These steps will guide you through a migration of a database using Full Transportable Export/Import (FTEX) and incremental backups. I covered the concept in a previous blog post, which you should read to understand the basics. Remember Transportable Tablespaces and Full Transportable Export/Import requires Enterprise Edition.

My demo environment looks like this:

I have an 12.1.0.2 database that I want to migrate to a PDB in a new CDB that runs 19c.

Check Prerequisites

Create a new PDB called SALES in the target CDB:

TARGET/CDB1 SQL> create pluggable database sales admin user admin identified by admin;
TARGET/CDB1 SQL> alter pluggable database sales open;
TARGET/CDB1 SQL> alter pluggable database sales save state;

Prepare the database to use TDE Tablespace Encryption:

TARGET/CDB1 SQL> alter session set container=sales;
TARGET/CDB1 SQL> administer key management set key force keystore identified by <keystore-pwd> with backup;

Verify SQL*Net connectivity from source host to target PDB:

[oracle@source]$ sqlplus system@<target ip>/<pdb-service-name>

Verify database character set and national character set are the same:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> select property_name, property_value from database_properties where property_name in ('NLS_CHARACTERSET', 'NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET');

TARGET/SALES SQL> select property_name, property_value from database_properties where property_name in ('NLS_CHARACTERSET', 'NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET');

Ensure the source database is in ARCHIVELOG mode:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> select log_mode from v$database;

Enable block change tracking on source database. Requires Enterprise Edition (on-prem), DBCS EE-EP (cloud) or Exadata. Although strictly speaking not required, it is strongly recommended:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> select status, filename from v$block_change_tracking;
SOURCE/SALES SQL> alter database enable block change tracking;

Ensure that you can connect from the source to the target host as oracle:

[oracle@source]$ ssh <target ip> date

Identify Tablespaces And External Data

Identify all the tablespaces that you will migrate. With FTEX you should transport all the tablespaces, except those that contain Oracle maintained data, like SYSTEM, SYSAUX, UNDO and so forth:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> select tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces;

Save the list of tablespaces for later. In my demo, I only have the tablespace SALES except the Oracle maintained ones.

Next, on the target database ensure that any of the existing tablespaces doesn’t conflict with the ones you are transporting:

TARGET/SALES SQL> select tablespace_name from dba_tablespaces;

If there is a conflict of names, you have to drop or rename the tablespaces in the target database.

Use DBMS_TDB to easily identify external stuff like directories, external tables and BFILEs. Any files stored in the file system outside the database must be manually transferred to the file system on the target host:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> SET SERVEROUTPUT ON
SOURCE/SALES SQL> DECLARE
      external BOOLEAN;
   BEGIN
      external := DBMS_TDB.CHECK_EXTERNAL;
   END;
/

Download and Configure Perl Scripts

Create a folder to hold the perl scripts, download the scripts from MOS doc ID 2471245.1, and unzip:

[oracle@source]$ rm -rf /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ mkdir /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ --Download file from MOS
[oracle@source]$ unzip rman_xttconvert_VER4.3.zip

Create a working directory (aka. scratch location) which will hold the backups. Ensure that you have enough space at this location at both source and target database.

[oracle@source]$ rm -rf /u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch
[oracle@source]$ mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch

Create the same location on the target host:

[oracle@target]$ rm -rf /u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch
[oracle@target]$ mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch

Configure your migration in xtt.properties. In this demo the file looks like this:

tablespaces=SALES
platformid=13
src_scratch_location=/u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch
dest_scratch_location=/u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch
dest_datafile_location=+DATA
asm_home=/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid
asm_sid=+ASM1
parallel=4
rollparallel=4
getfileparallel=4
metatransfer=1
dest_user=oracle
dest_host=<target_ip>
desttmpdir=/u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch
srcconnstr=sys/<password>@sales
destconnstr=sys/<password>@newsales
usermantransport=1

A little explanation:

• platformid is set to 13 because this is a Linux migration. You can get the number by querying v$transportable_platform.
• Adjust the parallel options according to the capabilities of the source and target system.
• When you are using ASM disk group in dest_datafile_location you must also set asm_home and asm_sid.

