Zero Downtime Migration – Logical Offline Migration How To Minimize Downtime

With Oracle Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) 21.2, you can now perform logical offline migrations from IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris. Since it is an offline approach, the database is unavailable during the entire migration. Let’s look at how you can minimize downtime.

Before Migration

Statistics

Ensure that dictionary statistics are up-to-date in the source database. Data Pump does a lot of querying in the data dictionary, and accurate statistics are vital for good execution plans. I recommend gathering stats on SYS and SYSTEM:

begin
   dbms_stats.gather_schema_stats('SYS');
   dbms_stats.gather_schema_stats('SYSTEM');
end;
/

You could also use dbms_stats.gather_dictionary_stats. But it gathers statistics on all internal schemas, and most often, only SYS and SYSTEM is sufficient:

begin
   dbms_stats.gather_dictionary_stats;
end;
/

Data

I think it goes without saying, but the less data, the faster the migration complete. If you have any junk data in your database, get rid of it.

Migration

Parallel

Apply a proper degree of parallelism. Rule-of-thumb:

On-prem: 2 x number of physical cores
OCI: Number of OCPUs

When you are importing in OCI, consider scaling up on CPUs. More CPUs, faster import. Bare Metal and Exadata DB Systems scales online, whereas Virtual Machines need around 10 minutes of downtime.

Import processes running in parallel can read from the same dump file. This means that the number of parallel processes for an import is not limited by the number of dump files (which is the case of an export). To illustrate with an example:

Export: parallel=8 – 8 dump files were created. Each parallel worker needs exclusive access to a dump file.
Import: parallel=16 – still only 8 dump files. Each parallel worker can read from all dump files, no locks required.

You can control Data Pump parallel in ZDM using these parameters:

Data Pump Mode

Should you go via dump file or directly over a database link? Only your tests can tell the answer, but I am pretty sure that you will find that dump file mode is the quickest.

When you export via a dump file, you also need to figure out how you can transfer it to the target database:

Direct Transfer – you can use either scp or rsync. At the risk of starting a religious discussion, I don’t think it makes much of a difference in this use case. If you need rsync on Exadata, you can find guidance in MOS Doc ID 1556257.1.
Via Object Store – you can use either curl or OCI CLI. I would expect you can get better performance with OCI CLI. But you need to test it in your environment.

Remember to ensure you have adequate disk space on the source database host to hold the dump file. Use mount points that can deliver good write performance, and ideally, they should be separated from the storage that holds the database data files.

SecureFile LOB

ZDM automatically transforms BasicFile LOBs into SecureFile LOBs – which is very good. Don’t turn it off. Imports run faster when SecureFile LOBs are in play.

After Migration

Statistics

As soon as ZDM has completed the migration, gather dictionary stats in the target database. All those new objects that came in with the import have for sure made the statistics stale.

begin
   dbms_stats.gather_schema_stats('SYS');
   dbms_stats.gather_schema_stats('SYSTEM');
end;
/

Next, you need to figure out how you want to take care of the optimizer statistics. In a previous post, I discussed why this is needed and how to do it. If you decide to import statistics via DBMS_STATS, just ensure that you have gathered dictionary stats before.

Conclusion

When migrating from IBM AIX and Oracle Solaris, you use the logical offline approach, which means a lot of downtime. You have a few options to make it run as fast as possible.

Zero Downtime Migration – Logical Migration and Statistics

If you decided to do a logical migration of your Oracle Database with Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM), here is something important about optimizer statistics. You must manually take care of the optimizer statistics on the target database after the Data Pump import. Either by recreating the statistics or transporting the statistics from the source database.

Background

Whenever I talk about migration of Oracle Database with Data Pump, I always mention that it is best practice to exclude optimizer statistics from the Data Pump export. Here is how you do it:

$ expdp ... exclude=statistics

Why is that recommended? Data Pump is not very good at extracting the optimizer statistics. There is nothing wrong with the statistics when they are imported. But it can take a very long time to do the export of statistics.

ZDM and Data Pump

The development team behind ZDM wanted the tool to be easy to use. Also, they wanted ZDM to use all the best practices that come with the various other tools that ZDM uses. When they talked to us about Data Pump, we told them to exclude statistics.

BUT – this also leaves you in a situation where you have a database completely without optimizer statistics. It goes without saying that it is a disaster waiting to happen. You must ensure that optimizer statistics are present on the target database before allowing the users to connect to it.

Regather

One option is to regather optimizer statistics on the target database after the Data Pump import. When the Data Pump import completes, and before you proceed with the switchover, it is time to regather the statistics. Typically, you would start ZDM something like this:

$ zdmcli migrate database .... -pauseafter ZDM_MONITOR_GG_LAG

It will start by performing the initial load of the database with Data Pump. Then it will configure GoldenGate before it pauses – waiting for your signal to complete the migration. At this time, use DBMS_STATS to gather statistics:

SQL> exec dbms_stats.gather_database_stats;

This has some drawbacks:

It requires time and resources – which might not be the biggest problem. The source database is still open for business. We haven’t performed the switchover yet.
Column usage information (table COL_USAGE$) is not populated, so in some cases, no histograms will be created. This will happen if the database is supposed to automatically determine whether histograms are needed (method_opt includes size auto). In that case, you can merge the column usage information from another database via a database link, which can be a good idea if your application is depending on histograms.
The table, schema, or database statistics preferences are not present. It could be degree, method_opt, stale_pct or any other preferences that you can set with DBMS_STATS.SET_TABLE_PREFS (or schema or database-wide preferences). These preferences can be transferred to the new system, which is what I will talk about next.

Transferring Statistics

Another option is to transfer the statistics using DBMS_STATS. We have covered this in detail in a webinar, so I suggest you watch Performance Stability, Tips and Tricks and Underscores for all the details.

In short,

The optimizer statistics in the source database are extracted from the data dictionary and stored in a transportable format in a regular heap table (referred to as a staging table).
Using Data Pump, you move that table to the target database.
Then you put the statistics into the data dictionary of the target database so that optimizer can use them.

Pro tip: You should perform step #1 before you start ZDM and store the staging table in one of the schemas that you are migrating with ZDM. That way, you don’t have to move the table manually. It is moved by ZDM together with the real data.

One thing to be aware of is that the table, schema or database statistics preferences are not transferred when you use e.g. DBMS_STATS.EXPORT_TABLE_STATS. There are dedicated procedures for transferring the statistics preferences:

Conclusion

You must figure out how to move the optimizer statistics into your target database when you use ZDM to perform logical migrations. If not, your target database will be without optimizer statistics which is a disaster waiting to happen.

Appendix

You might now ask. If Data Pump is bad at exporting statistics, but there are already better ways available in the database, why don’t we change the Data Pump code? And you are right – but so far, other things have been prioritized. I would love to see this one day fully embedded in Data Pump.

Zero Downtime Migration – Logical Online Migration and Testing

How can you test your OCI database before going live? With Logical Online migration it is possible using Flashback Database, restore or cloning. Let’s explore the options.

Flashback Database

Using Flashback Database is the easiest option and it is supported on all target platforms except Autonomous Database (shared and dedicated). In addition, your target database must be Enterprise Edition.

Does Oracle GoldenGate support Flashback Database? You can find the answer in the MOS note Does Goldengate Support Oracle RDBMS Flashback Features? (Doc ID 966212.1):

In a situation where there are only Replicats on a system, then FLASHBACK DATABASE… is fully supported if the Replicats are all using a checkpoint table and the trail files are available that go as far back as the flashback.

When you do Logical Online migrations you only have replicat process in your target database. In addition, checkpoint tables are enabled by default. All good!

Flashback Database – How To

Stop replicat process by logging on to the GoldenGate hub and navigate to the Target Administration Server:
Set a guaranteed restore point in the target PDB (named tgtpdb):

alter session set container=tgtpdb;
create restore point grp4test guarantee flashback database;

Do your tests.
Revert the changes by issuing a FLASHBACK PLUGGABLE DATABASE command:

alter session set container=cdb$root;
alter pluggable database tgtpdb close immediate;
flashback pluggable database tgtpdb to restore point grp4test;
alter pluggable database tgtpdb open resetlogs;

Restart replicat process:

The above procedure uses flashback of the pluggable database. This feature was introduced in Oracle Database 12.2. If your target database is 12.1 or older, you have to flashback the entire CDB. If your target database is a non-CDB database, you have to flashback back the entire database.

Restore

Backup/restore is also an option. In OCI it is easy to backup and restore, however, it does take longer than using Flashback Database. But the good thing is that you get to test your OCI backup and recovery strategy.

For Autonomous Database you can use the automatic backups which are enabled by default. In the other Database Cloud Offerings, you must enable automatic backup yourself.

Autonomous Database
- Manual backup
- Restore
Exadata DB System
- Manual backup
- Restore
Bare Metal and VM DB System
- Manual backup
- Restore

Restore – How To

Stop replicat process (see above)
Create backup (or rely on automatic backup)
Do your tests
Restore backup
Restart replicat process (see above)

Clone

Cloning the database or the entire DB System is also an option. A benefit is that the GoldenGate replication can continue while you are doing the tests. When you use Flashback Database and restore the replication must be stopped. Trail files will accumulate on disk and at one point the target database will be very busy catching up with the lag. For very huge and active systems it might be desirable to work on a clone. However, cloning to a new system mean that you are no longer testing in that specific database that will be your future production database. Also, cloning involves creating new DB Systems which has a cost.

