Upgrade Oracle EBS 12.2 database to Oracle Database 19c

Introduction

This post explores the steps to configure Oracle® E-Business Suite (EBS) 12.2 with Oracle Database 19c.

Oracle recently certified Oracle Database 19c with EBS 12.2. When you upgrade an Oracle EBS database from version 12c (12.1.0.2) or 11.2.0.4 to Database 19c, the database architecture changes to a container database (CDB) architecture. If you upgrade the EBS database from previous versions to 19, the upgrade process must
convert the EBS database to CDB architecture with a single pluggable database (PDB).

Database 19c multitenant architecture

The Database 19c multitenant architecture enables an Oracle database to function
as a multitenant CDB. You should be familiar with the following terms:

• CDB: Includes zero, one, or many customer-created PDBs.
• PDB: A portable collection of schemas, schema objects, and non-schema objects that appears to an Oracle Net client as a non-CDB.
• Container: A logical collection of data or metadata within the multitenant architecture.

The following figure shows possible containers in a CDB and demonstrates that a CDB can support multiple PDBs in Database 19c:

Image Source 

However, Oracle EBS currently supports only a single PDB in a CDB and does not certify a CDB with multiple PDBs.

Upgrade an EBS database to Database 19c

Refer to the following notes to upgrade an EBS database to 19c:

• Interoperability Notes: Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 with Oracle Database 19c (Doc ID 2552181.1)
• Oracle 19c: Complete Checklist for Manual Upgrades to Non-CDB Oracle Database 19c (Doc ID 2539778.1)

 Before the database installation

1. Verify the current software component versions before upgrading the database to 19c. Make sure your current database release supports a direct upgrade. You must apply all missing patches to EBS.

2. Run txkOnPremPrePDBCreationTasks.pl in the source Oracle Home directory to generate files that you need after the database upgrade to initialize CDB parameters.

Database installation

1. Download Oracle Database 19c(19.3) media from here and install the 19c database software. Choose the Set Up Software Only option.

2. Apply additional 19c Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) patches to 19c Oracle Home.

3. Create a CDB using the Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA). Create an empty container database (CDB) without a PDB.

4. Run txkGenCDBTnsAdmin.pl in 19c the Oracle Home directory to generate the required Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) files. Do not create or start a listener.

Database upgrade

Versions after Oracle Database 18c do not support the `UTL_FILE_DIR` database initialization parameter. Instead, the later versions use database directory objects to specify the locations used for PL/SQL file I/O. A directory object specifies an alias for a directory on the server file system. Starting with Oracle Database 19c, Oracle EBS introduced new `apps.v$parameter` and apps.v$parameter2` views in the APPS schema. These views provide a supplemental UTL_FILE_DIR parameter, which you can reference in the same way that you reference the former UTL_FILE_DIR database initialization parameter. As part of the upgrade, you need to migrate your previous `UTL_FILE_DIR` database initialization parameter settings to the new parameter.

1. Run txkCfgUtlfileDir.pl in getUtlFileDir mode to retrieve the directory path values from the source UTL_FILE_DIR database initialization parameter.

2. Later, run txkCfgUtlfileDir.pl in `setUtlFileDir` mode to store the directory-path values in the database.

3. Upgrade the source database to 19c by following Chapter 2 of the Oracle Database Upgrade Guide 19c using Database Upgrade Assistant (DBUA). To perform the upgrade manually, follow Metalink Note 2539778.1 - Oracle 19c - Complete Checklist for Manual Upgrades to Non-CDB Oracle Database 19c.

After the database upgrade

1. Run adgrants.

2. Compile invalid objects.

Convert the database to multitenant architecture

At this point, there are two databases associated with the 19c Oracle home:

• The CDB database
• The non-CDB database

The EBS database is the non-CDB database that the upgrade migrates to the PDB and plugs into the CDB.

1. Update the initialization parameters for the CDB, or the freshly installed 19c database, to accommodate the EBS database as a PDB.

2. Check for any PDB violations before plugging in the EBS database as PDB to CDB.

3. Run txkCreatePDB.pl and txkPostPDBCreationTasks.pl to convert the EBS database to a PDB and plug the PDB into the CDB. You can make the PDB data file location the same as the source data file location.

4. Ensure that you update all common and release-specific database initialization parameters for Oracle 19c by following the My Oracle Support Knowledge Document 396009.1, Database Initialization Parameter Settings for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 documentation.

Application-tier steps

1. Run `autoconfig` on the application tier.

2. Review the links present in the database before the start of the upgrade and
   create corresponding database links in the upgraded database.

3. Start the application services and perform a sanity test.

 Unsupported EBS products

Because EBS Release 12.2 on Oracle Database 19c does not support the following EBS products at this time, EBS Release 12.2 customers who plan to upgrade the database to Oracle Database 19c might need to check for alternative products or functionality:

• Oracle Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)
• Oracle Enterprise Planning and Budgeting (EPB)
• Demand Signal Repository (DDR)
• Oracle E-Business Suite Integrated SOA Gateway (ISG)

 Conclusion

This blog post provides an overview of multitenant architecture with container and pluggable databases. By using the outlined steps, database administrators can configure Oracle EBS 12.2 with the Oracle Database 19c. The upgrade process converts your EBS database to CDB architecture with a single pluggable database.