Oracle Database Releases That Support Direct Upgrade

Review the supported options for direct upgrades to the latest Oracle Database release.

You can perform a direct upgrade to the new release from the following releases:

11.2.0.4
12.1.0.2
12.2.0.1
18

The path that you must take to upgrade to the latest Oracle Database release depends on the release number of your current database.

If your current Oracle Database is a release earlier than 11.2.0.4, then you cannot directly upgrade your Oracle Database to the latest release. In this case, you are required to upgrade to an intermediate release before upgrading to Oracle Database 19c.

If you cannot carry out a direct upgrade, then carry out an upgrade to the most recent release where direct upgrades are supported.

Note:

For any multi-step upgrade, if you must carry out two upgrades to upgrade to the current release, then you must run the preupgrade script twice: First, complete an upgrade to an intermediate upgrade release that is supported for direct upgrade to the target upgrade release. Second, complete the upgrade for the target upgrade release.

For example, if the database from which you are upgrading is running Oracle Database 10g, then to upgrade to Oracle Database 19c, follow these steps:

Upgrade release 10.2.0.5 to release 12.1.0.2 (the terminal patch set release), using the instructions in Oracle Database Upgrade Guide 12c Release 1 (12.1), including running the preupgrade script for 12.1.0.2.
Upgrade Oracle Database 12c release 1 (12.1.0.2) directly to Oracle Database 19c. Use the instructions in this book, Oracle Database Upgrade Guide, including running the preupgrade script for Oracle Database 19c.

The following table shows the required upgrade path for each release of Oracle Database. Use the upgrade path and the specified documentation to perform an intermediate upgrade of your database before fully upgrading to Oracle Database 18c.

Table 1-1 Examples of Upgrade Paths for Oracle Database 19c

Current Release	Upgrade Options
18 (all releases), 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, 11.2.0.4	Direct upgrade is supported. Perform the upgrade using the current Oracle Database Upgrade Guide, which is this guide.
12.1.0.1 11.2.0.1, 11.2.0.2, 11.2.0.3 11.1.0.6, 11.1.0.7 10.2 or earlier releases	Direct upgrade to Oracle Database 19c is not supported. Solution: Upgrade to an intermediate Oracle Database release that can be directly upgraded to the current release. Upgrade Oracle Database releases that are not supported for direct upgrade in this release to an intermediate Oracle Database release that is supported for direct upgrade. When upgrading to an intermediate Oracle Database release, follow the instructions in the intermediate release documentation, including running the preupgrade scripts for that intermediate release. After you complete an upgrade to the intermediate release Oracle Database, you can upgrade the intermediate release database to the current Oracle Database release. This restriction does not apply if you use Oracle Data Pump export/import to migrate data to the new release. For example: If you are upgrading from release 11.2.0.2 or 11.1.0.7, then you must first upgrade to the terminal patch set release for Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.4), which is supported for direct upgrade to Oracle Database 19c. If you are upgrading from release 10.2.0.2, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4,10.2.0.5 or 10.1.0.5, then you must first upgrade to release 11.2. or 12.1 If you are upgrading from release 9.2.0.8, then you must first upgrade to a sequence of intermediate Oracle Database releases: Upgrade from release 9.2.0.8 to release 11.2.0.4. Then upgrade from release 11.2 to 19c Note: Always update to the most recent intermediate release to which you can upgrade directly. Your case can be different from that of the examples provided here.

Current Release

Upgrade Options

18 (all releases), 12.2.0.1, 12.1.0.2, 11.2.0.4

Direct upgrade is supported. Perform the upgrade using the current Oracle Database Upgrade Guide, which is this guide.

12.1.0.1

11.2.0.1, 11.2.0.2, 11.2.0.3

11.1.0.6, 11.1.0.7

10.2 or earlier releases

Direct upgrade to Oracle Database 19c is not supported.

Solution: Upgrade to an intermediate Oracle Database release that can be directly upgraded to the current release. Upgrade Oracle Database releases that are not supported for direct upgrade in this release to an intermediate Oracle Database release that is supported for direct upgrade.

When upgrading to an intermediate Oracle Database release, follow the instructions in the intermediate release documentation, including running the preupgrade scripts for that intermediate release. After you complete an upgrade to the intermediate release Oracle Database, you can upgrade the intermediate release database to the current Oracle Database release.

This restriction does not apply if you use Oracle Data Pump export/import to migrate data to the new release.

For example:

If you are upgrading from release 11.2.0.2 or 11.1.0.7, then you must first upgrade to the terminal patch set release for Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.4), which is supported for direct upgrade to Oracle Database 19c.
If you are upgrading from release 10.2.0.2, 10.2.0.3, 10.2.0.4,10.2.0.5 or 10.1.0.5, then you must first upgrade to release 11.2. or 12.1
If you are upgrading from release 9.2.0.8, then you must first upgrade to a sequence of intermediate Oracle Database releases:

Upgrade from release 9.2.0.8 to release 11.2.0.4. Then upgrade from release 11.2 to 19c

Note: Always update to the most recent intermediate release to which you can upgrade directly. Your case can be different from that of the examples provided here.

Parent topic: Overview of Oracle Database Upgrade Tools and Processes