Release Update 19.29
This page describes the features and behavior changes that are new in Release Update 19.29.
Behavior Changes
Release Update 19.29 introduces the behavior changes described below. Review each item before applying the Release Update (RU). Most changes affect behavior only when the relevant feature is in use. Where applicable, test application, administrative, audit, and connectivity workflows in a non-production environment before rollout.
Database Vault Default Realms Upgraded to Mandatory Realms
Behavior change: The Oracle Database Vault realm has been changed from a regular realm to a mandatory realm. In addition, a new mandatory Oracle Label Security realm has been added.
These security hardening enhancements strengthen the protection of Oracle-managed Database Vault and Oracle Label Security objects and related execution paths. Mandatory realms provide stronger protection by preventing even privileged users from bypassing realm protection. These changes help preserve the integrity of Database Vault configuration, metadata, and policy enforcement.
New Features
Ability to Control Heartbeats in United Mode and Isolated Mode PDBs
You now can control the size of the batch of heartbeats that use Oracle Key Vault or OCI KMS (OCI Vault) for centralized key management.
The HEARTBEAT_BATCH_SIZE initialization parameter enables you to set the heartbeat batch size. The duration of the heartbeat period defaults to 3 seconds.
This enhancement benefits the situation where you have a very large deployment of PDBs (for example, 1000) that use Oracle Key Vault. By setting the heartbeat batch size, you can stagger the heartbeats across batches of PDBs to ensure that for each batch a heartbeat can be completed for each PDB within the batch during the heartbeat period, and also ensure that PDB keys can be reliably fetched from an Oracle Key Vault server and cached in the persistent state.