| Oracle® Database Installation Guide 10g Release 2 (10.2) for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) Part Number B14316-02 |
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| Oracle® Database Installation Guide 10g Release 2 (10.2) for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) Part Number B14316-02 |
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View PDF |
This chapter describes the different installation types of Oracle Database for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) and issues to consider before you install Oracle Database:
The Oracle Database installation process consists of six steps:
Read the release notes: Read the Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) release notes before you begin the installation. The release notes are available with the platform-specific documentation. The latest version of the release notes is available on Oracle Technology Network at:
Plan the installation: This overview chapter describes the Oracle products that you can install and issues that you must consider before starting the installation.
You also may want to refer to Appendix A, which covers frequently asked questions about installing Oracle Database components, such as how to install Oracle Database if your site uses Oracle applications or if you need multiple Oracle Database client connections.
If you plan to perform multiple installations, see Appendix D for information about silent or noninteractive installations using response files, and cloning the Oracle home.
Complete preinstallation tasks: Chapter 2 describes tasks that you must complete before installing Oracle Database.
Install the software: Use the following sections to install Oracle Database:
Chapter 3 describes how to use Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) to install Oracle Database and Automatic Storage Management (ASM), as well as how to clone an Oracle home.
Appendix D describes how to perform silent or noninteractive installations using response files, which you may want to use if you need to perform multiple installations of Oracle Database.
Appendix B describes how to install Java Access Bridge, which enables a screen reader with Oracle components.
Appendix E describes how to install and use Oracle components in different languages.
Appendix G provides troubleshooting advice in case you encounter problems with the installation.
Chapter 6 describes how to remove Oracle Database.
Complete postinstallation tasks: Chapter 4 describes postinstallation tasks.
Get started using Oracle Database: Use the following sections to get started using Oracle Database:
Chapter 5 describes how to check the contents of the installed Oracle Database, how to start the database and various other Oracle tools, and how to locate various files.
"Cloning an Oracle Home" describes how you can clone an existing Oracle Database home.
Appendix C on the Optimal Flexible Architecture, which is a set of guidelines that ensure reliable Oracle installations that require little maintenance.
Appendix E describes globalization support information.
Appendix F explains how to manage Oracle Database port numbers.
You can choose one of the following installation types when installing Oracle Database 10g:
Enterprise Edition: Installs licensable Oracle Database options, and database configuration and management tools in addition to all of the products that are installed during a Standard Edition installation. It also installs products most commonly used for data warehousing and transaction processing.
Standard Edition: Installs an integrated set of management tools, full distribution, replication, Web features, and facilities for building business-critical applications.
Note:
If you purchased a Standard Edition license, and you perform a Custom installation, ensure that you install only the components covered by the Standard Edition license.Personal Edition: Installs the same software as the Enterprise Edition installation type, but supports only a single user development and deployment environment that requires full compatibility with Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition. Oracle Real Application Clusters is not installed with Personal Edition.
Note:
Oracle9i Release 1 (9.0.1.1.1) was the terminal release for Personal Edition on Windows 98.Custom: Enables you to select the individual components that you want to install from the list of all available components.
Note:
Oracle Database Client is installed separately. You cannot install Oracle Database Client during an Oracle Database installation.See Also:
Oracle Database Client Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for Oracle Database Client installation instructions
Oracle Database Licensing Information for more information about the features available with each Oracle Database edition and for information about licensing
There are two methods that you can use to install Oracle Database:
Basic: Select this installation method if you want to quickly install Oracle Database. This installation method requires minimal user input. It installs the software and optionally creates a general-purpose database using the information that you specify on this window. It is the default installation method.
Advanced: Select this installation method if you want to complete any of the following tasks:
Perform a custom software installation, in which you choose components individually, or choose a different database configuration
The Available Product Components installation window automatically selects the components most customers need in their Oracle Database installation. It also lists several components that are not selected by default, but which you may want to include. To find the listing of available components, select Advanced, and then in the Installation Type window, select Custom.
Select a database character set or different product languages
Create a database on a different file system from the software
Configure Automatic Storage Management (ASM) for database storage
Configure automated backups or Oracle Enterprise Manager notifications
This section provides information about Oracle Universal Installer and other concepts you should be aware of when you plan the installation.