Autonomous Database
- Cloning
Exadata DB System
- Cloning
VM DB System
- Cloning

Clone – How To

Clone database or DB System
Do your tests
Discard database or DB System

Conclusion

Before going live in your new OCI database, you should test it. With Logical Online method it is easy, and you can use well-known techniques. If you combine it with the recommendations from our webinar Performance Stability, Tips and Tricks and Underscores, you are well underway towards a successful migration.

Zero Downtime Migration – Physical Online Migration of Very Large Databases

This blog post is written based on ZDM version 21. The latest version of ZDM has significant changes. Please consult the documentation for updates.

Following the blog post on migrating Very Large Databases (VLDBs) using Logical Online method, let’s touch upon the Physical Online method as well.

Existing Data Guard

VLDBs are very often protected by Data Guard with one or more standby databases. When you start a migration with Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) you don’t want to promise your existing Data Guard setup. If something happens during the preparation of the migration to OCI, you still want to be able to switch over to an on-prem standby database. Something like this:

I recommend that you always configure Data Guard using Data Guard broker. ZDM supports using the broker for the migration. If you don’t have Data Guard broker configured, ZDM can use a manual configuration as well.

A few things to observe:

When ZDM is working, no switch-overs are allowed. This will cause the process to error out.
By working I mean – from the second you start the ZDM migration and until it is paused at ZDM_CONFIGURE_DG_SRC.
When ZDM is paused, you can do as many switch-overs as you like. Just ensure that the original source database become the primary database again as soon as possible.
When you need to complete the migration, the source database must be the primary database and no switch-overs are allowed. Which does make sense because in this last phase, ZDM is switching over to the OCI target database.
What about fail-overs. Fail-overs means loss of data and to accept that you need to open the database with RESETLOGS. This causes all sort of havoc in your Data Guard setup. You are back to start.

The Backup

ZDM needs a full backup that can be restored on your target.

DBCS: If your target database is one of the OCI Cloud Services (Virtual Machine, Bare Metal or Exadata DB System), ZDM will need to take a new full backup. Existing backups can’t be used.
ExaCC or Exadata on-prem: You can either take a new full backup or use an existing backup that is made available on disk. In addition, if you are so fortunate to have a Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance (ZDLRA), you don’t need to take a backup. ZDM can just restore directly from ZDLRA.

If you are targeting a DBCS your DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM is set to OSS (Object Storage Service). The backup is stored in Object Storage using Oracle Database Cloud Backup Module for OCI. The backup in the source database and the restore in the target database will happen via a special sbt channel which streams the backup directly to and from Object Storage. This means:

The backup never hits the disk, so you don’t need additional disk space to hold the backup.
The duration of the backup is depending on your network speed to OCI. Since the backup is streamed directly to OCI, the network can become a bottleneck. If you have a slow connection to OCI, the backup will run equally slow. The same applies about the restore, however, the target database is already in OCI and does have a good connection to Object Storage.

ZDM will by default use 10 RMAN channels for the restore and the backup. With your knowledge of the source database, you might know better. You can tweak the number of channels in the response file. Look for the parameters SRC_RMAN_CHANNELS and TGT_RMAN_CHANNELS.

Based on your knowledge or testing you can determine which RMAN Compression algorithm that gives the best benefit on your database. You can adjust the compression algorithm in the response file using the parameter ZDM_RMAN_COMPRESSION_ALGORITHM. The default is MEDIUM which is normally gives the best balance between compression ratio and CPU time. And remember, RMAN Compression normally require a license for Advanced Compression Option but when you migrate with ZDM, there is a restricted use license.

While ZDM is taking a backup of the source database, no other backups should be running. Be sure to put your regular backups, including archive backups, on hold.

Redo Apply

In the source database, you should keep archive logs on disk until the target database has been restored, Data Guard has been configured, and the target database has caught up with redo apply. If you have a slow network connection and a huge database, it can take days until the backup has completed, restored has completed and redo apply has caught up.

Imagine you start the backup at sequence 100.
The restore of the target database finishes two days later. The source database is now at sequence 200.
ZDM configure Data Guard and starts redo transfer and redo apply. The source database is now at sequence 220.
Sequences 100-220 must be available on disk on the source database host, so the source (primary) database can transfer them to the target (standby) database.

It is not uncommon for VLDBs to generate redo on a daily basis that are double-digit TB. Just the other day I talked to a customer whose database generated 15 TB of archive logs a day.

First, you must be able to transfer the redo from the source database (primary) to the target database (standby). This is simple math: If you have 15 TB redo a day, you should be able to transfer that using a 1,5 Gbps connection (amount of redo / 24 / 60 / 60 * 8). If transferring redo becomes a problem, you can look into using redo transport compression. This can reduce the amount of data that must be transferred at the cost of CPU cycles. You can read more about it in the MOS note Redo Transport Compression in a Data Guard Environment (Doc ID 729551.1). I learned from colleagues in the Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) team that TDE Tablespace Encryption and redo transport compression doesn’t play very well together. If your source database is encrypted, you should not expect that much benefit from redo transport compression.

Next, redo must be applied on the target database. Is the target database capable of applying redo so fast? On Exadata the answer is most likely: YES – but as always in IT, it depends. The numbers of the above graph comes from Redo Apply Best Practices – Oracle Data Guard and Active Data Guard. Based on your database release and the type of workload you have in the database; you can see the amount of redo that can be applied daily (in TB). The last two columns are using Multi-Instance Redo Apply (MIRA) with either two or four active RAC nodes. The numbers were generated on an Exadata.

Backup of Target Database

How do you backup your target database in OCI? You want to have a valid backup from the very second that you switch over to the target database.

The target placeholder database that you originally created will be overwritten by ZDM. This means that you can’t configure and enable automatic backup in OCI in advance. You must wait until the migration has completed until you enable automatic backup.

You could:

Extend the downtime window to allow automatic backup to be configured after the migration. Also, allow enough time for the first backup to complete.
Or, do your own backup in OCI. This is more cumbersome but will allow you to open the database for business immediately after the switchover. But you are in charge of the backup now. All the various bits and pieces are available:
- Original backup is still in object storage.
- Archive logs are on disk – you can back them up manually.
- Perform incrementals if needed – put them somewhere safe.
- In case of emergency – glue it all together

Data Guard on Target Database

Similar to automatic backup, you can’t create a Data Guard Association until ZDM has completed the migration. The cloud tooling does not support creating the standby database through a cascading standby. This means that you can’t build your OCI standby database until after ZDM has completed the migration – and the OCI database is the primary database. You can start to create the OCI Data Guard as soon as ZDM is done, but

You must tolerate that the OCI Data Guard is missing
Or, take downtime

Conclusion

Even huge Oracle Databases can be migrated to OCI using Zero Downtime Migration. You might need to make a few adjustments from the standard flow, but it is absolutely doable. Automatic backup and data guard can’t be created in OCI until after the migration. This might force you to take downtime. Besides the actual migration, you should also do your best to ensure performance stability once the database is open for business. For that purpose, you should have a look at our webinar Performance Stability, Tips and Tricks and Underscores.

Zero Downtime Migration – Logical Online Migration of Very Large Databases

Things always work on PowerPoint slides. And they almost always work in our lab environments as well. And recorded demos are also pretty bullet-proof.

But what happens when you have a huge database to migrate? A Very Large Database (VLDB). First, things get more exciting. Second, there are more knobs to turn and the smallest thing might become a big thing. Here are some things to consider when you migrate VLDBs using the Logical Online method.

Existing Data Guard No need to worry about your existing on-prem Oracle Data Guard environment. The Logical Migration uses Oracle Data Pump and Oracle GoldenGate. Both tools can be used on a database in a Data Guard and does not interfere with Data Guard operations.

But no switchovers or failovers are allowed during replication. GoldenGate can be configured to fully support a Data Guard environment and seamlessly reconnect in case of a Data Guard switchover. But it requires advanced configuration of GoldenGate. Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) does the GoldenGate configuration but does so in a basic way that does not support Data Guard switchovers.

Data Pump Data Pump is used for the initial load of data.

The initial load happens before downtime, so generally you shouldn’t worry too much about the time it takes to perform the Data Pump export and import. However, the longer it takes, the bigger a replication will GoldenGate need to catch up. If the gap is too big, it might become a problem.

Apply a proper degree of parallelism. Rule-of-thumb:

On-prem: 2 x number of physical cores OCI: Number of OCPUs You can change the Data Pump parallel setting using the ZDM response file parameters DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_EXPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE and DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_IMPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE

When you are importing in OCI, consider scaling up on CPUs. More CPUs, more Data Pump parallel, faster import. Bare Metal and Exadata DB Systems scales online, whereas Virtual Machines needs around 10 minutes of downtime.

ZDM applies Data Pump compression automatically. Remember you don’t need a license for Advanced Compression Option to use compression when you are migrating with ZDM. Our experience is that MEDIUM most of the time is the best alternative. It provides a good compression ratio at a low CPU footprint. Although HIGH can compress better, it often comes at a much higher CPU footprint. ZDM uses MEDIUM compression algorithm. It’s not possible to change the Data Pump compression algorithm. The interested reader may find a benchmark below, that compares the different compression algorithms:

ZDM automatically transforms BasicFile LOBs into SecureFile LOBs – which is very good. SecureFile LOBs are superior in many ways, also when it comes to importing. Based on a customer case, we did a benchmark that measures the time it takes to import LOB data. The customer saw a 3x improvement during by transforming to SecureFile LOBs – and got the benefits of SecureFile LOBs afterwards. ZDM transforms to SecureFile LOBs automatically. Don’t turn it off. Here are the log entries from the two imports. Notice the elapsed time:

BasicFile LOBs

10-OCT-20 21:43:21.848: W-3 . . imported "SCHEMA"."TABLE" 31.83 GB 681025 rows in 804 seconds using direct_path

SecureFile LOBs

15-OCT-20 18:16:48.663: W-13 . . imported "SCHEMA"."TABLES" 31.83 GB 681025 rows in 261 seconds using external_table Don’t use import over network link. Use dump files. Performance-wise there are some restrictions when you import over network link. These restrictions really hurt on a VLDB.

