ADW 19c to 23ai Migration

Over the years, I’ve completed a lot of Oracle database migrations, starting from 7.3.4 (yeah that long ago!). I’ve learnt many lessons and techniques on how to make this as smooth a process as possible.

I’d have to say, Oracle have significantly improved this process over the decades, and not just with the installation steps but also the recommended approach, although I have found this is very dependent on the hardware and versions you are using.

As we enter the era of artificial intelligence, Oracle has further enhanced this process. Migrating an Autonomous Database from 19c to 23ai in OCI is remarkably straightforward. However, it’s not without its challenges. Interestingly, through our experience handling these migrations for customers, we’ve found that the biggest hurdle is often not technical...but more on that in a moment.

As an award-winning partner at Oracle Global Leaders, the Rittman Mead team regularly attends bi-yearly events to discuss advancements in Oracle’s technology covering all areas. At a recent event, the discussion centred around Oracle's progress toward fully automating migrations from 19c to 23ai. Now, I’d imagine many fellow DBA’s are saying that will never happen, but I’m here to tell you, I think they're almost there!

To clarify, I’m focusing solely on Autonomous Database running in Oracle’s Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The method we’ve been using for our customers, here at Rittman Mead, involves cloning (make a duplicate) and upgrading simultaneously. With just a few clicks, the source database (19c) is duplicated and upgraded to 23ai. An example of this fast and seamless process would be the recent migration of a customer’s 6TB database, completed in under 50 minutes!

However, the lead up to this monumental upgrade process took time, effort, and focus to ensure the underlying data and business requirements met the needs of the organisation. This was made possible by following Rittman Mead's tried and tested migration approach, involving the following building blocks...

I'll not go into each of the sections here, but the most important one for me is the Test Migration. The success of the migration is all about being transparent and doing everything possible to ensure the data and business processes work as expected. It's basically a full dress rehearsal of the Live migration, but without the pressure! Getting this right will not only ensure a smooth transition to your shiny new database, but also secure business buy-in and confidence.

So a quick overview of some of the lessons we've learnt:

I know it sounds silly, but do check that 23ai is available in your region(s)!
If you're upgrading into an existing compartment, ensure you've got enough IP addresses! One of our customers limited a subnet to eight IP addresses! As this is Real Application Clusters (that’s one for the DBA’s), it will error if there aren’t enough; to fix this we had to clear down an existing database to get it to work!
Licensing is carried into the clone, so please check this is correct. You must have the on-premises licensing to use Bring Your Own Licensing (BYOL).
Remember to consider your requirements around Disaster Recovery, as this is not enabled by default!

You’re now on Oracle’s flagship 23ai database, a world of new features (over 300) including AI has now opened up! If you're interested in a complete rundown, they're fully documented by Oracle here.

So, to finish off, one of the main questions we're getting asked at Rittman Mead after the migration is "How do I unlock the potential of AI?". If you would like to find out more, check out our 'Getting started with GenAI' workshop and explore the agenda here.

Thank you for reading.

For support with your migration, either in the cloud or on-premises, contact us at info@rittmanmead.com, and chat with one of our specialists today.