Although the installation media in your media pack contain many Oracle components, you are permitted to use only those components for which you have purchased licenses.
Oracle Support Services does not provide support for components for which licenses have not been purchased.
See Also:
Oracle Database Licensing InformationIf you are experienced with installing Oracle components in UNIX environments, note that many manual setup tasks required on UNIX are not required on Windows. The key differences between UNIX and Windows installations are:
Startup and shutdown services
With Windows, Oracle Universal Installer creates and sets start-up and shutdown services at installation time. With UNIX systems, administrators are responsible for creating these services.
Environment variables
With Windows, Oracle Universal Installer sets environment variables such as PATH, ORACLE_BASE, ORACLE_HOME, and ORACLE_SID in the registry. In UNIX systems, you must manually set these environment variables.
DBA account for database administrators
With Windows, Oracle Universal Installer creates the ORA_DBA group. In UNIX systems, you must create the DBA account manually.
Account for running Oracle Universal Installer
With Windows, you log in with Administrator privileges. You do not need a separate account. With UNIX systems, you must create this account manually.
See Also:
"Oracle Database Windows/UNIX Differences" appendix of Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)The Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS) service synchronizes an Automatic Storage Management (ASM) instance and the database instances that rely on it for database file storage. By default, Oracle Universal Installer does not configure Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services; it only configures it if you select Automatic Storage Management as a storage or recovery option. Because Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services must be running before any Automatic Storage Management instance starts, Oracle Universal Installer configures it to start automatically when the system starts.
For Oracle Real Application Clusters installations, Oracle Universal Installer installs the CSS service with Oracle Clusterware in a separate Oracle home directory (also called the Oracle Clusterware home directory). For single-instance installations ( not Oracle Real Application Clusters), you can install and run the CSS service from either a separate Oracle home for Automatic Storage Management, or from the same Oracle home as Oracle Database. For a single-instance Oracle Database installation, you can install Oracle Clusterware either before or after the database installation.
If you have installed Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services from the same Oracle home as Oracle Database, use caution when removing Oracle Database software from the system. Before you remove an Oracle home directory that contains Oracle Database, you must either delete the CSS service configuration, or if necessary, reconfigure the CSS service to run from another Oracle home directory.
Note:
If you plan to have more than one Oracle Database installation on a single system and you want to use Automatic Storage Management for database file storage, Oracle recommends that you run the CSS service and the Automatic Storage Management instance from the same Oracle home directory and use different Oracle home directories for the database instances.Oracle Universal Installer is a Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) tool that enables you to install and remove Oracle software. Oracle Universal Installer provides the following capabilities:
Component and suite installations
Globalization support
Distributed installation support
Unattended silent installations using response files
Removal of installed components
Multiple Oracle homes support
Oracle Universal Installer can run a silent or noninteractive installation of Oracle software using response files. See Appendix D, "Installing and Configuring Oracle Database Using Response Files" for more information.
You cannot use the earlier Oracle Installer (shipped with releases 7.n and 8.0.n) to install components into an Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) Oracle home directory. Likewise, you cannot install Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) components into a release 7.n, 8.0.n, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, or 9.n Oracle home.
Oracle Universal Installer automatically installs the Oracle version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). This version is required to run Oracle Universal Installer and several Oracle assistants. Do not modify the JRE, unless doing so with a patch provided by OracleMetaLink. Visit the following site to find Oracle patches to download:
http://metalink.oracle.com/
When Oracle Universal Installer runs, it creates an OraHome_n directory, which keeps track of the components you are installing. Do not modify the contents of this directory. By default, this directory is located in on the same directory level as ORACLE_BASE\ORACLE_HOME.
See Also:
Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's GuideOracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide is included in your Oracle Documentation Library and is automatically installed on your hard drive during installation. To access this guide, from the Start menu, select Programs, then Oracle - ORACLE_HOME, then Oracle Installation Products, then Universal Installer Concepts Guide.
If you install Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) on a computer with no other Oracle software installed, Oracle Universal Installer creates an Oracle base directory for you. If Oracle software is already installed, then one or more Oracle base directories already exist. In the latter case, Oracle Universal Installer offers you a choice of Oracle base directories into which to install Oracle Database. You should install this release of Oracle Database into the same release used to create the existing Oracle base directory.