The Data Pump works will automatically be started on all nodes, if the target database is a RAC database. That should allow for the fastest possible import. If needed, you can force all workers on to the same node using DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_NOCLUSTER

But when you export to dump files, remember to ensure you have adequate disk space on the source database host to hold the dump file. Use mount points that can deliver good write performance and ideally, they should be separated from the storage that holds the database data files.

A Data Pump export does not affect your existing backup operations. But the export and the backup will fight over the same resources, so I recommend suspending major backup operations (level 0+1) until after the export.

Speaking of fighting over resources. You should run the export at off peak hours. That will allow the export to use many more resources. The export is not a fully consistent export. Each table is consistent, but ZDM does not use FLASHBACK_TIME or FLASHBACK_SCN to make the entire export consistent. This helps avoid ORA-01555 snapshot too old during the export. The SCN of each table is recorded in the dump file and GoldenGate later on uses that information to start replication on each table individually from the appropriate SCN.

GoldenGate Replication How much data will GoldenGate need to transfer from source database to GoldenGate hub and from GoldenGate hub to target database? GoldenGate stores the replication data in trail files. The trail files are smaller than redo logs. The size of trail files is typically 30-40 % of the size of the redo logs. Imagine a database generating 15 TB of redo a day. The size of the trail files will be 4,5-6 TB. If you further apply compression on the trail files, you can typically reduce the size to around 1/8. Using our example, the trail files are now 550-750 GB. Which is significantly less than the initial 15 TB.

In the ZDM response file there is a parameter called GOLDENGATESETTINGS_EXTRACT_PERFORMANCEPROFILE. The default value is MEDIUM, but you have the option of changing it do HIGH. This should increase the performance of the extract process.

ZDM configure GoldenGate to use Parallel Replicat. This gives you a few options. First, you can control the number of mappers by using the parameter GOLDENGATESETTINGS_REPLICAT_MAPPARALLELISM (default is 4). Also, apply parallelism is auto-tuned. You can set a minimum and maximum value using GOLDENGATESETTINGS_REPLICAT_MINAPPLYPARALLELISM and GOLDENGATESETTINGS_REPLICAT_MAXAPPLYPARALLELISM=50. Defaults are 4 and 50 so I don’t think it will be necessary to change.

By default, ZDM does not configure GoldenGate with DDL replication. Replicating without DDL gives the best performance. If you must have DDL replication in your migration project, you can look at the ZDM response file parameter GOLDENGATESETTINGS_REPLICATEDDL. But be prepared for a performance degradation.

In our webinar, Migrating Very Large Databases my team and I discuss what to consider when migrating databases with GoldenGate.

Last, you can find more advice in Administering Oracle GoldenGate 19.1, Tuning the Performance of Oracle GoldenGate.

GoldenGate Health Check Oracle GoldenGate comes with health check scripts that you can use on the source and target database. This will help you monitor and troubleshoot the process. Here is information on how to install and use the health check scripts. You can also find information in Administering Oracle GoldenGate 19.1, Using Healthcheck Scripts to Monitor and Troubleshoot.

Backup of Target Database When you use logical online migration in ZDM, you create the target database in advance. In contrast to physical migration, the target database is not overwritten. This means that you can configure automatic backup of your target OCI database before you complete the migration and switch over to OCI. You will even have time to and possibility of testing the backup.

I recommend that you configure automatic backup after the Data Pump initial load. This way there is less archive logs to back up as well.

Data Guard on Target Database Similar to automatic backup, you can also create your Data Guard association before the switchover. Likewise, wait until after the initial load has completed.

Conclusion Even huge Oracle Databases can be migrated to OCI using Zero Downtime Migration. You might need to make a few adjustments from the standard flow, but it is absolutely doable. Your database can be protected by backup and Data Guard from the very second you switch over to OCI. Besides the actual migration, you should also do your best to ensure performance stability once the database is open for business. For that purpose, you should have a look at our webinar Performance Stability, Tips and Tricks and Underscores.

Other Blog Posts in This Series Introduction Install And Configure ZDM Physical Online Migration Physical Online Migration to DBCS Physical Online Migration to ExaCS Physical Online Migration and Testing Physical Online Migration of Very Large Databases Logical Online Migration Logical Online Migration to DBCS Logical Offline Migration to Autonomous Database Logical Online Migration and Testing Logical Online Migration of Very Large Databases Logical Online and Sequences Logical Offline Migration How To Minimize Downtime Logical Migration and Statistics Logical Migration and the Final Touches Create GoldenGate Hub Monitor GoldenGate Replication The Pro Tips

Zero Downtime Migration – Physical Online Migration and Testing

Testing is an essential part of any migration project of your Oracle Database. With Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) and the Physical Online method it has become a lot easier. Before going live (i.e. doing the Data Guard switchover) you can test on your production data on your future production system – the OCI database. That’s cool.

Concept

For the duration of your test convert the OCI target database into a snapshot standby database. A short recap on snapshot standby database:

A snapshot standby database is a type of updatable standby database that provides full data protection for a primary database.

A snapshot standby database receives and archives, but does not apply, redo data from its primary database. Redo data received from the primary database is applied when a snapshot standby database is converted back into a physical standby database, after discarding all local updates to the snapshot standby database.

A snapshot standby database diverges from its primary database over time because redo data from the primary database is not applied as it is received. Local updates to the snapshot standby database cause additional divergence. The data in the primary database is fully protected however, because a snapshot standby can be converted back into a physical standby database at any time, and the redo data received from the primary is then applied.

The plan is:

Build the standby database in OCI.
Migration is currently paused at ZDM_CONFIGURE_DG_SRC (-pauseafter ZDM_CONFIGURE_DG_SRC).
Convert the OCI target database – which is a physical standby – into a snapshot standby.
Do your test. Do whatever you want. The database is protected by Flashback Database, so you can insert and delete data, truncate, add tablespaces, you name it.
When you are done with your tests, convert the OCI target database back into a physical standby database. Implicitly, the database is flashed back, and now the redo is getting applied again.
After a little while the target database is now back in sync again.
Complete migration at your will.

How

You find the steps needed to conver to snapshot standby and back again below. You can repeat the process as many times as you want.

Manual

To convert the standby database to snapshot standby:

alter database recover managed standby database cancel;
shutdown immediate
startup mount
alter database convert to snapshot standby;
alter database open;

Now, the database is opened in READ WRITE mode and you can use it for testing. To convert back to a physical standby database:

shutdown immediate
startup mount
alter database convert to physical standby;
shutdown immediate
startup
alter database recover managed standby database disconnect from session;

Manual on RAC

To convert the standby database to snapshot standby:

sqlplus / as sysdba <<EOF
   alter database recover managed standby database cancel;
EOF
srvctl stop database -d $ORACLE_UNQNAME
srvctl start database -d $ORACLE_UNQNAME -o mount
sqlplus / as sysdba <<EOF
   alter database convert to snapshot standby;
   alter database open;
EOF

Now, the database is opened in READ WRITE mode and you can use it for testing. The database is only opened on one node. You can open the other nodes by executing the following on each of the nodes:

alter database open;

To convert back to a physical standby database:

srvctl stop database -d $ORACLE_UNQNAME
sqlplus / as sysdba <<EOF
   startup mount
   alter database convert to physical standby;
   shutdown immediate
EOF
srvctl start database -d $ORACLE_UNQNAME
sqlplus / as sysdba <<EOF
   alter database recover managed standby database disconnect from session;
EOF

Data Guard Broker

To convert the standby database to a snapshot standby database using broker (CDB19_fra3zt is the target DB_UNIQUE_NAME):

convert database 'CDB19_fra3zt' to snapshot standby;

Now, the database is opened in READ WRITE mode and you can use it for testing. To convert back to a physical standby database:

convert database 'CDB19_fra3zt' to physical standby;

Conclusion

One of the really cool features of ZDM is that you can use my standby database for testing in OCI – before I decide to do the switchover. You can achieve this by converting to a snapshot standby database.

Finally, a thank you to my colleague Jose Bennani Pareja for helping out with RAC database information.

Zero Downtime Migration – Physical Online Migration to ExaCS

This will be an easy blog post. To migrate your Oracle Database to Exadata DB System (ExaCS), just follow this procedure from the DBCS blog post. Plus, execute these two commands on the target after the migration:

[root@tgthost]$ dbaascli registerdb prereqs --dbname [db_name] --db_unique_name [db_unique_name]
[root@tgthost]$ dbaascli registerdb begin --dbname [db_name] --db_unique_name [db_unique_name]

More Details, Please

Granted – the above statement is bold and it is almost true. There are a few important details to share. First, have a look at Additional Information for Migrating to Exadata Cloud Service which you find the Release Notes

Target Environment

To get the full benefits of Exadata you should be running RAC databases. Exadata and RAC is a perfect match but it is up to you to decide. If your source database is already a RAC database (or RAC One Node) you must migrate to a RAC database. However, if your source database is a single instance you have to option to either stay single instance or go RAC. If you go RAC, just create the target placeholder database as a RAC database, and everything else will happen automatically.

