I attempted to clarify some of the implications of this year’s upcoming change in support status for the 9iR2 database for E-Business Suite customers in a previous article:

If you haven’t read that article, I’d recommend digesting that before digging into this one.  To recap briefly, customers on 11.5.9 or 11.5.10 were required to upgrade their databases from 9iR2 to 10gR2 due to the end of 9iR2 Premier Support in July 2007:

Database Support Coverage:


Things have changed since that article was published.  If you’re still on the 9iR2 database, there’s been an important new development that you should know about:  fees for the first year of extended support for 9iR2 have been waived.  Here are the key points excerpted from Metalink’s March 20 announcement about this news:

Oracle9i Database Release 9.2 moves into the Extended Support stage of Lifetime Support effective August 1, 2007… we’ve waived the first year Extended Support fee for Oracle9i Database Release 9.2. Extended Support for Oracle9i Database Release 9.2 will be available for three years following the expiration of Premier Support.

Oracle9i Database Release 9.2 Extended Support details:
  • Extended Support fee waived for period August 1, 2007 to July 31, 2008.
  • Access to Fixes and Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) during the first year of Extended Support at no additional cost.
  • Patch set 9.2.0.8 will be the last patch set available for Oracle9i Database Release 9.2.
  • Effective August 1, 2007 all CPUs and Fixes will be created against the 9.2.0.8 code line.
For more details about this announcement, log on to Metalink and select the following article in the “News and Notes” section (the link below may not work unless you’ve logged into Metalink first):
Implications for E-Business Suite Customers

This means that 11.5.9 and 11.5.10 customers can continue to run on the 9iR2 database until July 31, 2008 without paying Extended Support fees.  You’ll continue to get new 9iR2 database patches for your E-Business Suite environment during that time.

Note that we’re nearing the end of the line for this database version.  9.2.0.8 is expected to be a terminal release.  Therefore, you’ll be well-served to use this extra time to plan your upgrade to 10gR2 as soon as possible.

Related