In a default Windows installation, the Oracle base directory appears as follows:
SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> oracle\product\10.2.0
You are not required to create an Oracle base directory before installation, but you can do so if you want. You can set the ORACLE_BASE environment variable to point to this directory, which Oracle Universal Installer will recognize.
Note:
You can choose to create a new Oracle base directory, even if other Oracle base directories exist on the system.This section covers the following topics:
The Oracle home directory is located under the Oracle base directory. For example, in a default Windows installation, if you name the Oracle home directory db_1, it appears in the Oracle base directory as follows:
SYSTEM_DRIVE:\> oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1
An Oracle home corresponds to the environment in which Oracle components run. This environment includes the following:
Location of installed component files
PATH variable pointing to binary files of installed components
Registry entries
Service names
Program groups
Oracle homes also have a name associated with them, which you specify along with their location during installation.
You can install all Oracle components in multiple Oracle homes on the same computer. However, some components can only support one active instance at a time. This means that the current (latest) installation renders the previous one inactive. These components are:
Note:
All Oracle Database version 7 components and all Oracle Database release 8.0.3 components cannot have multiple Oracle homes.Oracle Database supports multiple Oracle homes. This means that you can install this release or previous releases of the software more than once on the same system, in different Oracle home directories.
You must install this product into a new Oracle home directory. You cannot install products from one release of Oracle Database into an Oracle home directory of a different release. For example, you cannot install Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) software into an existing Oracle9i Oracle home directory. If you attempt to install this release into an Oracle home directory that contains software from an earlier Oracle release, the installation fails.
You can install this release more than once on the same system as long as each installation is installed in a separate Oracle home directory.
During the installation, you can create an Oracle database during the installation process. If you choose to create an Oracle database, Oracle Universal Installer uses Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to create it. You can create one of the preconfigured database types, which are designed for a variety of different applications, modify one of the preconfigured database types, or create a customized database to suit your own requirements.
Oracle provides the following preconfigured database types that you can create or customize during the installation:
See the online help provided by either Oracle Universal Installer or Oracle Database Configuration Assistant for a description of these preconfigured database types.
Oracle Universal Installer runs Oracle Database Configuration Assistant in one of two modes, depending on the choices that you make during the installation:
Noninteractive mode
If you choose the Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, or Personal Edition installation type, and then choose a preconfigured database type, Oracle Universal Installer prompts you for the minimum amount of information required to create a database of the type you choose. It then runs Oracle Database Configuration Assistant as a background process, using the default settings for information not covered during the initial prompting session, to create the database after it installs the software.
Note:
Oracle recommends that you use this method to create a database if you have not previously created one.Interactive mode
If you choose the custom installation type or the advanced database configuration option, Oracle Universal Installer does not prompt you for database information. Instead, it installs the software and then runs Oracle Database Configuration Assistant in interactive mode. Using the screens in Oracle Database Configuration Assistant, you can either modify one of the preconfigured database types or create a custom database and specify precisely how you want to configure it.
Note:
If you choose this method to create a database, click the Help button on any of the Oracle Database Configuration Assistant windows for a description of the information that you must specify on that window.If you decide not to create a database during the installation, you can use Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to create one after you have installed the software.
See Also:
Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for more information about using Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to create a database after installationIf you choose to create a database during the installation, you can specify one of three storage options for database files:
If you choose the file system option, Oracle Database Configuration Assistant creates the database files in a directory on a file system on your computer. Oracle recommends that the file system you choose be separate from the file systems used by the operating system or the Oracle software. The file system that you choose can be any of the following:
A file system on a disk that is physically attached to the system
If you are creating a database on basic disks that are not logical volumes or RAID devices, Oracle recommends that you follow the Optimal Flexible Architecture (OFA) recommendations described in Appendix C and distribute the database files over more than one disk.
A file system on a logical volume manager (LVM) volume or a RAID device
If you are using multiple disks in an LVM or RAID configuration, Oracle recommends that you use the stripe-and-mirror-everything (SAME) methodology to increase performance and reliability. Using this methodology, you do not need to specify more than one file system mounting point for database storage.
If you choose the custom installation type or the advanced database creation option, you can also choose to use the Oracle-managed files feature with the new database. If you use this feature, you need only specify the database object name instead of file names when creating or deleting database files.