You must create a placeholder database on the target system. The placeholder database gets overwritten ZDM during the migration but it is initially used by ZDM to get information on how you want to configure your target database in OCI. For example, the migrated database will be placed in the same Oracle Home as the target placeholder database. Also, the architecture is determined this way. In other words, if you create the target placeholder database as a RAC database; then your source database is automatically converted to a RAC database during migration. If you create a single instance placeholder database; you get a single instance database.

Just like any other migration, when creating the placeholder database there are some things you should be aware of. On the OCI webpage you have to:

Set Database name to the DB_NAME of the source database.
Set Database version to the same as the source database.
Ensure the patch level of the Oracle Home match that of the source system – or be higher.
Ensure that the Password matches the SYS password of the source database.

You can choose your own DB_UNIQUE_NAME – it should differ from the source database. Select an Oracle Home that has the same or higher patch level than your source database. I recommend to always migrate to the latest Release Update. If necessary, ZDM will automatically invoke datapatch after the switchover. The other parameters don’t matter – the database gets overwritten anyway by ZDM. Also, be aware when using the OCI webpage you get a RAC database. There is no option to change it. But it is after all the perfect match for Exadata anyway.

Now, if you want more advanced options – like creating a single instance database, you can’t use the OCI webpage. You will have to use either dbaaspi or dbaascli. That gives you full control over the options – but they are not as easy to use as the webpage.

It’s A Wrap

I have created a video on YouTube that demos a migration to Exadata DB System.

Speaking of YouTube, I suggest that you subscribe to the Oracle Database Upgrades and Migrations YouTube channel so you never miss anything.

The Exadata Cloud Service is an awesome platform and it is really easy to migrate to it using Zero Downtime Migration. And converting to RAC is even easier.

Zero Downtime Migration – Physical Online Migration to DBCS

Let me show you how you can migrate an Oracle Database into OCI. My source database is a CDB running on 12.1.0.2. I want to migrate to the same version using the Physical Online method which uses Data Guard.

This procedure can be used to migrate to:

VM DB Systems
Bare Metal DB Systems
Exadata DB System (ExaCS)

If you want to migrate to Exadata Cloud at Customer and Exadata on-prem, you can use a lot from this post, but there are some differences which I will not cover.

Prerequisites

I need a ZDM service host. It is called zdmhost and the user is called zdmuser.
My source database is a CDB called SALES (DB_NAME), and the host is named srchost.
I want to migrate to a VM DB System, and it is already created. I name it tgthost. I use the same name for the database, SALES. I must use ASM as storage management software.

Prepare Source

Ensure the database is in ARCHIVELOG mode:

select log_mode from v$database;

If database version is 12.2 or higher, a TDE keystore must be present – even if the database is not encrypted. A license is not needed to create a TDE keystore – not until data is getting encrypted. The keystore must be OPEN and the type is either AUTOLOGIN, LOCAL_AUTOLOGIN or PASSWORD. In a CDB, this applies to CDB$ROOT and all PDBs:

SELECT con_id, status, wallet_type FROM v$encryption_wallet;

If status is OPEN_NO_MASTER_KEY it means that no TDE master encryption key has been created and I will need to create one. Instructions are also in the documentation.

Ensure that the source host can resolve the network name of the target host. It is important to add two entries – one with the host name and one with the SCAN name (they should both point to the target host):

[root@srchost]$ echo -e "[ip address] tgthost" >> /etc/hosts
[root@srchost]$ echo -e "[ip address] tgthost-scan" >> /etc/hosts

Test connection over SQL*NET to the target:

[oracle@srchost]$ sqlplus system@tgthost-scan/[target-cdb-service-name]

Prepare Target

I need a target placeholder database. The placeholder target database is overwritten during migration, but it retains the overall configuration.

VM DB System: When I create a new system, a database is automatically created. This database is my target placeholder database.
Bare Metal and Exadata DB Systems: Create a new database on an existing system.

In any case:

DB_NAME must exactly match that of the source database – also in the same case.
DB_UNIQUE_NAME must be different.
Use the same SYS password as the source database.
Any database parameters for the target database, including SGA parameters, are maintained during the migration, and the migrated database runs with this same configuration.
Do not enable automatic backup (until after the migration has completed).
The architecture (single instance or RAC) of the target placeholder database determine the architecture of the OCI database. If I want my OCI database to be a RAC database, simply create the target placeholder database as a RAC database, and the end result will be a RAC database.
COMPATIBLE must match that of the source database.
The patch level of the target database must be equal to or higher than the source database. If they differ, ZDM will automatically execute datapatch as part of the migration. Use $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory.
The source and target database must use the same time zone file version. If they don’t match, I must upgrade the time zone file in the source database. If I have a lot of data of type TIMESTAMP WITH TIMEZONE and I can’t afford the downtime it takes to do the upgrade, then consider using the logical online method: select * from v$timezone_file;

There are a few other requirements listed in the document, but these are the most important ones.

Like the source host, the target host must be able to resolve the network name of its counterpart:

[root@tgthost]$ echo -e "[ip address] srchost" >> /etc/hosts
[root@tgthost]$ echo -e "[ip address] srchost-scan" >> /etc/hosts

And I test the connection:

[oracle@tgthost]$ sqlplus system@srchost-scan/[source-cdb-service-name]

Prepare ZDM

The ZDM service host must be able to resolve the host names of the source and target database host:

[root@zdmhost]$ echo "<source IP address> srchost" >> /etc/hosts
[root@zdmhost]$ echo "<target IP address> tgthost" >> /etc/hosts

I put my private SSH keys to the source and target database host into ~/.ssh directory. Ensure permissions are set properly:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp srchost_key_file ~/.ssh
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ chmod 400 ~/.ssh/srchost_key_file 
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp tgthost_key_file ~/.ssh
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ chmod 400 ~/.ssh/tgthost_key_file

Test the connection. I connect as opc, but you might have a different user. Read more about access to the database host in the documentation:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/srchost_key_file opc@srchost date
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/tgthost_key_file opc@tgthost date

Prepare Response File

I will use a template response file as the basis for my response file:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp $ZDM_HOME/rhp/zdm/template/zdm_template.rsp ~/physical_online.rsp
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ chmod 700 ~/physical_online.rsp

This is the response file that I end up with (see appendix B for an explanation):

TGT_DB_UNIQUE_NAME=SALES_fra2t4
MIGRATION_METHOD=ONLINE_PHYSICAL
DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM=OSS
PLATFORM_TYPE=VMDB
HOST=https://swiftobjectstorage.[region].oraclecloud.com/v1/[my-tenancy-object-storage-namespace]
OPC_CONTAINER=zdm-staging
SKIP_FALLBACK=TRUE
SHUTDOWN_SRC=TRUE

If your database is Oracle Database 11.2.0.4 be sure to set these response file parameters:

ZDM_RMAN_DIRECT_METHOD=ACTIVE_DUPLICATE
ZDM_USE_DG_BROKER=FALSE

Perform Evaluation

I am now ready to perform a migration evaluation. It is a dry run of the migration and performs various sanity checks. Nothing is changed during the evaluation:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli migrate database \
   -rsp /home/zdmuser/physical_online.rsp \
   -sourcenode srchost \
   -sourcedb SALES_fra3fw \
   -srcauth zdmauth \
   -srcarg1 user:opc \
   -srcarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/srchost_key_file \
   -srcarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targetnode tgthost \
   -tgtauth zdmauth \
   -tgtarg1 user:opc \
   -tgtarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/tgthost_key_file \
   -tgtarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targethome /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1 \
   -backupuser "daniel.overby.hansen@oracle.com" \
   -eval

A few comments:

sourcenode and targetnode are the host names of the source and target database host. Those names must be resolvable which I why I put them into /etc/hosts already.
sourcedb is the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the source database. My database is on ASM. If I didn’t use ASM I should use sourcesid instead and specify the database SID.
srcarg1 is the name of the user that I connect as to the source database host. You might need to change that.
srcarg2 and tgtarg2 is the location of the private key files to the source and target database host respectively. The private key file must be usable by the user that is specified in srcarg1 and tgtarg1 which in this case is opc.

