2 Developing an Upgrade Strategy

2.1 Planning an Upgrade

Before you begin an upgrade, you should develop an upgrade plan. Table 2-1 describes some basic Fusion Middleware upgrade planning procedures and upgrade requirements you should carefully consider before you begin an upgrade. The table also provides information on where to go to get more information on each step in the process.

2.2 Developing a Backup Strategy for Upgrade

Before you install any new Release 12c (12.1.2) distributions and begin upgrading your Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g deployment to Release 12c (12.1.2), be sure you have backed up all system-critical files. Oracle strongly recommends that you execute a complete back-up of your existing deployment; including the database that hosts your Oracle Fusion Middleware schemas.

Refer to Chapter 3, "Backup and Recovery Strategies for Upgrade" for specific information on making sure all the various components of your environment can be restored in the event of a failed upgrade.

2.3 Understanding the Basic Rules and Restrictions of Upgrade

Before you start the upgrade process you should understand some basic rules and restrictions.

Specifically, do not attempt to perform an Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.1.2) upgrade while also performing an unrelated migration of your software from one platform to another.

For example, do not perform an upgrade while simultaneously doing any of the following:

• Moving from one operating system (such as Windows) to another (such as Linux)

• Moving from one database type (such as Oracle) to another (such as Microsoft)

• Moving from one hardware platform (such as SPARC) to another (such as Intel)

If you plan to perform any of these or similar actions, then you must do them first, separately and independently of the Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.1.2) upgrade process.

2.4 Planning for System Downtime During an Upgrade

Before you can develop a successful upgrade strategy for your Fusion Middleware deployment, you should understand how your production environments will be impacted during the upgrade. Some upgrade procedures can be time consuming, especially if you are upgrading a large number of artifacts. The size of your database and the speed of your system's infrastructure may also impact the overall downtime during an upgrade.

Carefully consider the following when planning your downtime:

• The Upgrade Assistant requires that you shut down all servers in the domain for the duration of the schema upgrade.

• After upgrading the component schemas, the Reconfiguration Wizard is used to reconfigure the domain. The servers and components must be down during the upgrade.

• If you encounter an upgrade failure, then you must restart the upgrade process from the beginning. This includes recovering and redeploying from your backup files. This should be a consideration in your downtime planning.

2.5 Upgrading from a 32-Bit to a 64-Bit Operating System

If it is determined that your new Release 12c (12.1.2) components require a 64-Bit operating system, you must migrate your 32-bit environment to a 64-bit software environment before you upgrade. Make sure to validate the migration to ensure all your Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g software is working properly on the 64-bit machine, and only then perform the upgrade to Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c.

Upgrading an operating system typically involves the following:

• Task 1, "Procure the hardware that will support your upgrade's 64-bit software requirement."

• Task 2, "Stop all processes, including the Administration Server, Managed Servers, and Node Manager."

• Task 3, "Backup all files from the 32-bit host machine."

• Task 4, "Set up the target 64-bit machine with the 11g host name and IP address."

• Task 5, "Restore the 11g domain backup from Host A to Host B."

• Task 6, "Install the 12c (12.1.2) product distribution(s) on the target machine."

• Task 7, "Upgrade the target 64-bit environment using the standard upgrade procedure."

Task 1   Procure the hardware that will support your upgrade's 64-bit software requirement.

Make sure that you have supported target hardware in place before you begin the upgrade process.

Task 2   Stop all processes, including the Administration Server, Managed Servers, and Node Manager.

You must stop all processes, including the Administration Server, Managed Servers, and Node Manager, if they are started on the host. For example, to stop the Administration Server:

DOMAIN_HOME/bin/stopWebLogic.sh username password [admin_url]

Task 3   Backup all files from the 32-bit host machine.

Make sure that you have created a complete backup of your entire 11g deployment before you begin the upgrade process. These files can be used if there is an issue during the migration and you have to restart the process.

For more information on backing up your files, see "Backing Up Your Environment" in Administering Oracle Fusion Middleware.

During the upgrade you must have access to the contents of the following:

• 11g Domain Home

• 11g /nodemanager directory located in MW_HOME/wlserver_10.3/common/

Note:

Some of the backup and recovery procedures described in "Backing Up Your Environment in Administering Oracle Fusion Middleware are product-specific. Do not proceed with the upgrade until you have a complete backup.

Task 4   Set up the target 64-bit machine with the 11g host name and IP address.

The host name and IP address of the target machine must be made identical to the host. This will require you to change the IP address and name of the source machine or decommission the source machine to avoid conflicts in the network.

The process of changing an IP address and host name vary by operating system. Consult your operating system's administration documentation for more information.

Task 5   Restore the 11g domain backup from Host A to Host B.

Restore the files you backed up in Task 3 using the same directory structure that was used in 11g. The directory structure on the target machine must be identical to the structure of the host machine.

For detailed information about restoring your files to the 64-bit target machine, see "Recovering Your Environment" in Administering Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Task 6   Install the 12c (12.1.2) product distribution(s) on the target machine.

For detailed instructions, see Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware and the component-specific installation guides for the component(s) you are installing.

Task 7   Upgrade the target 64-bit environment using the standard upgrade procedure.

Refer to your component-specific upgrade guides for details on upgrading the component and performing any post-upgrade tasks. For more information, see Locating Your Upgrade Component-Specific Documentation.

2.6 Understanding the New Features and Changes in 12c

Before you begin planning your upgrade to Oracle Fusion Middleware Release 12c (12.1.2), you should be familiar with the terminology and conceptual differences between 11g and Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c.

Refer to Chapter 1, "Introduction to Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c for 11g Users" for a list of resources that 11g users can use to understand the changes.

2.7 Understanding the Supported Upgrade Starting Points

Refer to the following sections for more information about which Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g versions are supported when upgrading to Oracle Fusion Middleware Release 12c (12.1.2):

• What is an Upgrade Starting Point?

• Supported Upgrade Starting Points for Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c (12.1.2)

• Obtaining Product Distributions

• Applying the Latest Oracle Fusion Middleware Patches

• What If I'm Not Running Supported Fusion Middleware Components?

SQL> create edition Oracle_FMW_12_1_2 as child of Oracle_FMW_11_1_1_7_0;
Edition created.

http://support.oracle.com

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/middleware.htm

2.8 Understanding Your Certification, Compatibility, and Interoperability Requirements

Before you begin upgrading your Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g environment, consider the following:

• For information on supported 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems, databases, web servers, LDAP servers, adapters, IPv6, JDKs, and third-party products, see Verifying Certification and System Requirements.

• For cross-product interoperability and compatibility, see Understanding Interoperability and Compatibility with Previous Versions.

2.9 Using the Standard Installation and Upgrade Tools

Depending on your upgrade starting point, and the components you plan to upgrade, you may need to install, upgrade or patch your existing software using the standard Oracle upgrade and installation tools. These tools are included with the product distributions described in Section 2.7.3.

The following documents provide information on obtaining and using these tools:

• Installing Software with the Oracle Universal Installer

• Upgrading with the Upgrade Assistant

• Creating Schemas with the Repository Creation Utility

• Reconfiguring an Oracle WebLogic Domain with the Reconfiguration Wizard

• Patching with OPatch

2.10 Locating Your Upgrade Component-Specific Documentation

This guide, as well as the other upgrade guides available in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Release 12c (12.1.2) documentation library, provide instructions for upgrading from supported versions of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g to the latest Oracle Fusion Middleware 12c release.

Once you have completed all of the necessary pre-upgrade steps for your upgrade, use Table 2-2 to determine which upgrade-specific documents you will need to complete your 12c upgrade.