See Also:
Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information about Oracle-managed filesAutomatic Storage Management (ASM) is a high-performance storage management solution for Oracle database files that makes most manual I/O performance tuning tasks unnecessary. It simplifies the management of a dynamic database environment, such as creating and laying out databases and managing disk space.
Automatic Storage Management works well with single database installations, multiple database installations, and in Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) environments. It can be used with databases created in Oracle Database 10g Release 1 (10.1); conversely, Oracle Database 10g Release 2 (10.2) databases can use ASM from Oracle Database 10g Release 1 (10.1.0.3 and later). If your site has multiple single-instance databases, you can use Oracle Clusterware to consolidate multiple islands of databases into a single clustered pool of storage managed by Automatic Storage Management. ASM manages the storage of all database files, such as redo logs, control files, data pump export files, and so on. (However, it does not manage the Oracle Database executable binary files.)
In a nutshell, to use Automatic Storage Management, you allocate partitioned disks to Oracle with preferences for striping and mirroring. Automatic Storage Management manages the disk space for you, thus eliminating the need for traditional disk management tools such as logical volume managers (LVM), file systems, and the numerous commands necessary to manage both. The synchronization between Automatic Storage Management and the database instance is handled by Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS).
Automatic Storage Management uses the following components:
ASM Disk Groups
A disk group is a set of disk devices that Automatic Storage Management manages as a single unit. Each disk device can be an individual physical disk, a multiple disk device such as a RAID storage array or a logical volume, or a partition on a physical disk. However, in most cases, disk groups consist of one or more individual physical disks. To enable Automatic Storage Management to balance I/O and storage appropriately within the disk group, make sure that all devices in the disk group have similar, if not identical, storage capacity and performance.
You can set the redundancy and striping attributes of individual file types within a disk group by using ASM disk group templates. When you create a disk group, Automatic Storage Management creates a set of default templates for that disk group. Default template settings depend on the disk group type. For example, the default template for control files for a normal redundancy disk group sets three-way mirroring. All other file templates are two-way mirrored. For a high redundancy disk group, the default mirroring cannot be changed; that is, all files are always three-way mirrored in a high redundancy disk group. You can modify the default templates to suit the unique needs of your site. See Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for more information.
Automatic Storage Management spreads data evenly across all of the devices in the disk group to optimize performance and utilization. You can add or remove disk devices from a disk group without shutting down the database. When you add or remove disks, Automatic Storage Management rebalances the files across the disk group. You can create multiple disk groups to handle specific tasks, such as backup and recovery operations, in addition to routine file storage activities.
When you add a device to a disk group, you can specify a failure group for that device. Failure groups identify disk devices that have common failure characteristics, for example, devices that are attached to the same controller. If the controller fails, then all devices attached to it become unavailable. By default, each device also belongs to its own failure group. By using the failure groups you specify, Automatic Storage Management can distribute data among the devices in the disk group to help minimize the risk of data loss caused by component failures.
ASM Instance
The ASM instance is a special Oracle instance that manages ASM disk groups. This instance must be in its own Oracle home and running before you can start a database instance that uses Automatic Storage Management. When you choose Automatic Storage Management as your database storage mechanism, this instance is created and started, if necessary. For a single-instance Oracle Database installation, you only need one ASM instance, regardless of the number of database instances on the computer. The ASM instance on any given node in a single cluster can handle any combination of disk group types.
To install Automatic Storage Management, you use Oracle Universal Installer. The following are the general steps for installing Automatic Storage Management:
Determine disk requirements for your site and if necessary, create one or more disk partitions for Automatic Storage Management.
"Preparing Disk Groups for an Automatic Storage Management Installation" provides guidelines on how to determine disk requirements for your site.
Run Oracle Universal Installer to install and create an ASM instance and to create one or more ASM disk groups that the ASM instance will manage.
"Step 1: Reviewing Automatic Storage Management Installation Considerations" provides advice on where to install ASM and other installation considerations. "Step 2: Creating the ASM Instance and ASM Disk Groups" describes how to create an ASM instance and disk groups.
After you have created an ASM instance and its associated disk groups, subsequent databases that you create will be able to use Automatic Storage Management for file storage management. If you have databases that were created before you installed ASM, you can migrate them to ASM by using the Enterprise Manager Migrate Database wizard. This wizard is available in Enterprise Manager Grid Control or Database Control. Alternatively, you can use Oracle Database Recovery Manager (RMAN) to perform the migration.