I am prompted for the SYS password to the source database and also the password for the backupuser (which is my OCI user). For the latter, please note that this password is not my user password, however, it is an auth token. I also get a job ID:

The migration evaluation is then started, and I can use the job ID to monitor it:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli query job -jobid <job ID>

My colleague Sinan Petrus Toma showed how to loop:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ while :; do $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli query job -jobid <job ID>; sleep 10; done

However, I prefer to get more details, so I tail the ZDM log file instead. This little one-liner finds the newest file and tails it:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ tail -n 50 -f "`ls -td /u01/app/oracle/chkbase/scheduled/*log | head -1`"

And I get this level of detail:

zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:19:50.317Z : Starting zero downtime migrate operation ...
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:19:53.445Z : Executing phase ZDM_GET_SRC_INFO
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:19:53.446Z : Retrieving information from source node "srchost" ...
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:19:53.447Z : retrieving information about database "SALES_fra3fw" ...
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:02.743Z : Execution of phase ZDM_GET_SRC_INFO completed
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:02.826Z : Executing phase ZDM_GET_TGT_INFO
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:02.827Z : Retrieving information from target node "tgthost" ...
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:12.197Z : Determined value for parameter TGT_DATADG is '+DATA'
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:12.198Z : Determined value for parameter TGT_REDODG is '+RECO'
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:12.198Z : Determined value for parameter TGT_RECODG is '+RECO'
zdmhost: 2021-06-03T07:20:12.203Z : Execution of phase ZDM_GET_TGT_INFO completed

Eventually, I end up with a successful evaluation:

Start Migration

When the evaluation passes, I can start the real migration. I am re-using the same command line, but I have removed the -eval option. Instead – and this is important – I am using -pauseafter to tell ZDM to pause the migration, just before the switchover takes place. Downtime has not started yet. The database is still open for business, but ZDM will copy the data and configure Data Guard:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli migrate database \
   -rsp /home/zdmuser/physical_online.rsp \
   -sourcenode srchost \
   -sourcedb SALES_fra3fw \
   -srcauth zdmauth \
   -srcarg1 user:opc \
   -srcarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/srchost_key_file \
   -srcarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targetnode tgthost \
   -tgtauth zdmauth \
   -tgtarg1 user:opc \
   -tgtarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/tgthost_key_file \
   -tgtarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targethome /u01/app/oracle/product/12.1.0.2/dbhome_1 \
   -backupuser "daniel.overby.hansen@oracle.com" \
   -pauseafter ZDM_CONFIGURE_DG_SRC

Again, I have to input the passwords as in eval mode. Use the job ID to monitor the progress or tail the log file. Note down the job ID. I need it later on to resume the migration.

When ZDM completes the phase ZDM_CONFIGURE_DG_SRC it will pause and wait. I can verify it with zdmcli query job:

Now the standby database has been built in OCI. Redo gets transferred from my source database to the target database in OCI and is applied (see appendix D for monitoring queries). Also, this is a good time to test your new database.

Complete Migration

Now it is time to finalize the migration and switch over to the OCI target database. All I need to do, is to resume the paused ZDM job. I use the job ID that was created when I started the migration:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli resume job -jobid <job ID>

ZDM will now ensure that all redo is sent and applied before switching over to the OCI target database. Again, I use the zdmcli query job command to monitor the progress and I can tail the log file. After a short while the migration completes.

That’s it. I have now migrated into OCI!

I have a few post-migration tasks to carry out:

Configure automatic backup
Protect my new OCI database with a Data Guard in OCI
Take a peek at the alert log (just be sure)

Appendix

A – RAC Databases

If your source or target database is a RAC database, then you only need access to one of the nodes. Select the node that you want to use and use the host name and SSH keys to that host. Also, ensure that the IP address you are using is not the floating one (VIP). In OCI that is referred to as the private IP.

B – Response File

Allow me to put some comments on the values:

Setting	Comment
DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM	When migrating to a DB System in OCI `OSS` is the only option. It is also the default value, so I could omit the parameter. The other options are applicable for Exadata Cloud at Customer and Exadata on-prem.
HOST	Getting the right URL for the HOST parameter might be a little tricky, but check the documentation. In my demo I use the Frankfurt data center, and, thus, the region is set to eu-frankfurt-1. Visit the API documentation for a list of regions. Use OCI CLI and `oci os ns get` to find the tenancy object storage namespace. Alternatively, in the OCI Console (the web page) open the Profile menu and click Tenancy: <your tenancy name>. The namespace string is listed under Object Storage Settings. To read more about have a look at the OCI documentation. Thanks to Bartlomiej Sowa for putting in a comment with this information – much appreciated!
OPC_CONTAINER	The OCI Object Storage bucket that will be used as a staging area for the backup of the source database. I recommend using a separate bucket for each migration. It makes it a lot easier to clean up afterwards.
PLATFORM_TYPE	`VMDB` covers Virtual Machine and Bare Metal DB Services. It is also the default value, so I could omit the parameter.
SHUTDOWN_SRC	I choose to shut down the source database to ensure no one uses it unintentionally after the migration.
SKIP_FALLBACK	To make my demo simple I choose not to configure fallback. Remember falling back to the source database requires a license for Advanced Security Option or setting the paramete `TABLESPACE_ENCRYPTION` correctly.
TGT_DB_UNIQUE_NAME	The `DB_UNIQUE_NAME` of the target placeholder database. It must be different than that of the source database.

C – Backup Strategy

During a migration with ZDM, you should keep your regular backup strategy. Keep doing the same backups as you did before. But avoid having ZDM backups and regular backups run at the same time. Also, if you are dealing with a RAC database be sure to put the snapshot control file on shared storage. Otherwise, you might get ORA-00245 errors during backups.

D – Monitoring

Use these queries to monitor the redo apply. On source/primary database:

SELECT 
   host_name, instance_name, db_unique_name, status, database_role, open_mode 
FROM 
   v$database, v$instance;
SELECT thread#, max(sequence#) FROM v$archived_log GROUP BY thread#;

Target/standby database:

SELECT 
   host_name, instance_name, db_unique_name, status, database_role, open_mode 
FROM 
   v$database, v$instance;
SELECT thread#, max(sequence#) FROM v$archived_log WHERE applied='YES' GROUP BY thread#;
--MRP process should be 'APPLYING_LOG'
SELECT process, status, sequence# FROM v$managed_standby;
SELECT * FROM v$archive_gap;

E – Troubleshooting

PRCZ-4001

If you run into this error:

PRCZ-4001 : failed to execute command "/bin/uname" using the privileged execution plugin "zdmauth" on nodes "doverbyh-zdm-tgt" within 120 seconds
PRCZ-2006 : Unable to establish SSH connection to node "doverbyh-zdm-tgt" to execute command "/bin/uname"
No more authentication methods available

Check your key files. They must be in RSA/PEM format (the private key must start with -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----).

ZDM_OBC_INSTALL_CREDENTIALS_INVALID

If you run into this error:

srchost: 07:08:00.000: Validating object store credentials..
srchost: <ERR_FILE><Facility>PRGO</Facility><ID>ZDM_OBC_INSTALL_CREDENTIALS_INVALID</ID></ERR_FILE>

Check your credentials to OCI. Remember when prompted for the password of your OCI account it is an auth token, not your password (even though the prompt text is misleading).

ZDM_GET_SRC_INFO

If the phase ends in PRECHECK_FAILED and there is no real clue about the error, ensure that the source database host is added to the known_hosts file on the ZDM service host. Also, you can verify connectivity by trying to log on via SSH:

[zdmuser@zdm]$ ssh -i <specified-key-file> opc@<name-of-source-host>

ZDM_GET_TGT_INFO

If the phase ends in PRECHECK_FAILED and there is no real clue about the error, ensure that the target database host is added to the known_hosts file on the ZDM service host.

[zdmuser@zdm]$ ssh -i <specified-key-file> opc@<name-of-target-host>

ZDM_SWITCHOVER_SRC

If the migration is stuck at the phase ZDM_SWITCHOVER_SRC and you see the following in the ZDM log file:

zdmhost213: 2022-05-10T18:01:22.565Z : Executing phase ZDM_SWITCHOVER_SRC
zdmhost213: 2022-05-10T18:01:22.566Z : Switching database SALES2_fra3cx on the source node srchost to standby role ...
zdmhost213: 2022-05-10T18:01:22.566Z : checking if source database is ready for switching role...
srchost: 2022-05-10T18:01:35.340Z : Validating database SALES2_fra3cx role is PRIMARY...
srchost: 2022-05-10T18:01:35.742Z : Validating database SALES2_fra3cx is in open mode...
srchost: 2022-05-10T18:01:36.144Z : Waiting for SALES2_fra3cx to catch up, this could take a few minutes...

Then proceed to primary and standby database and investigate whether there are any log shipping or log apply problems. The root cause can be many different things, for instance conflicts when negotiating network security options.

PRGZ-3420 / ZDM_MANIFEST_TO_CLOUD

Check the ZDM log file stored on the ZDM service host in $ZDM_BASE/chkbase/scheduled. If you find this error:

zdmhost213: 2022-05-10T18:20:34.330Z : Executing phase ZDM_MANIFEST_TO_CLOUD
zdmhost213: 2022-05-10T18:20:34.331Z : registering database "SALES2_OCI" to Oracle Cloud
tgthost: 2022-05-10T18:20:50.895Z : Updating DBAAS wallet keys ...
####################################################################
PRGZ-3420 : failed to modify keystore entry "oracle.security.client.password1" in wallet "/var/opt/oracle/dbaas_acfs/sales2/db_wallet".

The proceed to the target host and find the log file from that phase. It is located in $ORACLE_BASE/zdm/zdm_<target_db_unique_name>_<zdm_job_id>/zdm/log. Do a grep:

cd /u02/app/oracle/zdm/zdm_SALES2_OCI_12/zdm/log
grep "cloud registry" zdm_manifest_to_cloud_*.log

If you find the following lines in the log file:

grep "Error: Missing cloud registry" zdm_manifest_to_cloud_*.log
zdm_manifest_to_cloud_337115.log:Error: Missing cloud registry file SALES2.ini
zdm_manifest_to_cloud_337115.log:Error: Missing cloud registry file SALES2.ini

You have most likely used the wrong case of DB_NAME on the target database. You choose that in the OCI console in the field Database name. In this case, DB_NAME in source database is SALES2, but I had incorrectly used sales2 (lowercase) for the target database. Normally, DB_NAME is case insensitive, and it is to the database itself. But the OCI cloud tooling is not case insensitive. Looking in /var/opt/oracle/creg on the target database, I can find a file called sales2.ini but ZDM is looking for SALES2.ini. How do you solve this? If this is a test database, then scratch everything and start all over. But bear in mind that the switchover has already taken place, and the OCI database is now the primary database. For a production database this is tricky. First, the database has been migrated to OCI. It works. All your data is fine on the target database. But the OCI cloud tooling does not work properly. You need to open a SR and get assistance from support.

