Preface

This manual guides you through the process of planning and executing migrations, upgrades, and downgrades on the Oracle database system. It describes migrating using the following methods: Migration utility, Oracle Data Migration Assistant, export/import, and data copying.

In addition, this manual provides information about compatibility, about upgrading applications to the current release, and about important changes in the current release of Oracle, such as initialization parameter changes and data dictionary changes.

The following topics are covered in this preface:

Oracle8i Migration contains information that describes the features and functionality of the Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition products. Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition have the same basic features. However, several advanced features are available only with the Enterprise Edition, and some of these are optional. For example, to use partitioning, you must have the Enterprise Edition and the partitioning option.

See Also:
Getting to Know Oracle8i for information about the differences between Oracle8i and the Oracle8i Enterprise Edition and the features and options that are available to you.

Audience and Assumed Knowledge

This manual is for database administrators (DBAs), application developers, security administrators, system operators, and anyone who plans or executes migration, upgrade, or downgrade operations on Oracle software. It is assumed that users of this manual are familiar with their current release of the Oracle server and with their operating system environment. It also is assumed that users are familiar with Oracle database management system (DBMS) concepts. The first chapter of Oracle8i Concepts provides a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and terminology used in this manual.

How Oracle8i Migration is Organized

This manual contains the following chapters and appendices:

Chapter 1: Overview

Contains definitions for the terms used throughout this manual. This chapter also summarizes migration procedures and the responsibilities of database administrators and application developers.

Chapter 2: Preparing to Migrate

Describes the steps to complete before migrating the database.

Chapter 3: Migrating Using the Migration Utility

Provides step-by-step instructions for using the Migration utility to migrate an Oracle7 database to Oracle8i.

Chapter 4: Migrating Using the Oracle Data Migration Assistant

Provides step-by-step instructions for using the Oracle Data Migration Assistant to migrate an Oracle7 database to Oracle8i.

Chapter 5: Migrating Using Export/Import

Describes how to migrate an Oracle7 or version 6 database to Oracle8i using the Export and Import utilities.

Chapter 6: After Migrating the Database

Describes the actions to complete after migrating the database to Oracle8i.

Chapter 7: Upgrading to the New Oracle8i Release

Provides step-by-step instructions for performing the following actions:

upgrading a database from an 8.0 release or a previous 8.1 release to the new 8.1 release of Oracle
upgrading specific components of Oracle software to the current release
changing the word size of your database (switching between 32-bit and 64-bit software)

Chapter 8: Compatibility and Interoperability

Contains information about compatibility and interoperability between different releases of Oracle, including detailed information about the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter. This chapter also lists the release 8.1 features that require an 8.1.0 compatibility level or higher and discusses specific issues relating to compatibility and interoperability.

Chapter 9: Upgrading Your Applications

Provides general information about upgrading Oracle7 applications and tools for use with Oracle8i.

Chapter 10: Migrating from Server Manager to SQL*Plus

Describes modifying your Server Manager line mode scripts for use with SQL*Plus. Server Manager will be obsoleted in a future release of Oracle.

Chapter 11: Migration Issues for Physical Rowids

Covers issues associated with the version 8 ROWIDs, including specific information about migrating columns containing ROWIDs to version 8.

Chapter 12: Downgrading to an Older Version 8 Release

Provides instructions for downgrading a database from the new 8.1 release to a previous 8.1 release or to an 8.0 release. This chapter also includes information about removing incompatibilities with the release to which you are downgrading, and information about resetting the compatibility level of the database.

Chapter 13: Downgrading to Oracle7

Provides instructions for downgrading a database from Oracle8i to Oracle7.

Appendix A: Troubleshooting Migration Problems

Describes common migration problems and the actions required to correct these problems. In addition, this appendix lists the messages displayed by the Migration utility and Oracle Data Migration Assistant, and includes an explanation for each message. If the message is an error message, this appendix discusses probable cause(s) of the error, and suggests corrective action for the error.

Appendix B: Changes to Initialization Parameters

Lists Oracle initialization parameters that are important for migration. Specifically, this appendix describes initialization parameters that have been added, renamed, or obsoleted in version 8. In addition, this appendix describes compatibility issues relating to specific initialization parameters.

Appendix C: Changes to Static Data Dictionary Views

Lists the static data dictionary views that have been added or obsoleted. This appendix also lists the static data dictionary views with added columns, dropped columns, and renamed columns. This appendix also lists columns in static data dictionary views that may return NULLs in release 8.1 but did not return NULLs in past releases.

Appendix D: Changes to Dynamic Performance Views

Lists the dynamic performance views (V$ views) that have been added or obsoleted. This appendix also lists the dynamic performance views with added columns and dropped columns.

Appendix E: New Internal Datatypes and SQL Functions

Lists the new internal datatypes and SQL functions.

Conventions Used in This Manual

The following conventions are used in this manual:

UPPERCASE Words

Uppercase words indicate command keywords, object names, initialization parameters, static data dictionary view names, and dynamic data dictionary view names. For example:

"Oracle enables you to control the compatibility of your database with the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter."

Italicized Words

Italicized words indicate the first occurrence of a term and its definition. For example:

"Migration is the process of transforming an installed version of an Oracle database into a later version."

Italicized words also indicate variables. For example:

"Run uold_release.sql where old_release refers to the release you had installed prior to upgrading."

Italicized words also are used for emphasis and for book titles.

Code Examples

SQL, Server Manager line mode, and SQL*Plus commands and statements are displayed in a fixed-width courier font, separated from normal text, as in the following example:
SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE';

Example statements may include punctuation, such as commas or quotation marks. All punctuation in example statements is required syntax. Depending on the application, a semicolon or other terminator may or may not be required to end a statement, and some applications require a slash (/) on the next line to end a statement.
Uppercase words in example statements indicate the keywords within SQL. When you issue statements, however, keywords are not case sensitive.
Lowercase words in example statements indicate words supplied only for the context of the example. For example, lowercase words may indicate the name of a table, column, or file.
Where a fixed-width courier font appears within paragraphs, it indicates a file name, script name, executable name, or directory path, as in the following example:

To identify the user-defined types at 8.1 compatibility level, run the utlincmpt.sql script supplied with release 8.1.

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UPPERCASE Words	Uppercase words indicate command keywords, object names, initialization parameters, static data dictionary view names, and dynamic data dictionary view names. For example: "Oracle enables you to control the compatibility of your database with the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter."

Italicized Words	Italicized words indicate the first occurrence of a term and its definition. For example: "Migration is the process of transforming an installed version of an Oracle database into a later version." Italicized words also indicate variables. For example: "Run `u``old_release``.sql` where old_release refers to the release you had installed prior to upgrading." Italicized words also are used for emphasis and for book titles.

`Code Examples`	SQL, Server Manager line mode, and SQL*Plus commands and statements are displayed in a fixed-width courier font, separated from normal text, as in the following example: SELECT username FROM dba_users WHERE username = 'MIGRATE'; Example statements may include punctuation, such as commas or quotation marks. All punctuation in example statements is required syntax. Depending on the application, a semicolon or other terminator may or may not be required to end a statement, and some applications require a slash (/) on the next line to end a statement. Uppercase words in example statements indicate the keywords within SQL. When you issue statements, however, keywords are not case sensitive. Lowercase words in example statements indicate words supplied only for the context of the example. For example, lowercase words may indicate the name of a table, column, or file. Where a fixed-width courier font appears within paragraphs, it indicates a file name, script name, executable name, or directory path, as in the following example: To identify the user-defined types at 8.1 compatibility level, run the `utlincmpt.sql` script supplied with release 8.1.