Upgrade AS 9.0.4 questions

Question

Hi !!
I am trying to gather information for planning an upgrade of our AS and Portal environment.
We are are version 9.0.4.1 and my predecessors had a tentative plan to upgrade our AS to version 10.1.2.0.2 and Portal to version 10.1.4. Both our Metadata Repository and Customer databases are on version 9.2.0.7. We use Forms and Discoverer viewer as well with our current Portal setup.
I am new to AS and am still in the learning phase. I am getting a confused/overwhelmed by the documentation I am going through regarding AS upgrades, and would like to get some help from experienced folks if possible.
Here are my questions:
1. What is the best AS version we can upgrade to from 9.0.4 (preferably not the latest)?
Would it require a database upgrade? If so what version?
2. What version of Portal should we upgrade to? What are the differences between 10.1.2.0.2 and 10.1.4 or later versions?
3. What would be the ideal Discoverer version with the upgraded version of AS? and Why?
Is it possible to just do the Discoverer upgrade staying with our 9.0.4 AS configuration?
If we can upgrade Discoverer only, would that cause any problems with our AS upgrade later on?
Any information you can provide would be helpful.
Thanks.
CV

Answer 1

Hi AMN,
Thanks for your detailed response with your comments and suggestions. They were very helpful.
I went through the threads you referred to, and have been going through a lot of documentation regarding the upgrades.
As you said in your response, we have come to a conclusion that AS 10.1.2.0.2 is a suitable patch to upgrade to, and version 10.1.4 for Portal.
But I still am confused about a few things with respect to the 10gR2 AS upgrade from our 9.0.4.1 version.
More than anything, I have not been able to figure out if we have to upgrade our 9.2.0.7 Metadata Repository and Customer (on a different server) Databases to 10g.
We have plans to patch them to the terminal 9i version of 9.2.0.8.
If you don't mind, can you clear a few of my dilemmas and answer a few questions? I am going to quote a few things from some documents I have been reading before I put forward my questions.
Confusion regarding the minimum database version supported, to be at Oracle AS 10g Release 2 (Patch set 2 or 3):
The Release Notes for 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Patch Set 2 (10.1.2.2.0) for AIX 5L Based Systems (64-Bit), under Section "2.1 Supported Database Versions" states the following:
"{color:#0000ff}If your database version is 9.2.0.7 or 10.2, then the Oracle Database 10.1.0.5 database patch is not required. Also, the Metadata update for upgrading the Metadata Repository should be run from the middle tier.{color}"
The Release Notes for 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Patch Set 3 (10.1.2.3.0) for AIX 5L Based Systems (64-Bit), under Section "2.3 Database Patch Set" states the following:
"{color:#0000ff}If your database release is 9.2.0.8 or 10.2, then the Oracle Database 10g Release 1 (10.1.0.5) database patch is not required. The Metadata Repository Update for upgrading the Metadata Repository should be run from the middle tier.{color}"
But as per Table 1, and Table 2 in DocID: 329361.1 (Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Support Status and Alerts), it looks like the d
Questions:+
+1. Is it a requirement to upgrade our existing 9i Metadata Repository and Customer databases to 10g for upgrading our AS to version 10.1.2.2.0 or 10.1.2.3.0, and Portal to version 10.1.4.1 or 10.1.4.2?+
+2. If so, is it true for upgrading to AS version 10.1.2.0.2 and Portal to version 10.1.4.0?+
In the documentation that I have gone through so far for the AS upgrade to 10gR2, I have seen notes similar to the examples below from DocID: 415222.1:
"{color:#0000ff}Patch 4505133 (10.1.0.5.0 Patchset) should be applied to all Oracle Application Server 10.1.2.0.2 homes.{color}"
"{color:#0000ff}It is now strongly recommended that these homes be updated with Oracle Application Server 10.1.2.2 Patchset, where the 10.1.0.5.0 update is automatically applied to non-database homes.{color}"
We have separate Oracle Homes for Infrastructure, MidTier, Metadata Repository Database, and Customer Database (this is on a different server).
Questions:+
+1. Does the statements above mean that our 9i Oracle Homes for Infrastructure and MidTier are going to be patched automatically to 10.1.0.5.0 when we upgrade to 10.1.2.0.2?+
Confusion regarding the Portal version after the upgrade:
As per Table 3 in DocID: 329361.1 [http://Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Support Status and Alerts|http://oracle%20application%20server%2010g%20release%202%20%2810.1.2%29%20support%20status%20and%20alerts/],
"{color:#0000ff}Upgrading to Portal 10.1.4 is currently optional, but once on Portal 10.1.4.0, it is _mandatory to upgrade to Portal 10.1.4.1 or 10.1.4.2_, depending on availability.{color}"
Questions:*
+1. Does this mean that after upgrading our AS to version 10.1.2.0.2, we have the following options?:+
+(a) Keep our Portal at version 10.1.2 and upgrade to version 10.1.4, or+
+(b) Upgrade Portal to version 10.1.4, in which case, upgrade AS to version 10.1.2.2.0 or 10.1.2.3.0 since it is mandatory.+
A few more doubts:
As per Table 35 in DocID: 753340.1 [CPUJAN2009 Availability Information
for Oracle Database and Fusion Middleware Products], the terminal CPU
for AS version 10.1.2.0.2 is CPUAPR2008.
Does this mean that CPUAPR2008 is included in the 10.1.2.2 and 10.1.2.3 patch sets?
Down the line in the future, depending on what 10gR2 AS Patchset we
upgrade to now, are there any limitations/issues for a possible AS 11g
Upgrade when it becomes available?
Could you also please define/elaborate the term "non-database home" that I saw many times in the Patchset release notes? I think that it refers to the Infrastructure and MidTier Oracle Homes. Is that correct?
Sorry for throwing such a lot of stuff at you. But I think that your experience can help me a lot.
Thanks again for all your help. Let me know if you need any more information regarding our environment here.
CV
Edited by: CV on Mar 13, 2009 12:12 PM
Edited by: CV on Mar 13, 2009 12:14 PM