PRGO-4086 : failed to query the "VALUE" details from the view "V$ARCHIVE_GAP" for database "target_db_name"

If the switchover fails during this query:

select count(*) from v$archive_gap

And your target database is 11.2.0.4 or 12.1.0.2, you have hit bug 18411339 (Low performance or ORA-1220 for query on V$ARCHIVE_GAP on 11.2.0.4 or later release). Apply the patch on the target database and retry the ZDM migration. You can also open the target database before you start the switchover process (requires Active Data Guard because redo apply must be on). The above query fails only when the standby database (the target database) is mounted. It works fine on an open database.

Zero Downtime Migration – Physical Online Migration

You can migrate a database with Zero Downtime Migration (ZDM) using the Physical Online method. A standby database is built in OCI and kept in sync via redo apply. At your will, a switchover is all it takes to complete the migration. This way even very large databases can be migrated with no or very little downtime.

With the Physical Online method, you can target:

Virtual Machine DB System
Bare Metal DB System
Exadata DB System (ExaCS)
Exadata Cloud at Customer (ExaCC)
Exadata (on-prem)

Since the method uses Data Guard as the migration vehicle, this can only be only with Enterprise Edition databases.

Benefits

Personally, I like this approach because it builds on technology that most of us know already. Data Guard is heavily in use in most organizations. Although ZDM does all the heavy lifting, it is nice to know what happens underneath the hood.
To complete the migration all you need is a regular Data Guard switchover (which ZDM also takes care of). A switchover operation ensures that there will be no data loss at all. In addition, if you have a properly configured application, it won’t experience downtime. Just a brown-out while the switchover takes place.
This method has an excellent fallback possibility. When you switch over to the OCI database, the redo flow is reversed. Now, the on-prem database is a standby database, and it is kept in sync via redo from the OCI database. For those with Advanced Security Option special attention is needed. Read more about it later on.
You migrate the entire database. All the internals are brought to the cloud as well. This includes:
- AWR
- SQL Plan Baseline
- SQL Profiles
- Public objects
- Etc.
The initial backup of the source, on-prem database will use RMAN Compression. It will drastically reduce the size of the backup, and thus the amount of data that you must transport to the cloud. And the really good thing: ZDM can use RMAN Compression even if you don’t have a license for the Advanced Compression Option. Check the documentation for details on the restricted use license.
You can customize the RMAN backup. You know your system best, so it is possible to tweak the number of RMAN channels used and the compression algorithm applied. Default is 10 and medium.
When ZDM takes the full backup of your source database (Exadata on-prem and ExaCC excluded), it uses Oracle Database Cloud Backup Module for OCI to allocate a special sbt channel. The backup is sent directly to OCI Object Storage. Thus, you don’t need any additional disk space on your source system to hold the backup. The same applies on the target system.
When migrating to ExaCC or Exadata on-prem you can use an existing backup. Use the response file option DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM=EXTBACKUP. Also, if you have a Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance (ZDLRA) you can restore directly from it, without taking a full backup first. If you are migrating to any other platform, ZDM will need to take a full backup as part of the workflow.
The standby database is kept in sync via redo apply. This means that there are no restrictions in supported data types. Further, DDL in any form is supported and even with a heavy workload on the primary database, your standby database should be able to keep up.
You can migrate to a higher patch level. ZDM will automatically invoke datapatch for you on the OCI database. But you must handle the on-prem database yourself. After switching over to the OCI database and datapatch has been executed, you should patch the on-prem Oracle Home to the same patch level.

Considerations

You can migrate to the same version only. This is a restriction of Data Guard. If you also need to upgrade the database, then you must do that after the migration. But it will incur additional downtime.
The same applies to PDB conversion. ZDM can run the noncdb_to_pdb.sql script for you. But that will incur downtime as well. If you decide to convert to PDB, you need to develop an alternate fallback plan (which is Data Pump or Transportable Tablespaces). The PDB conversion is irreversible, and your on-prem database will be useless as a fallback option.
It is not possible to migrate between editions.
The entire database is migrated. I listed this as a benefit as well, but it has a flipside as well. It is not possible to perform any transformation during the migration, e.g. converting any old BasicFile LOBs to SecureFile LOBs. Also, you bring over any old baggage in your database. Sometimes it is nice to start from scratch because garbage tends to accumulate in a database over time.
If you have a Standard Edition database, you can’t use Physical Online method. Only the Physical Offline is supported.
You can’t configure Automatic backup on your target database until after the migration has been completed.
If you need to protect your OCI database with Data Guard, then you must build the standby database after the migration has been completed. Normally, you would use a cascading standby database to keep the target database protected by Data Guard even after the migration has been completed. But currently the OCI tooling does not support that option.
If your source database is not encrypted, you must create a keystore that can be used later on for TDE Tablespace Encryption. The keystore is created in the source database with no downtime, and you don’t need a separate license just for creating a keystore. You do not have to actually encrypt your source database until it reaches the cloud.

Fallback

Using this approach, you have a great fallback option. When you switch over to the OCI database, then the redo flow is reversed and the source, on-prem database is now the standby database. If you need to fallback, simply issue another switchover (you could call that a switchback) and start to use the on-prem database again – with no data loss. See step 5 in MAA Practices for Cloud Migration Using ZDM (Doc ID 2562063.1).

There is a catch, however. The OCI database is encrypted using TDE Tablespace Encryption. Any redo generated for an encrypted tablespace is also encrypted. This means that the on-prem database must be able to decrypt the redo before it can be applied. This can happen in two ways:

You have a license the Advanced Security Option.
You tell the on-prem database to decrypt the redo and apply it to unencrypted tablespaces.
- On-prem database:
```
SQL> alter system set tablespace_encryption=decrypt_only;
```
- OCI database:
```
SQL> alter system set tablespace_encryption=auto_enable;
```

Conclusion

Using the Physical Online method in ZDM is a straight-forward way of migrating your database to OCI. It uses Data Guard which is very familiar to most of us. The method does, however, have some limitations, and you can’t target Autonomous Databases.

Want to Know More

If you want to know more about migrations in general, I suggest that you take a look at our webinar Migration Strategies – Insights, Tips and Secrets

In addition, these links contain additional useful information:

Zero Downtime Migration – Logical Online Migration to DBCS

Let me show you how you can migrate an Oracle Database into OCI. My source database is a PDB running on 12.1.0.2. I want to migrate it directly into a 19c CDB. I will show you:

import via dump file and object storage
import via database link

This procedure can be used to migrate to:

VM DB Systems
Bare Metal DB Systems
Exadata DB System (ExaCS)

Prerequisites

I need a ZDM service host. I already blogged about how to create such. The computer is called zdmhost and the user is called zdmuser.
My source database is a PDB called srcpdb, the CDB is called srccdb, and the host is named srchost. All my data is in the schema SH.
I have already created a GoldenGate hub as described in this blog post. It is called ogg19cora.
I want to migrate to a VM DB System, and it is already created. I name it tgthost, the CDB is named tgtcdb and the PDB is named tgtpdb. You can name it whatever you want. Be sure to use ASM as your storage management software.

Prepare Source

My source database is a PDB. I need to prepare the PDB and CDB$ROOT. If you have a non-CDB perform all the steps in your non-CDB unless otherwise written.

First, I prepare the database for GoldenGate replication:

alter session set container=CDB$ROOT;
alter database force logging;
alter database add supplemental log data;
alter system set enable_goldengate_replication=true scope=both;
--At least 2GB
alter system set streams_pool_size=2g scope=both;
alter system set global_names=false;

Create a common user for GoldenGate in CDB$ROOT. Skip this step for non-CDBs:

alter session set container=CDB$ROOT;
create user c##ggadmin identified by <my_secret_pwd> default tablespace users temporary tablespace temp;
grant connect, resource to c##ggadmin;
grant unlimited tablespace to c##ggadmin;
grant select any dictionary to c##ggadmin;
grant create view to c##ggadmin;
grant execute on dbms_lock to c##ggadmin;
exec dbms_goldengate_auth.grant_admin_privilege('c##ggadmin',container=>' all');

Create a user for GoldenGate:

alter session set container=SRCPDB;
create user ggadmin identified by <my_secret_pwd> default tablespace users temporary tablespace temp;
grant connect, resource to ggadmin;
grant unlimited tablespace to ggadmin;
grant select any dictionary to ggadmin;
grant create view to ggadmin;
grant execute on dbms_lock to ggadmin;
exec dbms_goldengate_auth.grant_admin_privilege('ggadmin');

Generate a list of tablespaces that must exist in the target database. Add all schemas to the in-list:

alter session set container=SRCPDB;
select distinct tablespace_name
from (
      select distinct tablespace_name from dba_segments where owner in ('SH')
      union
      select distinct default_tablespace from dba_users where username in ('SH')
      union
      select distinct tablespace_name from dba_ts_quotas where dropped = 'NO' and username in ('SH')
      );

Optional. The best starting point for Data Pump is good and accurate dictionary statistics. This helps Data Pump extract the information as fast as possible:

exec dbms_stats.gather_dictionary_stats;

Via Dump File

I need to create a directory that can be used by Data Pump:

[oracle@srchost]$ mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/datapump/mydirsrc

Prepare Target

The target database must use a timezone file version that is equal to or higher than the source:

alter session set container=tgtpdb;
select * from v$timezone_file;

