With Oracle managed database software updates, you can offload routine database software maintenance to Oracle and focus on your business priorities. Oracle keeps your database software current with product enhancements and fixes by automatically applying latest Release Updates (RUs).
For Oracle Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure, you can now enroll your Oracle Database 19c and Oracle AI Database 26ai databases in Oracle managed database software updates. All you have to do is define your maintenance scheduling preferences that align with your business needs while Oracle proactively manages the end-to-end software update lifecycle in the background and keeps you informed.
Key Benefits
- Keep your focus on business priorities: Oracle takes ownership for your database updates, monitors progress, resolves issues, and keeps your database services online and healthy.
- Keep updates aligned with your business schedule: Choose your preferred day and time for maintenance. Oracle prepares, validates, stages, and applies the latest available RU for enrolled databases around that schedule.
- Reduce last-minute maintenance surprises: Oracle checks update readiness in advance and alerts you to issues that could affect maintenance.
- Spend less time managing database homes: Oracle applies updates out of place by moving databases in a rolling manner to an updated home and removes old homes that are no longer needed.
- Retain control of software updates: You can take control of database software updates at any time for a specific release or business need, then resume Oracle managed updates when ready.
How It Works – You Set the Schedule, Oracle Owns the Outcome
You can enroll a database in Oracle managed database software updates during provisioning or after it has been created. During enrollment, you specify your preferred maintenance day of the week and start time. New databases enrolled during provisioning run from Oracle managed database homes, while existing databases move to an Oracle managed database home during their first scheduled maintenance. Oracle creates, manages, and deletes these homes throughout the update lifecycle, relieving you of the operational overhead of managing them yourself.
When a new Release Update (RU) is available, Oracle automatically schedules maintenance based on your preferences. If needed, you can reschedule the maintenance. Oracle periodically checks whether enrolled databases are ready for future updates and notifies you of any issues that require your action. If readiness issues remain unresolved before scheduled maintenance, Oracle cancels that maintenance, works with you to address the issues, and reschedules maintenance.
During maintenance, Oracle monitors update progress and attempts to resolve any issues that arise. If an update cannot be applied successfully, Oracle automatically rolls it back to the prior software version to keep the database healthy and available. Oracle then investigates the underlying issue, works with you on any required customer actions, and reschedules the update according to your maintenance preferences.
You can switch a database from Oracle managed software updates to customer managed software updates at any time. After the switch, you are responsible for managing the database home and its software version. When you’re ready for Oracle to manage updates again, enroll the database in Oracle managed software updates.
Get Started in a Few Steps
- Enroll a new or existing database in Oracle managed database software updates.
- Set your preferred maintenance day of the week and start time in UTC. By default, managed updates targets the latest available RU. Optionally, you may choose to stay one or two RUs behind.
- Subscribe to Oracle managed database and database home events and configure notifications for the VM cluster’s Delegation Control.
- Review periodic readiness check results and address any issues that require your action.
Availability
Oracle managed database software updates is generally available for Exadata Database Service on Exascale Infrastructure in all OCI commercial regions and in multicloud.