Oracle 11g to 12c Upgrade With Data Guard & ASM

In this article we will be performing Oracle 11g to 12c Oracle Data Guard upgrade with ASM configured. Below are the steps we are going to follow to perform the data guard upgrade

• Upgrade GRID_HOME on Standby

  • Primary DB Changes

  • Standby DB Changes

  • Upgrade GRID_HOME

  • Post GRID Upgrade Steps

• Upgrade ORACLE_HOME on standby

• Upgrade GRID_HOME on primary

  • Post GRID Upgrade Steps

• Upgrade ORACLE_HOME on primary

  • Start DBUA

• Post Upgrade Steps

Note: In a dataguard setup, you always update the standby first and then the primary database.

Upgrade GRID_HOME on Standby

We will first upgrade GRID_HOME on standby and later update the ORACLE_HOME.

Primary DB Changes

Disable DG Broker: As part of upgrade, you must disable DG Broker. Disable fast-start failover if it is enabled

DGMGRL> DISABLE FAST_START FAILOVER;
DGMGRL> DISABLE CONFIGURATION;

Disable DG BROKER START via sqlplus

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET DG_BROKER_START=FALSE;

Take backup of broker configuration files. At this stage, it’s good to take backup of dg broker configuration files

SQL> show parameter dg_broker_config_file;

Make a copy of broker configuration files into some backup location

Standby DB Changes

Stop MRP on the standby server

SQL> alter database recover managed standby database cancel;
SQL> shutdown immediate;

Note: We are not stopping log shipping from primary. Log shipping will continue

Disable oracle restart (srvctl): We must remove database from srvctl utility as it might auto restart database during upgrade process which we do not want. Once upgrade is done, we will re-register database with 12c srvctl utility

As Oracle user:
===============
cd /u01/app/11.2.0/grid/bin

./srvctl remove database -d proddb

Start Standby with MRP:
=======================
sqlplus / as sysdba
SQL> startup mount;
SQL> alter database recover managed standby database disconnect;

Upgrade GRID_HOME

Download and upgrade oracle 12c grid software (as grid user): We will now download and upgrade oracle 12c grid software in a new grid home location.

Note: you cannot have two grid software installation on a server. You can only upgrade any previous version of grid.

Unzip linux 12c grid software

unzip linuxamd64_12c_grid_1of2.zip 
unzip linuxamd64_12c_grid_2of2.zip

Start the run installer

cd /u02/grid
./runInstaller

Follow the below screens to upgrade the grid software

Once the installation is done, you need to proceed with post grid upgrade steps below.

Post GRID Upgrade Steps

Change ORACLE_HOME location to new grid installation under GRID user bash_profile

su - grid
vi .bash_profile

--> update ORACLE_HOME to reflect new grid software location

env|grep ORA

ORACLE_SID=+ASM
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/grid
ORACLE_TERM=xterm
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid    --> must point to new grid home

Upgrade ORACLE_HOME on Standby

In any grid environment, first we have to upgrade the grid software and then the database software. The grid software can be of same or higher release than the database.

Unzip the database software as oracle user on standby: Switch to oracle user and unzip the database software

su - oracle

cd /u02
unzip linuxamd64_12c_database_1of2.zip
unzip linuxamd64_12c_database_2of2.zip

Start the run installer and install oracle 12c database software on standby: Now its time to install oracle 12c in a new home.

cd /u02/database

./runInstaller

Shutdown standby database if running from old home: Shutdown the database which is running via old oracle 11g home

sqlplus / as sysdba
shut immediate;

Copy tnsnames.ora to new home: From the old oracle 11g home, copy the tnsnames.ora file to new 12c ORACLE_HOME/network/admin location

cd /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/

cp tnsnames.ora /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/

Copy parameter file and password file to new home: From the old 11g home, copy the pfile and password file to new 12c ORACLE_HOME/dbs location

cd /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/dbs

cp initproddb_st.ora /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/dbs
cp orapwproddb_st /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/dbs

Modify oratab to reflect new oracle home: Update old Oracle Home with 12c oracle home in /etc/oratab file on standby.

Modify oracle user environment variables: Update oracle user bash profile to point new 12c oracle home

cd 
vi .bash_profile

--> update ORACLE_HOME to new 12c home location

. .bash_profile

Mount the standby via 12c home: Now that bash profile is pointing to 12c home, mount the standby database and start MRP apply

sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> startup mount;
ORACLE instance started.

Total System Global Area 1269366784 bytes
Fixed Size                  2287912 bytes
Variable Size             855639768 bytes
Database Buffers          402653184 bytes
Redo Buffers                8785920 bytes
Database mounted.