Prepare the database for GoldenGate replication:

alter session set container=CDB$ROOT;
alter system set enable_goldengate_replication=true scope=both;

Create a user for GoldenGate:

alter session set container=tgtpdb;
create user ggadmin identified by <my_secret_pwd> default tablespace users temporary tablespace temp;
grant connect, resource to ggadmin;
grant unlimited tablespace to ggadmin;
grant select any dictionary to ggadmin;
grant create view to ggadmin;
grant execute on dbms_lock to ggadmin;
exec dbms_goldengate_auth.grant_admin_privilege('ggadmin');

Allow the GoldenGate user to perform DML (see appendix A):

alter session set container=tgtpdb;
grant insert any table to ggadmin;
grant update any table to ggadmin;
grant delete any table to ggadmin;

I ensure that the list of tablespaces I found in the source database, exist in the target database. If some are missing, I create them. Also, I will extend the data files in advance, so the size is pretty close to the expected end size. For new tablespaces I set the initial size of the data files. If the data files are too small, I will waste a lot of time during import to auto-extend. If I make them too big, I potentially waste space:

alter database datafile '...' resize 100G;
create tablespace ... size 100G ...;

Via Dump File

I need to create a directory that can be used by Data Pump. It will hold the Data Pump dump files and logs:

[oracle@tgthost]$ mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/datapump/mydirtgt

Via DB Link

When I use a DB link, ZDM insists on using the built-in directory called DATA_PUMP_DIR. I ensure that the database directory exist. Also, I verify that the directory exist in the file system:

select directory_path from dba_directories where directory_name='DATA_PUMP_DIR';

I will do the import directly over a database link. In that case, the target host must be able to resolve the host name of my source database host:

[root@tgthost]$ echo "<source IP address> srchost" >> /etc/hosts

Prepare ZDM

The ZDM service host must be able to resolve the host names of the source and target database host and the GoldenGate hub:

[root@zdmhost]$ echo "<source IP address> srchost" >> /etc/hosts
[root@zdmhost]$ echo "<target IP address> tgthost" >> /etc/hosts
[root@zdmhost]$ echo "<GoldenGate IP address> ogg19cora" >> /etc/hosts

I put my private SSH keys to the source and target database host into ~/.ssh directory. Ensure permissions are set properly:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp srchost_key_file ~/.ssh
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ chmod 400 ~/.ssh/srchost_key_file 
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp tgthost_key_file ~/.ssh
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ chmod 400 ~/.ssh/tgthost_key_file

Test the connection. I connect as opc, but you might have a different user. Read more about access to the database host in the documentation:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/srchost_key_file opc@srchost date
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ ssh -i ~/.ssh/tgthost_key_file opc@tgthost date

If you have configured a proper certificate on your GoldenGate hub, you can jump to the next chapter. If not, read on.

When deployed the GoldenGate hub comes with a self-signed certificate. ZDM will complain about it, because it is considered insecure. For migrations that involve real data, you should use a proper certificate on your GoldenGate hub to ensure your migration is secure. But for tests and demos you might want to disregard the security warning. If so, you can add the self-signed certificate as a trusted one to the Java JDK’s certificate store ($ZDM_HOME/jdk/jre/lib/security/cacerts). You find instructions on how to do so in the MOS support note Zero Downtime Migration – GoldenGate Hub Certificate Known Issues (Doc ID 2768483.1). Use the same host that you added to /etc/hosts.

For your reference, this is the error that ZDM will throw if the certificate is not trusted:

Verifying status of Oracle GoldenGate Microservices at URL "https://..."
PRGZ-1136 : failed to verify configuration and status of Oracle GoldenGate Microservices at URL "https://..."
PRGG-1008 : failed to retrieve detailed information for the health of the Service Manager on Oracle GoldenGate hub "https://..."
PRGG-1001 : HTTP GET request "https://.../services/v2/config/health" failed.
javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
unable to find valid certification path to requested target

Prepare Response File

I will use a template response file as the basis for my response file:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cp $ZDM_HOME/rhp/zdm/template/zdm_logical_template.rsp ~/logical_online.rsp
[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ cmod 700 ~/logical_online.rsp

Via Dump Files

This is the response file that I end up with (see appendix E for an explanation):

MIGRATION_METHOD=ONLINE_LOGICAL
DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM=OSS

SOURCEDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
SOURCEDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=GGADMIN
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=srchost
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=srcpdb....oraclevcn.com
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=C##GGADMIN
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=srchost
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=SRCCDB_fra3dd....oraclevcn.com

TARGETDATABASE_OCID=ocid1.database.oc1.eu-frankfurt-1....
TARGETDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
TARGETDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=GGADMIN
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=tgthost
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=tgtpdb....oraclevcn.com

OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_TENANTID=ocid1.tenancy.oc1....
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_USERID=ocid1.user.oc1....
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_FINGERPRINT=58:b9:...
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_PRIVATEKEYFILE=/home/zdmuser/.oci/oci_api_key.pem
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_REGIONID=eu-frankfurt-1

GOLDENGATEHUB_ADMINUSERNAME=oggadmin
GOLDENGATEHUB_URL=https://ogg19cora....oraclevcn.com
GOLDENGATEHUB_SOURCEDEPLOYMENTNAME=Source
GOLDENGATEHUB_TARGETDEPLOYMENTNAME=Target
GOLDENGATEHUB_COMPUTEID=ocid1.instance.oc1.eu-frankfurt-1....

DATAPUMPSETTINGS_JOBMODE=SCHEMA
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_IMPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE=2
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_EXPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE=2
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_IMPORTDIRECTORYOBJECT_NAME=MYDIRTGT
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_IMPORTDIRECTORYOBJECT_PATH=/u01/app/oracle/datapump/mydirtgt
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_EXPORTDIRECTORYOBJECT_NAME=MYDIRSRC
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_EXPORTDIRECTORYOBJECT_PATH=/u01/app/oracle/datapump/mydirsrc
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATABUCKET_BUCKETNAME=zdm-staging
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATABUCKET_NAMESPACENAME=oradbclouducm
INCLUDEOBJECTS-1=owner:SH

Via DB Link

This is the response file that I end up with (see appendix E for an explanation):

MIGRATION_METHOD=ONLINE_LOGICAL
DATA_TRANSFER_MEDIUM=DBLINK

SOURCEDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
SOURCEDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=GGADMIN
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=srchost
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=srcpdb....oraclevcn.com
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=C##GGADMIN
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=srchost
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=SRCCDB_fra3dd....oraclevcn.com

TARGETDATABASE_OCID=ocid1.database.oc1.eu-frankfurt-1....
TARGETDATABASE_ADMINUSERNAME=SYSTEM
TARGETDATABASE_GGADMINUSERNAME=GGADMIN
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_HOST=tgthost
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_PORT=1521
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME=tgtpdb....oraclevcn.com

OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_TENANTID=ocid1.tenancy.oc1....
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_USERID=ocid1.user.oc1....
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_FINGERPRINT=58:b9:...
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_PRIVATEKEYFILE=/home/zdmuser/.oci/oci_api_key.pem
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_REGIONID=eu-frankfurt-1

GOLDENGATEHUB_ADMINUSERNAME=oggadmin
GOLDENGATEHUB_URL=https://ogg19cora....oraclevcn.com
GOLDENGATEHUB_SOURCEDEPLOYMENTNAME=Source
GOLDENGATEHUB_TARGETDEPLOYMENTNAME=Target
GOLDENGATEHUB_COMPUTEID=ocid1.instance.oc1.eu-frankfurt-1....

DATAPUMPSETTINGS_JOBMODE=SCHEMA
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_IMPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE=2
INCLUDEOBJECTS-1=owner:SH

Perform Evaluation

I am now ready to perform a migration evaluation. It is a dry run of the migration and performs various sanity checks. Nothing is changed during the evaluation:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli migrate database \
   -rsp /home/zdmuser/logical_online.rsp \
   -sourcenode srchost \
   -sourcedb SRCCDB_fra3dd \
   -srcauth zdmauth \
   -srcarg1 user:opc \
   -srcarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/srchost_key_file \
   -srcarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targetnode tgthost \
   -tgtauth zdmauth \
   -tgtarg1 user:opc \
   -tgtarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/tgthost_key_file \
   -tgtarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -eval

A few comments:

sourcenode and targetnode are the host names of the source and target database host. Those names must be resolvable which I why I put them into /etc/hosts already.
sourcedb is the DB_UNIQUE_NAME of the source database.
srcarg1 is the name of the user that I connect as to the source database host. You might need to change that.
srcarg2 and tgtarg2 is the location of the private key file that I use to connect via SSH.

Next, I am prompted for various passwords and I also get a job ID.