Finally, copy the scripts (and the configuration) to your target system:

[oracle@source]$ scp -r /home/oracle/xtts/ <target_ip>:/home/oracle/

Initial Backup and Restore

Now, you can start the first initial backup of the database. You take it while the source database is up and running, so it doesn’t matter if the backup/restore cycle take hours or days to complete:

[oracle@source]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --backup

The perl script has been configured in such a way that it automatically transfers the backups to the target system. In addition to that, a small text file must be transferred as well:

[oracle@source]$ scp res.txt oracle@<target_ip>:/home/oracle/xtts

Now, on the target system, you can restore the backup that was just taken. If needed, the data files are automatically converted to the proper endian format. If conversion is needed, you need space for a copy of all the data files:

[oracle@target]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --restore

Incremental Backup and Restore

You can – and should – run the incremental backup and restores as many times as possible. The more frequent you run them, the faster they will run because there will be fewer changes. At least, close to the migration downtime window starts you should run them often, to minimize the time it will take to perform the final backup and restore:

[oracle@source]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --backup

Transfer res.txt:

[oracle@source]$ scp res.txt oracle@<target_ip>:/home/oracle/xtts

And restore on the target system:

[oracle@target]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --restore

Final Incremental Backup and Restore

Gather dictionary statistics to ensure the Data Pump export runs as fast as possible:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_dictionary_stats;

Now downtime starts! Set the tablespaces read-only:

SOURCE/SALES SQL> alter tablespace SALES read only;

Perform the final incremental backup:

[oracle@source]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@source]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --backup

You will receive an error because the tablespace is read-only. This is ignorable:

Transfer res.txt:

[oracle@source]$ scp res.txt oracle@<target_ip>:/home/oracle/xtts

And restore on the target system:

[oracle@target]$ export TMPDIR=/home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ cd /home/oracle/xtts
[oracle@target]$ $ORACLE_HOME/perl/bin/perl xttdriver.pl --restore

Import Metadata Using FTEX

Create a directory object that points to the xtts folder:

TARGET/SALES SQL> create directory LOGDIR as '/home/oracle/xtts';

Next, create a database link to the source database that can be used to import the metadata. If the source database is already a PDB, ensure that the database link points directly into the PDB:

TARGET/SALES SQL> create public database link SRCLNK connect to system identified by <password> using '//<source_ip>:1521/<service_name>';

Test that it works:

TARGET/SALES SQL> select * from dual@srclnk;

Next, create a par file (sales_imp.par) that you can use for the Data Pump import (see appendix below for explanation):

network_link=SRCLNK
full=y
transportable=always
metrics=y
logtime=all
exclude=TABLE_STATISTICS,INDEX_STATISTICS
exclude=SYS_USER
exclude=TABLESPACE:"IN('TEMP')"
exclude=SCHEMA:"IN('SPATIAL_CSW_ADMIN_USR','SPATIAL_WFS_ADMIN_USR')"
directory=logdir
logfile=sales_imp.log
transport_datafiles='+DATA/CDB1_FRA2VD/B2D617FCB79B0684E053AF01000A6DCE/DATAFILE/SALES.281.105552609'

Start Data Pump and perform the import. newsales is a TNS alias that points into the SALES PDB in the target CDB. If you have encrypted tablespaces, you should use the option encryption_pwd_prompt. It allows you to input the TDE password. It can be omitted if there are no encrypted tablespaces.

$ impdp system@newsales parfile=sales_imp.par encryption_pwd_prompt=yes

Once the import has completed, you should examine the Data Pump log file for any critical errors. Check the appendix (see below) for ignorable errors:

[oracle@target]$ vi /home/oracle/xtts/sales_imp.log

That’s it! Your data has been migrated. Now would be a good time to:

• Check data files for corruption using RMAN VALIDATE command

  Although not mandatory, it is recommended if time allows. It is a read-only check that you can run while other stuff is happening in the database. See step 6.1 in MOS doc ID 2471245.1.

• Gather dictionary statistics

• Test your application

• Start a backup

• Gather statistics – they were excluded from the export

• Drop the database link that points to the source database

• Cleanup the file system:

  • /home/oracle/xtts
  • /u01/app/oracle/xtts_scratch

Conclusion

Even huge, TB-sized, databases can be migrated with very little downtime by using incremental backups. By using the perl script from My Oracle Support and combined with Full Transportable Export/Import it is a simple process. In addition, you can even migrate to a new endian format, to a higher release and into a PDB in one operation. It requires Enterprise Edition and you must have plenty of disk space – potentially twice the size of your database.

There is a video on our YouTube channel that you can watch. It demos the entire process. I suggest that you subscribe to our channel and get notified whenever there are new videos.

Thanks to my good colleague, Robert Pastijn, for supplying a runbook that was used as inspiration.

