certified with Linux 8, so, upgrade should be a slam dunk -- just upgrade 11.2.0.1 to 11.2.0.4 on Linux 5, then transfer 11.2.0.4 database files to Linux 8 and upgrade the database to 19c (on Linux 8).

Just to get a formal confirmation from Oracle support about our upgrade path, I opened an SR.  Oracle analyst surprised me by saying that EBS 12.1.3 and Oracle 11.2.0.4 combination is not supported on Linux 8.  However, if we shell out a few Dollars and buy “Upgrade Support Entitlement”, we will be able to follow the upgrade path I mentioned above.  I am pasting here exact words of the analyst of my SR.

“
1 - yes, the steps outlined are possible, however, to install 11.2.0.4 on OL8/RHEL8 requires an "Upgrade Support Entitlement" ( Doc ID 742060.1 )

full details for installation of 11.2.0.4 on linux 8 see : Requirements for Installing Oracle Database/Client 11.2.0.4 on OL8 or RHEL8 64-bit (x86-64) ( Doc ID 2988626.1 )
“

Probably, we will buy “Upgrade Support Entitlement”.  

Just out of curiosity, I tried to install 11.2.0.4 on Linux 8 server.  I got errors during relink !!  We need a patch to fix this issue (Doc ID 2988626.1).  We can download the patch only if we have “Upgrade support entitlement”.

Unusual Oracle world 😊

Regards,
Prasad

[ErmanArslansOracleBlog]

Thank you PrasadK. Interesting information.

You are probably talking about the The one-off patch 33991024 that will take care of the database linking errors.. Okay. If that's the rule, and you don't want to have search a workaround and take the risk, then you need to buy it of course.