AutoUpgrade configuration files (also referred to as config files) contain all the information required to perform Oracle Database upgrades and software maintenance operations.

Before you can use an AutoUpgrade processing mode, you must create an AutoUpgrade configuration file for the databases that you want to upgrade.

AutoUpgrade configuration files (config files) contain locally modifiable global, local, and global configuration parameters. Global parameters by default apply to all databases addressed by the configuration file. Locally modifiable global parameters apply to all databases. However. when specified for a specific database, local configuration parameters override locally modifiable global parameters.

There are three classes of parameters:

• Common config parameters apply both to AutoUpgrade upgrades and AutoUpgrade command-line -patch operations.
• Upgrade config parameters apply to AutoUpgrade upgrades. They cannot be used with command-line -patch operations.
• Patch config parameters apply to AutoUpgrade software maintenance operations using the command-line -patch option. They cannot be used with AutoUpgrade upgrades.

• Locally Modifiable Global Parameters for AutoUpgrade Configuration File
  Required configuration parameters for AutoUpgrade can be set either globally for all upgrades, or locally.
• About Local Parameters for the AutoUpgrade Configuration File
  To configure information for specific Oracle Databases for the AutoUpgrade utility upgrade, you provide information in the AutoUpgrade local parameters.
• About Global Parameters for the AutoUpgrade User Configuration File
  To specify a default behavior for a parameter for all Oracle Database upgrades addressed in the configuration file, you can use the optional AutoUpgrade global parameters.