Create the databases that will use Automatic Storage Management.
"Step 3: Installing Oracle Database to Use with Automatic Storage Management" describes how to create and a database for Automatic Storage Management.
Test the Automatic Storage Management installation.
"Step 4: Testing the Automatic Storage Management Installation" provides a simple test to check that the ASM installation was successful.
"Managing Automatic Storage Management" explains how to start and access ASM and which Oracle database tools you can use to manage it.
See Also:
Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for a general overview, from a non-platform perspective, of Automatic Storage Management
Oracle Database New Features for information on new features in this release of Automatic Storage Management
Oracle Database Administrator's Guide for a more detailed description of Automatic Storage Management
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/asm for additional information on Automatic Storage Management from Oracle Technology Network
Oracle provides several utilities you can use to manage Oracle databases:
To simplify database administration, Oracle provides a Web-based management tool called Oracle Enterprise Manager.
There are two ways that you can deploy Oracle Enterprise Manager:
Deploy Oracle Enterprise Manager centrally in your environment.
To deploy Oracle Enterprise Manager centrally, you must install at least one Oracle Management Repository and one Oracle Management Service within your environment, then install an Oracle Enterprise Management Agent on every computer that you want to manage. You then can use a single HTML interface to manage and monitor software and hardware targets on all of those systems. Targets can include Oracle databases, application servers, Net listeners, and third-party software. This single interface is called Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control (or simply Grid Control).
Note:
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g is available separately on the Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control installation media.Deploy Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control locally on the database system.
Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control software is installed by default with every Oracle Database installation except Custom. During a Custom installation, you can choose not to install Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control. However, Oracle recommends that you install it. This local installation provides a Web-based interface called Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control. Database Control is similar in function to Grid Control, but it can manage only a single database. If you want to administer more than one database on this system, you must either configure a separate Database Control for each database, or install Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control.
See Also:
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Concepts and Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Installation and Basic Configuration for more information about Oracle Enterprise Manager 10gOracle Enterprise Manager Database Control, which is installed by default with Oracle Database, provides a Web-based user interface that you can use to monitor, administer, and maintain an Oracle database. You can use it to perform all of your database administration tasks. You can also use it to determine information about the database, such as:
Instance name, database version, Oracle home location, media recovery options, and other instance data
Current instance availability
Database alert information
Automatic notification of security alerts
Ability to apply patches
Session and SQL-related performance information
Space usage metrics
When you create a preconfigured database during the installation, you must select the Oracle Enterprise Manager interface that you want to use to manage the database. The following options are available:
Use Grid Control for central database management.
This option is available only if an Oracle Management Agent is installed on the system. When Oracle Universal Installer detects Oracle Management Agent on the system, you can choose this option and specify the Oracle Management Service that you want to use to manage the database.
If an Oracle Management Agent is not installed, you must use Database Control to manage the database. However, if you install Oracle Management Agent after you install Oracle Database, you can use Grid Control to manage this database.
Use Database Control for local database management.
This option is selected by default if an Oracle Management Agent is not installed on the system. However, even if a Management Agent is installed, you can still configure Database Control to manage the database.
If you choose the Advanced database configuration option or choose to create a database during a Custom installation, Oracle Universal Installer runs Oracle Database Configuration Assistant in interactive mode. Use Oracle Database Configuration Assistant to specify the Oracle Enterprise Manager interface that you want to use to manage the database. Alternatively, you can choose not to configure the database with Enterprise Manager.
Oracle recommends that you configure the database to use Enterprise Manager during installation. However, if you choose not to configure the database to use Enterprise Manager during the installation, you can use Oracle Database Configuration Assistant after the installation to configure the database to use it.
If you use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control during the installation, you can optionally enable automated database backups that use the Oracle-suggested default backup strategy.
You do not have to enable automated backups during the installation. If you prefer, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control or Grid Control to configure automated backups after you install the software and create a database.
This section covers the following topics:
If you enable automated backups, Oracle Enterprise Manager schedules a daily backup job that uses Oracle Database Recovery Manager (RMAN) to back up all of the database files to an on-disk storage area called the flash recovery area. The first time the backup job runs, it creates a full backup of the database. Subsequent backup jobs perform incremental backups, which enable you to recover the database to its state at any point during the preceding 24 hours.
