[Sept 18 Update: Transportable Database is now certified for EBS 12 environments, too. See this article for details.]
[Aug 5, 2008 Update: Clarified the use of Export/Import as a fallback if the Transportable Database option doesn't work for a given source and target platform]
Platform migration is the process of moving a database from one operating system platform to a different operating system platform. You might wish to migrate your E-Business Suite database to create testing instances, experiment with new architectures, perform benchmarks, or prepare for actual platform changes in your production environment. A new method for performing platform migrations is now certified for E-Business Suite databases: Transportable Database (TDB).
Comparing Export/Import to Transportable Database
The supported way to accomplish this in prior releases of the Oracle database has been to export the data from the database on the old platform, create a new database on the new platform, and import the data into the new database. This process could take a number of days for a large database.
Starting with Oracle Database 10g Release 2, Transportable Database can be used to reduce the amount of time required to migrate a database between platforms that share the same “endian” format (byte ordering). Note that if the endian format is different between the source and target platforms, then Transportable Database cannot be used. For generic databases, a different method, such as Streams, Data Pump, or Cross-Platform Transportable Tablespaces must be used instead. An upcoming paper titled “Platform Migration using Transportable Tablespaces” will discuss migrating a database to a platform that is a different endian format. For E-Business Suite databases, only the Export/Import option is a viable fallback if the Transportable Database feature can't be used for your source and target platforms.
The reductions in migration times can be significant. For example, a test database within the Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) High Availability Lab was migrated to a new platform using Data Pump export and import in 74 minutes. The same database was migrated using Transportable Database in 37 minutes, a 50% reduction in migration time.
What Platforms Are Supported for Transportable Databases?
Suitable target platforms can be verified by querying the view V$DB_TRANSPORTABLE_PLATFORM using sqlplus (connected as the system dba) on the source platform:
SQL> select platform_name from v$db_transportable_platform;
If the intended target platform appears in the output, the Transportable Database process can be used to migrate the database. Otherwise, an alternative such as export/import should be used instead.
References
- Using Transportable Database to migrate Oracle E-Business Suite 11i Using Oracle Database 10g Release 2 Enterprise Edition (MetaLink Note 729309.1)
- Platform Migration using Transportable Database: Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (PDF, 240K)
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Comments (11)
Hi Steven,
There is also the following metalink if you are migrating from 32 to 64-bit Linux
Note: 341880.1, How to convert a 32-bit database to 64-bit database on Linux?
Posted by Danny | August 4, 2008 2:18 PM
Posted on August 4, 2008 14:18
Thanks, Danny. That's a useful pointer. We haven't reviewed that Note here in the Applications Division, but it should be generically applicable to E-Business Suite environments.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | August 5, 2008 12:20 PM
Posted on August 5, 2008 12:20
Migrating from Linux 32 to 64 bit is already mentioned in
Split Configuration Database Tier Document 369693.1
Regards,
Vikas
Posted by Vikas | August 5, 2008 8:25 PM
Posted on August 5, 2008 20:25
Hi Steven,
Could you tell me if there is a certified/supported way to migrate/convert 11i Environment from Windows system (x86) to a UNIX certified platforms ? What is the best solution to accomplish this migration ?
Thank you in advance for your response.
Regards
Malik
Posted by Malik MAZROU | August 7, 2008 4:10 AM
Posted on August 7, 2008 04:10
Please review these two documents on the OracleMetalink site for instructions on how to migrate the E-Business Suite Release 11i middle tier between Windows and your chosen UNIX platform (please ignore the misleading title of the first note):
1. Migrating to Linux with Oracle Applications Release 11i
https://metalink.oracle.com/metalink/plsql/ml2_documents.showDocument?p_database_id=NOT&p_id=238276.1
See the Note: This process can be used to migrate from any platform to any supported Unix platform. Substitute references to Linux with the Target platform.
2. Debugging Platform Migration Issues in Oracle Applications 11i
http://metalink.oracle.com/metalink/plsql/ml2_documents.showNOT?p_id=567703.1
Thanks-
Terri
Posted by Terri Noyes | August 7, 2008 12:37 PM
Posted on August 7, 2008 12:37
Hi Steve,
I did try migrating a 10g database from HP-UX to Linux (32 bit), that have different endian formats using transportable tablespaces.
Despite 3 days of effort, I am still struggling to get things working. Had to manually create the roles, 1000s of synonyms, sequences and packages and yet I'm not very confident that it will work exactly the same way. This is just a test database so I can afford to play around.
Finally, I am now trying the datapump to get the full database export. Hope this will work.
Do you have any other suggestions that can help me with this situation?
Regards,
Priyank.
Posted by Priyank Jain | August 29, 2008 12:48 PM
Posted on August 29, 2008 12:48
Hi, Priyank,
I'm sorry to hear that you've been struggling with this. If you provide your Service Request number with the details of the issues you've encountered, I'll let our Applications Platform Group know about this.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | September 2, 2008 12:00 PM
Posted on September 2, 2008 12:00
Hi Steve
I need Metalink DOC id for platform migration of oracle11i(application + database) from windows to HP UX.
Thanks
With Regards
Abu Omair Hafeez
Posted by Abu Omair Hafeez | September 8, 2008 1:31 AM
Posted on September 8, 2008 01:31
Hi, Omar.
Metalink Note 238276.1 will do the trick. This note applies to EBS migrations between any platform.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | September 10, 2008 8:06 AM
Posted on September 10, 2008 08:06
I would like to know if is possible to migrate OEBS R12 from Linux to Windows.
Tks,
Sidney.
Posted by Sidney | January 19, 2009 11:08 AM
Posted on January 19, 2009 11:08
Sidney,
Yes, that's technically feasible. However, I'm afraid that I'm not a platforms specialist and don't have the appropriate Metalink Note handy. You should be able to get a pointer to that Note by logging a formal Service Request via Metalink.
Good luck with your platform conversion.
Regards,
Steven
Posted by Steven Chan | January 20, 2009 12:26 PM
Posted on January 20, 2009 12:26