In Part IV of this blog series, we discussed why Oracle E-Business Suite application tier nodes must run on Oracle Linux 8 (OL8) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 (RHEL 8) before updating to the Next Generation Technology Stack. In this article, we’ll look at the supported approaches for upgrading or migrating to OL8 or RHEL 8 and when each approach is appropriate.

Choose an Upgrade or Migration Approach

Oracle Linux Penguins

There is no single migration path that fits every deployment. The appropriate approach depends on your current operating system, application tier architecture, infrastructure strategy, and operational requirements.

In-Place Upgrade from Oracle Linux 7 (OL7)

Oracle previously certified an in-place OS upgrade from OL7 to OL8 for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2. The procedure uses the Leapp utility and preserves the existing EBS environment while upgrading the operating system. Leapp provides a pre-upgrade assessment that identifies issues requiring remediation.

This approach may be appropriate if you want to retain existing application tier infrastructure while minimizing changes to the overall environment. Review the applicable EBS installation and upgrade notes and Oracle Linux Leapp documentation for prerequisites, restrictions, and required post-upgrade activities.

Migration to a New Linux System

You can provision new application tier nodes on OL8 or RHEL 8 and move the existing EBS application tier to the newly provisioned nodes. This approach is commonly used when moving to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), modernizing hardware, changing Linux distributions, or replacing existing application tier systems.

When migrating an Oracle E-Business Suite environment from on-premises to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), use Oracle E-Business Suite Cloud Manager to perform a lift-and-shift migration to newly provisioned OL8 systems.

Migrations to newly provisioned on-premises Linux systems typically use the Oracle E-Business Suite Rapid Clone procedure. Review the applicable documentation as part of your migration planning.

Cross-Platform Migration from a Non-Linux Platform

A cross-platform migration is required for application tier nodes currently hosted on platforms such as Oracle Solaris, IBM AIX, HP-UX, or Microsoft Windows. application tier platform migration is separate from database tier migration. Your database tier may remain on its existing certified platform in a supported mixed-platform configuration, or you may plan a separate database tier migration based on your broader infrastructure strategy. Review the applicable certification and migration documentation for each tier independently.

Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 supports application tier platform migration to the Linux platform. The documented migration process is designed to preserve the existing EBS patch level, configuration, and supported customizations while moving the application tier to the target platform. This is a mature, well-established migration process that has been successfully used by Oracle E-Business Suite customers for many years.

When planning a cross-platform migration, pay particular attention to platform-specific scripts, customized code, external integrations, third-party software availability, storage, and network configurations.

Validate the Environment

Regardless of your approach, you must complete a full validation of the EBS environment after upgrading or migrating to OL8 or RHEL 8. Validation should include application startup, login, concurrent processing, forms, web services, integrations, printing, customizations, and representative business workflows.

Before transitioning the production application tier, complete at least one full rehearsal in a nonproduction environment, including validation of representative business workflows.

Key Takeaways

  • Select the upgrade or migration strategy that best matches your infrastructure and operational requirements.
  • Validate the environment thoroughly before production cutover.
  • Completing this work now reduces the scope and risk of the future Next Generation Technology Stack update.

What’s Next

In the Part VI, we will cover the requirement to update to Application Technology Product Family Delta 14.

References

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