To enable automated backup jobs during installation, you must specify the following information:
The location of the flash recovery area
You can use either a file system directory or an Automatic Storage Management disk group for the flash recovery area. The default disk quota configured for the flash recovery area is 2 GB. For Automatic Storage Management disk groups, the required disk space depends on the redundancy level of the disk group that you choose. Chapter 2 describes how to choose the location of the flash recovery area and identifies its disk space requirements.
An operating system user name and password for the backup job
Oracle Enterprise Manager uses the operating system credentials that you specify when running the backup job. The user name that you specify must belong to the Windows group that identifies database administrators (the ORA_DBA group).
If you enable automated backups after choosing one of the preconfigured databases during the installation, automated backup is configured with the following default settings:
The backup job is scheduled to run nightly at 2 a.m.
The disk quota for the flash recovery area is 2 GB.
If you enable automated backups by using Oracle Database Configuration Assistant, either during or after the installation, you can specify a different start time for the backup job and a different disk quota for the flash recovery area.
See Also:
Oracle Database 2 Day DBA for information about using Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to configure or customize automated backups or to recover a backed up database
Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Basics or Oracle Database Backup and Recovery Advanced User's Guide for more detailed information about defining a backup strategy and backing up and recovering Oracle databases
Oracle Secure Backup Media Management Installation Guide if you plan to use Oracle Backup for your backup and recovery operations
If you choose to use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control during the installation, you can configure Enterprise Manager to send e-mail when specific events occur. These events can include occurrences such as disk space reaching a critical limit (a threshold), or a database shutting down unexpectedly.
If you enable e-mail notifications, you must specify the following information:
The host name of an simple mail transport protocol (SMTP) server.
The e-mail address that should receive the alerts.
The e-mail address that you specify can belong to an individual, or can be a shared e-mail account, or can be a distribution list.
You can use Enterprise Manager Database Control to setup, change, or customize e-mail notifications after you have created the database.
Oracle recommends installing Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) into a new Oracle home directory. If you must install Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) into an Oracle home directory that contains previously installed Oracle8i or Oracle9i components, then use Oracle Universal Installer to remove these components before beginning a new installation.
See Oracle Database Upgrade Guide before deciding to upgrade an existing database. Upgrade procedures on Windows are covered in Oracle Database Upgrade Guide. However, this section describes several Windows-specific issues to understand before following the instructions in Oracle Database Upgrade Guide.
This section contains these topics:
To upgrade an existing database that uses the AL24UTFFSS character set, upgrade the database character set to UTF8 before upgrading to Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2). Oracle recommends that you use the Character Set Scanner (csscan) utility for data analysis before attempting to upgrade your existing database character set. The Character Set Scanner utility checks all character data in the database and tests for the effects of, and problems with, changing the character set encoding.
Caution:
AL32UTF8 is the Oracle Database character set that is appropriate for XMLType data. It is equivalent to the IANA registered standard UTF-8 encoding, which supports all valid XML characters.Do not confuse Oracle Database database character set UTF8 (no hyphen) with database character set AL32UTF8 or with character encoding UTF-8. Database character set UTF8 has been superseded by AL32UTF8. Do not use UTF8 for XML data. UTF8 supports only Unicode version 3.1 and earlier; it does not support all valid XML characters. AL32UTF8 has no such limitation.
Using database character set UTF8 for XML data could potentially cause a fatal error or affect security negatively. If a character that is not supported by the database character set appears in an input-document element name, a replacement character (usually a question mark) is substituted for it. This will terminate parsing and raise an exception.
If you upgrade your Oracle database to 10g release 2 (10.2), then Oracle recommends that you upgrade the client software to Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) as well. Keeping the server and client software at the same release number ensures maximum stability for your applications. In addition, the latest Oracle client software may provide added functionality and performance enhancements that were not available with previous releases.
See Also:
Oracle Database Upgrade Guide for rules regarding linking and relinking applications when you perform a feature release upgrade of the client softwareOracle recommends that you upgrade Oracle Real Application Clusters to Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2).
See Also:
Oracle Database Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation Guide for information regarding Oracle Real Applications Clusters upgrade requirements