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2. Safe Harbor Statement
The following is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, timing, and pricing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products may change and remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation.
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3. Oracle Database Release Uptake and Patching Strategies
OpenWorld 2018
Oracle Database Release Uptake and Patching Strategies
Eleanor Meritt Vice President Sustaining Engineering October, 2018
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4. Program Agenda 1
Database Release Model Database Release News Testing Recommendations Roll-out Recommendations Q&A 2 3 4 5
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5. Database Release Model
October, 2018
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6. Database Release Model
Components
From the Oracle Database release 12.2 onward the Database and Grid Software is maintained via the following deliverables:
Releases
Updates
Revisions
Emergency One-off patches
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7. Database Release Model
Releases
Content: New features, performance improvements, plus all bug fixes and security patches made since last release
Version: Release number based on last two digits of calendar year. Next release is 19c
Uptake: Minimal downtime upgrade to new releases available using Data Guard or GoldenGate
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8. Database Release Model
More on Releases
Releases are grouped into families
12.2 is the current Database release family and consists of
, 18c and 19c
A release family is supported for 5 years premier support and 3 years extended support
Upon delivery of new release within a family, the previous release will be fully supported and updated for at least two additional years
Every release family has a “Long Term Support” release.
This is the last release in a family
19c is the Long Term Support release for the 12.2 release family
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9. Database Release Model
Updates (RUs)
Content: Stable bundle of bug fixes including security content
Carefully selected to fix issues that are commonly encountered or very severe
Query optimization fixes that change plans are included but must be selectively enabled
Version: Update version is tracked via 2nd digit
Cadence: Released quarterly every Jan, April, July and Oct for all actively supported releases
Uptake: Zero application downtime when applied using RAC rolling or Data Guard / GoldenGate
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10. Database Release Model
Updates (RUs)
Primary mechanism for Release maintenance, replacing Patch Sets, PSUs, and, to a large extent, one-off patches
Similar to proactive bundle patch (DB and Exadata BP) for releases 12.1 and prior
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11. New Release Model
Drill down into Update (RU) Content
Bug fixes with multiple MOS Service Requests or patch downloads
Bug fixes for highly escalated customer situations
Fixes for bugs with critical symptoms:
Corruptions, Wrong Results, System Hangs, Instance evictions, Crashes, Severe performance degradations, negative impact on recovery or standby replication
Fixes for bugs introduced in prior RU’s
Fixes for security bugs
Fixes must not add undue risk due to code complexity and test impact
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12. Database Release Model
Revisions (RURs)
Content: Security fixes and fixes for regressions. Delivered for two quarters for a given Release Update to revise its content
Version: Revision version is tracked via 3rd digit
Availability: Revisions are available for download for two quarters for the previous Updates on a Release.
Uptake: Zero application downtime when applied via RAC Rolling or Data Guard / GoldenGate switchover.
Allows for a more conservative approach to maintenance while still giving fast access to critical security and proactive stabilization content
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13. New Release Model
Emergency Off-Cycle Patches (One-off patches)
Customers can get standalone one-off patches and diagnostic patches as Oracle has delivered for many years
Emergency patches will be delivered on request on top of any Updates or Revisions for a supported release as long as technically feasible
If a fix has severe impact or the issue is encountered by many customers, then the fix will be merged into an Update
Customers should apply the Update that includes their emergency fix once it is available
Existing one-offs are proactively recreated on top of new Updates if the Update does not include the fix.
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14. Database Release News October, 2018
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15. Database Release News
19c will be the “Long Term Support” release for the Database 12.2 Release family
Available On Premises during the first half of 2019 via 19.3
Beta and Cloud 19.1 release available very soon
Premier Support thru’ Spring 2022, Extended Support until Spring 2025
Release contains hardening features for existing 12.2.x functionality but is primarily a bug fix release.
18c available On Premises with the 18.3 release in July 2018
AIX, HP, Zlinux releases will be made available shortly with 18.4
No need for a full downtime to install OJVM patches from 18.4 onward
11.2 and 12.1 lifetime support plans are unchanged
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16. 19c Database Release - New Feature Highlights
Big Data & Data Warehousing
Automatic Indexing, SQL Diagnostics & repair enhancements
Automatic resolution of SQL plan regressions
Performance
Quarantine SQL statements consuming excess resources AWR enhancements
RAC & Grid
Enhancements for upgrades and patching
Diagnosibility
Exachk and Orachk highlighting of critical checks
Exachk & Trace File Analyzer REST support
Other
Security improvements
Improvements to Application Continuity
JSON support
Improvements to Data Guard
Enhancements to Sharding
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17. Database Release News
If upgrading from 11.2 or 12.1 has not yet been considered now is an excellent time to do so.