The migration evaluation is then started, and I can use the job ID to monitor it:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli query job -jobid <job ID>

My colleague Sinan Petrus Toma showed how to loop:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ while :; do $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli query job -jobid <job ID>; sleep 10; done

However, I prefer to get more details, so I tail the ZDM log file instead. This little one-liner finds the newest file and tails it:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ tail -n 50 -f "`ls -td /u01/app/oracle/chkbase/scheduled/*log | head -1`"

And I get this level of detail:

zdmhost: 2021-05-28T06:25:25.518Z : Executing phase ZDM_PRE_MIGRATION_ADVISOR
zdmhost: 2021-05-28T06:25:31.883Z : Source PDB name : SRCPDB
zdmhost: 2021-05-28T06:25:32.410Z : Running CPAT (Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool) on the source node srchost ...
zdmhost: 2021-05-28T06:25:38.533Z : Premigration advisor output:
Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool Version 21.0.0
Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool completed with overall result: WARNING
Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool generated report location: /u01/app/oracle/zdm/zdm_SRCCDB_fra3dd_6/out/premigration_advisor_report.json

Start Migration

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli migrate database \
   -rsp /home/zdmuser/logical_online.rsp \
   -sourcenode srchost \
   -sourcedb SRCCDB_fra3dd \
   -srcauth zdmauth \
   -srcarg1 user:opc \
   -srcarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/srchost_key_file \
   -srcarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -targetnode tgthost \
   -tgtauth zdmauth \
   -tgtarg1 user:opc \
   -tgtarg2 identity_file:/home/zdmuser/.ssh/tgthost_key_file \
   -tgtarg3 sudo_location:/usr/bin/sudo \
   -pauseafter ZDM_MONITOR_GG_LAG

Again, I have to input the passwords as in eval mode. Use the job ID to monitor the progress or tail the log file. Note down the job ID. I need it later on to resume the migration.

When ZDM completes the phase ZDM_MONITOR_GG_LAG it will pause and wait. I can verify it with zdmcli query job:

My data has been imported to the target database in OCI, GoldenGate has been configured, and my changes are being replicated. I can monitor the replication by logging on to the GoldenGate hub.

Important: Now, I strongly recommend that you take care of the statistics in your target database:

Gather dictionary statistics (DBMS_STATS.GATHER_DICTIONARY_STATS). After the import the data dictionary is now full of a lot of new data – the metadata about your tables and other objects. To ensure a smooth running database, gather dictionary statistics.
Decide on what to do about statistics on user objects as described in this blog post.

Complete Migration

Now it is time to finalize the migration and switch over to the OCI target database. All I need to do, is to resume the paused ZDM job. I use the job ID that was created when I started the migration:

[zdmuser@zdmhost]$ $ZDM_HOME/bin/zdmcli resume job -jobid <job ID>

ZDM will now ensure that all changes are replicated before switching over to the OCI target database. Again, I use the zdmcli query job command to monitor the progress and I can tail the log file. After a short while the migration completes.

That’s it. I have now migrated into OCI! And my new database is running Oracle Database 19c in addition.

I have a few post-migration tasks to carry out:

I prefer to shut down the source database to ensure that use it anymore.
ZDM will remove the GoldenGate configuration, but I need to disable the replication in the database: alter system set enable_goldengate_replication=false scope=both;.

Finally, I would recommend that you take a look at Logical Migration and the Final Touches. A few pointers that can make your migration even more successful.

Appendix

A – GoldenGate user privileges

When GoldenGate is replicating changes into the target database, it does so as a regular database user. Thus, it must have privileges to perform DML and DDL on the appropriate schemas. There is a number of ways to do that.

I granted INSERT ANY, UPDATE ANY, and DELETE ANY which will allow me to perform DML in any schema. But that does not cover DDL. If I want to cover that as well there is a number of similar ANY privileges that I would need to grant, like CREATE ANY TABLE, CREATE ANY INDEX and so forth.

But it is discouraged to perform DDL statements during the replication. By default, ZDM does not configure DDL replication. If you want to replicate DDL you need to use the response file parameter GOLDENGATESETTINGS_REPLICATEDDL=true.

Other customers prefer an easier solution and grant PDB_DBA role (or DBA in a non-CDB). Connor McDonald also blogged about a procedure to perform schema grant. If you need inspiration you can have a look at the GGADMIN user in an Autonomous Database. It has PDB_DBA role amongst others.

In the end it comes down to preferences and security regulations in your organization.

B – Update Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool

As part of the migration ZDM will use the Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool (CPAT) to check your source database. The version of CPAT that ships with ZDM is not the latest one. So, you might be missing out on bug fixes and new recommendations. If you want to get the latest and greatest recommendations, I suggest that you manually update the CPAT tool in your ZDM home. You can find instructions in the MOS note Cloud Premigration Advisor Tool (CPAT) Analyzes Databases for Suitability of Cloud Migration (Doc ID 2758371.1)

C – Ignore Certain Data Pump Errors

If there is an error in either your Data Pump export or import, then ZDM will error out. But by default, ZDM will ignore the following errors:

ORA-31684: Object type string already exists
ORA-39111: Dependent object type string skipped, base object type string already exists
ORA-39082 Object type string created with compilation warnings

If you know that your data exports or imports with a specific error and you want to ignore it then you can add your own errors. Please get in touch with My Oracle Support for details.

D – RAC Databases

If your source or target database is a RAC database, then you only need access to one of the nodes. Select the node that you want to use and use the host name and SSH keys to that host.

E – Response File

Allow me to put some comments on the values:

Setting	Comment
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATABUCKET_BUCKETNAME	Name of the bucket in OCI Object Storage that will be used as a staging area. I recommend using a separate and dedicated bucket for each migration
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATABUCKET_NAMESPACENAME	This is your Object Storage Namespace. You find it in the OCI Console, Administration > Tenancy Details
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_EXPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE	For on-prem databases set to number of physical cores x 2. For OCI databases set to number of OCPUs. Standard Edition does not allow parallel, so set to `1`
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_DATAPUMPPARAMETERS_IMPORTPARALLELISMDEGREE	Set to the number of OCPUs. Standard Edition does not allow parallel, so set to `1`
DATAPUMPSETTINGS_JOBMODE	I recommend using `SCHEMA`. Each schema to import is specified in a separate parameter, `INCLUDEOBJECTS-n`
GOLDENGATEHUB_ADMINUSERNAME	Remember the usernames in GoldenGate are case sensitive
GOLDENGATEHUB_SOURCEDEPLOYMENTNAME	The name of the source deployment in GoldenGate hub. If you went with the default value, it should be Source
GOLDENGATEHUB_TARGETDEPLOYMENTNAME	The name of the target deployment in GoldenGate hub. If you went with the default value, it should be Target
GOLDENGATEHUB_URL	Construct the URL by using the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), e.g. https://ogg19cora.subx.oraclevcn.com
INCLUDEOBJECTS-n	Specify each schema in a separate parameter, example: `INCLUDEOBJECTS-1=owner:SH` and `INCLUDEOBJECTS-2=owner:OE`
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_FINGERPRINT	This is the fingerprint of the API keys that you used to configure OCI CLI on the ZDM service host. You can find the fingerprint in the OCI Console. Go to Identify > Users > User Details > API Keys
OCIAUTHENTICATIONDETAILS_USERPRINCIPAL_PRIVATEKEYFILE	This is the private key file that you used when you configured OCI CLI on the ZDM service host
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME	This is a service that connects directly into CDB$ROOT. I normally use `lsnrctl status` to find the name of the service
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME	This is a service that connects directly into CDB$ROOT. I normally use `lsnrctl status` to find the name of the service
SOURCECONTAINERDATABASE_	The settings apply to my source CDB. If you have a non-CDB simply remove these settings
SOURCEDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME	This is a service that connects directly into the source PDB (or non-CDB). I normally use `lsnrctl status` to find the name of the service
SOURCEDATABASE_	These settings apply to my source PDB. Or, to your non-CDB
TARGETDATABASE_CONNECTIONDETAILS_SERVICENAME	This is a service that connects directly into the target PDB. I normally use `lsnrctl status` to find the name of the service

F – Troubleshooting

If you forget to set global_names=false you might run into this error:

PRGD-1019 : creation of Data Pump job "..." with operation tyoe "IMPORT_ONLINE" failed
PRGD-1016 : stored procedure "DBMS_DATABASE.OPEN" execution as user ...
ORA-20000: Datapump: Unexpected error
ORA-06512: at line 1
ORA-39006: internal error
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_SYS_ERROR", line 79
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 4932
ORA-06512: at "SYS.DBMS_DATAPUMP", line 6844
ORA-06512: at line 1

Before Migration

Statistics

Data

Migration

Parallel

Data Pump Mode

SecureFile LOB

After Migration

Statistics

Further Reading

Conclusion

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Background

ZDM and Data Pump

Regather

Transferring Statistics

Conclusion

Appendix

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Flashback Database

Flashback Database – How To

Restore

Restore – How To

Clone

Clone – How To

Conclusion

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Existing Data Guard

The Backup

Redo Apply

Backup of Target Database

Data Guard on Target Database

Conclusion

Other Blog Posts in This Series

BasicFile LOBs

SecureFile LOBs

Concept

How

Manual

Manual on RAC

Data Guard Broker

Conclusion

Other Blog Posts in This Series

More Details, Please

Target Environment

It’s A Wrap

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Prerequisites

Prepare Source

Prepare Target

Prepare ZDM

Prepare Response File

Perform Evaluation

Start Migration

Complete Migration

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Appendix

A – RAC Databases

B – Response File

C – Backup Strategy

D – Monitoring

E – Troubleshooting

PRCZ-4001

ZDM_OBC_INSTALL_CREDENTIALS_INVALID

ZDM_GET_SRC_INFO

ZDM_GET_TGT_INFO

ZDM_SWITCHOVER_SRC

PRGZ-3420 / ZDM_MANIFEST_TO_CLOUD

PRGO-4086 : failed to query the "VALUE" details from the view "V$ARCHIVE_GAP" for database "target_db_name"

Benefits

Considerations

Fallback

Conclusion

Want to Know More

Other Blog Posts in This Series

Prerequisites

Prepare Source

Via Dump File

Prepare Target

Via Dump File