Further Reading

• Mike Dietrich blog post: Full Transportable Export/Import – PAR File Examples

Other Blog Posts in This Series

• Introduction
• Prerequisites
• Full Transportable Export/Import
• What Is a Self-contained Transportable Tablespace Set
• How to Migrate a Database Using Full Transportable Export/Import and Incremental Backups
• Make It Fast
• Backup on Standby Database
• Slow Network Between Source and Target
• Bigfile Tablespaces
• Testing the Procedure On Activated Standby Database
• Testing the Procedure Multiple Times Using Read-Only Tablespaces
• Target Database and Data Guard
• ASM Aliases and Why You Should Get Rid of Them
• Pro Tips

Appendix

If Source Database Is in OCI and Automatic Backup Is Enabled

If the source database is running in OCI and you have enabled automatic backup, you must make a few changes.

In xttprep.tmpl around line 319 change:

cp('backup for transport allow inconsistent ' ||

to

cp('set encryption off for all tablespaces;set compression algorithm "basic";backup for transport allow inconsistent ' ||

In xttdriver.pl around line 4268 change:

my $rman_str1 = "set nocfau;";

to

my $rman_str1 = "set nocfau;".
                "set encryption off for all tablespaces ;".
                "set compression algorithm 'basic' ;" ;

ORA-02085

If you get ORA-02085 when querying over the database link:

TARGET/SALES SQL> alter system set global_names=false;

ORA-39187, ORA-39921 And ORA-39922

If the Data Pump job aborts and complain about object named CLI_SWPXXXXXXXX or SYS_ILYYYYYYYYY:

ORA-39123: Data Pump transportable tablespace job aborted
ORA-39187: The transportable set is not self-contained, violation list is
ORA-39921: Default Partition (Table) Tablespace SYSAUX for CLI_SWPXXXXXXXX not contained in transportable set.
ORA-39922: Default Partition (Index) Tablespace SYSAUX for SYS_ILYYYYYYYYY not contained in transportable set.
Job "SYS"."SYS_EXPORT_FULL_01" stopped due to fatal error at Wed Jul 18 13:51:01 2018 elapsed 0 00:05:55

You should have a look at MOS note ORA-39187 & ORA-39921 for CLI_SWP$ tables while performing Full Transportable Tablespace export (Doc ID 2426177.1). The objects are related to Unified Auditing.

Data Pump Parameters

Use network_link to specify the name of the database link that points back to the source database.

full=y and transportable=always instructs Data Pump to perform a full transportable export/import.

exclude=TABLE_STATISTICS,INDEX_STATISTICS exclude statistics from the import. It is better and faster to gather new, fresh statistics on the target database. If you insist on importing your statistics, you should use DBMS_STATS.

exclude=SYS_USER excludes the import of the SYS user. In a PDB that is not even allowed, and most likely you are not interested in importing the definition of the SYS user.

exclude=TABLESPACE:"IN('TEMP')" excludes the temporary tablespace from the import. Most likely there is already a temporary tablespace in the new, target PDB. It is faster to create a TEMP tablespace in advance – and name it the same as in the source database.

A change was made to Spatial in 19c and some Spatial admin users are removed. To avoid errors/noise in the log file you can safely exclude them from the import by specifying exclude=SCHEMA:"IN('SPATIAL_CSW_ADMIN_USR','SPATIAL_WFS_ADMIN_USR')".

transport_datafiles is used to specify the data files that make you the tablespace you are transporting. Specify the parameter multiple times to specify more data files. You can use asmcmd to get the data file paths and names.

Data Pump Ignorable Errors

Multimedia desupported in 19c, but code is still there. You can safely disregard this error:

Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/NORMAL_OPTIONS/TABLE
ORA-39342: Internal error - failed to import internal objects tagged with ORDIM due to ORA-00955: name is already used by an existing object.

Package is removed in 12.2. See ORA-39083 And ORA-04042 Errors On DBMS_DEFER_SYS When Importing Into 12.2 Database (Doc ID 2335846.1):

Processing object type DATABASE_EXPORT/SYSTEM_PROCOBJACT/POST_SYSTEM_ACTIONS/PROCACT_SYSTEM
ORA-39083: Object type PROCACT_SYSTEM failed to create with error:ORA-04042: procedure, function, package, or package body does not exist

Failing sql is:
BEGIN
SYS.DBMS_UTILITY.EXEC_DDL_STATEMENT('GRANT EXECUTE ON DBMS_DEFER_SYS TO "DBA"');COMMIT; END;