11.2 has required an Extended Support uplift fee since May 2017
12.1 Extended Support fee waiver ends July 2019
19c is the recommended upgrade target for customers who prefer to stay on one release for a longer time period
18c is a great option for those who can upgrade more frequently
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18. Lifetime Support Commitments and Plans
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
Oracle 11.2
EXTENDED
Oracle 12.1
EXTENDED
Oracle 18
Oracle 19
EXTENDED
Premier Support
Waived Extended Support
Paid Extended Support
The New Release and Patching Model 18

19. Testing Recommendations
October, 2018
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20. Oracle Testing by Maintenance Deliverable
One Off Patch
Updates & Revisions
Releases
Functional Testing
Area regression tests
Bug fix verification
Complete set of functional regression tests
Stress Testing
Not usually
Subset of stress tests targeted based on content
Full stress testing
Performance Testing
Workload based performance regression testing
Full set of performance tests
Other
Install testing in unpatched environment
Installation using EM CC patching
Install testing in clean environment
“Upgrading” from previous RU’s and RUR’s
Install & upgrade testing – many scenarios
Internal deployments
Certification testing
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21. Testing Recommendations for Customers
One Off Patch
Revision (RUR)
Update (RU)
Release
Install / Rollback
Yes
Bug Verification
Where possible and relevant
Admin Activities
Not required
Basic
Full
Application Function
Core applications only
Core and non-core applications
Application Performance
Only when selectively enabling query optimizer changes
Testing recommendations for RUR’s stand when Update version has not changed. Any time the Update level changes from baseline, apply RU testing recommendations.
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22. Rollout Recommendations
October, 2018
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23. Rollout Recommendations
Maintenance Strategies
Consider your maintenance strategy
Compliance Driven?
Application Driven?
Developer Driven?
You may fit into multiple categories
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24. Rollout Recommendations
Maintenance Strategies
Maintenance strategies need to be supported by company wide standard processes
Must be endorsed by CIO and business leadership
Maintenance windows should be well communicated and planned for in advance
Testing must be done on production like environments before any production level change rollout
Test plans should be drawn up in advance and stuck to
Automation is key to speed, efficiency, and scaling
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25. Rollout Recommendations
Maintenance Strategies
Compliance Driven
Adherence to security standards comes first above all else
Must meet company / industry driven deadlines for achieving compliance
Must stay current on Oracle Supported releases
Preference is to avoid downtimes but will accept them if necessary for compliance
Desire is to minimize risk from non security related changes
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26. Rollout Recommendations
Maintenance Strategies
Application Driven
Evolving end user and front end application needs set the tone for Database maintenance strategy
End user requirements drive change rollout cadences
Can sometimes mean that Database changes are frozen while application development takes precedence
Downtimes are to be avoided as far as possible
Security patching and release upgrades can get delayed due to application level business priorities
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27. Rollout Recommendations
Maintenance Strategies
Developer Driven
Proof of concept systems for production changes
Evaluation of new Database features
Must support nimble change management
Downtimes are relatively unimportant
Need to be able to set up and break down environments quickly and easily
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28. Change Strategy Recommendations
Compliance Driven
Apply RUs quarterly
Consider RURs only when time pressure affects ability to test Rus
Minimize one-off patch application
Lack of standardization causes major roll-out headaches
Most recent releases will have best security features
Upgrade at least every 3-4 years
Application Driven
Apply RUs every six months
Architect Database system for maximum availability
Leverage HA for minimizing change window downtimes
Upgrade releases as often as feasible
At a minimum go from one Long Term release to the next
Developer Driven
Apply RUs quarterly
Set aside a number of systems for new release testing
Downtime scheduling should be driven by the DBA’s
Maintain production look-alike systems for canary testing
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29. Rollout Recommendations
Minimizing Downtimes – Database Perspective
Release Upgrades can be conducted with minimal downtimes via GoldenGate / Data Guard switchovers
Updates, Revisions and most one-off patches can be deployed with zero (or near zero) downtime via RAC rolling patching, GG / DG switchovers
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30. Rollout Recommendations
Minimizing Downtimes
Consider the application stack when seeking to minimize downtimes with Database patching.
Application Continuity, Active Gridlink, DataSource draining, batch job quiescing, slow Database shutdowns (transactional shutdowns), Editions Based Redefinitions (EBR)
All of these are key components to getting closest to zero downtime patching
Batch jobs should be written so that they are idempotent and can resume from where they left off
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31. Reference Material My Oracle Support Knowledge articles:
Release Update Introduction and FAQ (Doc ID )
Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID )
Best Practices for Zero Risk, Zero Downtime Database Maintenance
Client failover best practices for Highly Available Oracle Databases
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32. Email: Eleanor.merit@oracle.com
Questions?
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