SQL> select name, open_mode from v$database;

NAME      OPEN_MODE
--------- --------------------
proddb     MOUNTED

SQL> alter database recover managed standby database disconnect;

Update new oracle home under listener.ora file

su - grid
cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin
vi listener.ora				>> edit new oracle home

lsnrctl stop listener
lsnrctl start listener

Register with oracle 12c restart (srvctl): We need to register standby database with srvctl utility as it will help us manage database easily

On standby:
===========
sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> alter database recover managed standby database cancel;
SQL> shutdown immediate
SQL> exit;

switch to grid home location via oracle user:
=============================================
cd /u01/app/12.1.0/grid/bin

./srvctl add database -d proddb -i proddb_st -o /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1 -r PHYSICAL_STANDBY -s MOUNT

./srvctl start database -d proddb
./srvctl status database -d proddb

Start MRP:
==========
sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> alter database recover managed standby database disconnect;

Note: even though we can start stop standby database via srvctl utility, we must always start MRP manually.

Upgrade GRID_HOME on Primary

Now its time to upgrade GRID_HOME on primary and later we will upgrade ORACLE_HOME.

Disable oracle restart (srvctl) on primary: The srvctl utility will auto restart our database which we do not want during the upgrade

su - oracle
cd /u01/app/11.2.0/grid/bin

# ./srvctl config database -d proddb		>> save the output
Database unique name: proddb
Database name: proddb
Oracle home: /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1
Oracle user: oracle
Spfile: +DATA/proddb/spfileproddb.ora
Domain:
Start options: open
Stop options: immediate
Database role: PRIMARY
Management policy: AUTOMATIC
Database instance: proddb
Disk Groups: DATA,FRA
Services:

./srvctl stop database -d proddb	        >> Downtime starts
./srvctl remove database -d proddb

Download and upgrade oracle 12c grid software (as grid user): We will now download and upgrade oracle 12c grid software in a new grid home location.

Note: you cannot install two grid software on a server. Hence, you can only upgrade any previous version of grid.

As grid user, unzip linux 12c grid software

unzip linuxamd64_12c_grid_1of2.zip 
unzip linuxamd64_12c_grid_2of2.zip

Start the run installer

cd /u02/grid
./runInstaller

Follow the below screens to upgrade the grid software

Post Grid Upgrade Steps

Change ORACLE_HOME location to new grid installation under GRID user bash_profile

vi .bash_profile

--> update ORACLE_HOME to reflect newgrid software location

env|grep ORA

ORACLE_SID=+ASM
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/grid
ORACLE_TERM=xterm
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/12.1.0/grid	--> must point to new grid home

Upgrade ORACLE_HOME on Primary

In any grid environment, first we have to upgrade the grid software and then the database software. The grid software can be of same or higher release than the database.

Unzip the database software as oracle user on primary: Switch to oracle user and unzip the database software

su - oracle

cd /u02
unzip linuxamd64_12c_database_1of2.zip
unzip linuxamd64_12c_database_2of2.zip

Start the run installer and install oracle 12c database software on standby: Now it’s time to install oracle 12c in a new home

cd /u02/database
./runInstaller

Start the database from old ORACLE_HOME location

SQL> startup;

Copy tnsnames.ora to new home: From the old oracle 11g home, copy the tnsnames.ora file to new 12c ORACLE_HOME/network/admin location

cd /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/

cp tnsnames.ora /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/network/admin/

Modify oracle user environment variables: Update oracle user .bash_profile to point new 12c oracle home

cd 
vi .bash_profile

--> update ORACLE_HOME to new 12c location

env|grep ORA

ORACLE_UNQNAME=proddb
ORACLE_SID=proddb
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
ORACLE_TERM=xterm
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1

Update new oracle home in listener: We must also update the listener file to point new 12c home location as grid user

su - grid
cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/admin
vi listener.ora

--> update ORACLE_HOME to new 12c location

lsnrctl stop listener
lsnrctl start listener

Start DBUA

Let us upgrade the 11g database to 12c. Make sure DB is still up and running via 11g home. Follow the screens and upgrade the database

Done! Both Primary and Standby are upgraded!

Post Data Guard Upgrade Steps

• Check /etc/oratab file

• Check dbs location for parameter & password file

• Check DR is in sync with prod

• Perform Primary, standby bounce

• Add database to Oracle restart or SRVCTL on primary

• Enable DG Broker

• Remove 11g grid and oracle home from both systems

• Update compatibility parameter (requires db bounce and must be performed after 30 days of the upgrade)