Guest VM OS Image Update now available on Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer

We are pleased to announce the General Availability (GA) of Guest VM OS Image Update on Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer. With this release, you can use automation available through OCI to update VM Clusters with the latest Exadata System Software version for the Guest VM (DomU) OS.

Key Customer Benefits

With this software update capability on the VM Cluster, you can now 

1. Update existing VM Clusters with the latest Exadata System Software version to ensure the Guest VM OS image is up to date
2. Plan the Guest VM OS image update by running precheck to discover and resolve potential issues in advance
3. Rollback the Guest VM OS image update operation in case of failure

The Exadata System Software update to the latest Guest VM OS image is applied in a rolling manner and should not incur downtime for the running database workloads. Oracle recommends running a precheck in advance to ensure the guest VMs are ready for the OS software update and do not have any configuration changes that interfere with the update workflow. The software update workflow runs an implicit precheck, regardless of prior prechecks, to ensure the guest VMs are ready to consume the new software update.

OCI Console Experience

Let's go over the following user journeys to apply OS image update

• Run Precheck for Guest VM OS Image Update
• Apply Latest Guest VM OS Image Update

1. Run Precheck for Guest VM OS Image Update

The VM cluster details now include the Exadata Image version running on the VMs in the cluster. Based on the software version running on the various components in the VM Cluster, we have a counter indicating the pending software updates available to apply. The tooltip for the available updates count shows the specific VM Cluster components with a pending software update. You can view these available updates using the View Updates link and go to the software updates management page built for this VM Cluster.

The software updates management page lists all the applicable updates available for the specific components in the VM Cluster. If the cluster is not running the latest Exadata Image, you will see the latest version listed here. Oracle recommends running a precheck with the software update version you want to apply to the VM Cluster. Running a precheck will help you plan the update and address any compatibility issues with the new software version ahead of time. Each software update now includes the last successful precheck timestamp to help plan your update. Running a precheck does not affect the availability of the databases running on the VMs in the cluster.

2. Apply Latest Guest VM OS Image Update

Once a successful precheck is complete, you can apply this latest Exadata OS Image version to all VMs in the cluster. OS Image update is applied to the VMs in a rolling manner and does not affect the availability of the workloads running on the database.

While updating the Exadata OS Image on the VMs in the cluster, regular lifecycle management actions are briefly unavailable on the VM Cluster. You can view the progress of the OS image update through the associated work request. A quick link to the work request details is now part of the update progress status tooltip.

The update history for the VM Cluster provides a historical view of all the software updates applied to various components in the cluster. Prechecks done for the software updates are part of the update history. The update history displays the status of each software update operation along with the version details, timestamp, and component on which the update applied.

Note: Once the VM cluster has the latest Exadata OS image, the cluster will not have any OS software updates available to apply. The VM cluster details will show the latest Exadata Image version and the pending updates counter will be reset until Oracle publishes a new Exadata OS Image. If the latest Exadata OS image version fails to apply, you have the option to roll back the update and revert the OS image to the prior version.

Considerations

• Only VM Clusters running Exadata OS image versions 20 and above have updates available to apply through the OCI API/UI for this release. Upgrading Exadata System Software is detailed in the MOS Note 2521053.1 here.
• Guest VM OS image update is only available within the same version family for this release. For example, going from a lower 20.x to a higher 20.x is supported. Upgrade across major versions is not supported for this release. For example, an upgrade from 20.x to 21.x is unavailable through OCI API/UI.
• The latest four versions for the Exadata OS image are available as an update target for VM Clusters.
• The option to apply Guest VM OS image update is unavailable if a scheduled Exadata infrastructure maintenance starts within 24 hours.

Availability

The support for Guest VM OS Image Update to the latest is now available on Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer in Vinhedo (Brazil), Dubai (UAE), Chuncheon (South Korea), Hyderabad (India), Newport (United Kingdom) regions and will soon roll out to all OCI commercial regions.

Resources

• Technical documentation here
• Demo video here
• Release notes

Learn More

• Upgrade Grid Infrastructure version to 19c on Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer
• Upgrade Database version to 19c on Gen2 Exadata Cloud@Customer