Databases@Powered by Passion
The content discusses the role of Oracle Update Advisor in assisting DBAs with patch management decisions. While automation tools efficiently execute patches, they lack the capability to evaluate whether updates align with an organization’s needs. Oracle Update Advisor addresses this gap by providing status indicators and allowing customization of maintenance policies to better reflect operational realities.
The Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning (FPP) local mode, in 19c environments, mandates a Grid Infrastructure Management Repository (GIMR) for local automation. Users must configure GIMR when components are missing or when it was not initially installed. The MDBUtil tool assists with setting up GIMR, ensuring the environment is adequate for running FPP local mode. Additionally, commands for managing Cluster Health Monitor resources are outlined in this post.
This post details a specific challenge encountered during a non-CDB to PDB migration when the database remained in RESTRICTED mode due to encryption-related errors. The issue arose from a missing TDE key, despite the absence of encrypted tablespaces. The process of locating the required master key is described with merging it into the CDB wallet, and ultimately exporting and importing the key to resolve the violation.
While working with an Oracle Database Appliance, an inconsistency arose between the management layer and the storage stack, leading to a disk reported as “FAILED” by odaadmcli. Further investigation revealed the disk was fully operational, with ASM actively using it. Troubleshooting involved validating multipath status, ASM state, and using the odaadmcli stordiag command. A file synchronization issue was discovered, which was resolved by restarting the OAK daemon, returning the disk to an “ONLINE” state.
Oracle Forms 6i applications are not compatible with Oracle Database 19c because Forms 6i is obsolete and no longer supported. Today, organizations have three options: move to Oracle Forms 14c, switch to Oracle APEX or completely rewrite the application using current web technologies. In this post, however, I will provide a a short-term workaround that requires minimal effort and almost no changes to the existing application code by using a Forms 10g web server. It works as a bridge solution, but it is not where you want to stay long term.
Oracle Database 26ai was released for on-premises environments on January 27, 2026, bringing a big wave of new capabilities, over 300 features, especially around AI and developer productivity. It’s definitely an exciting step forward, but like with any new major release, early adoption can still carry some risk in terms of bugs and overall stability. That’s why, for most production systems today, Oracle Database 19c is still the safer and more practical choice, thanks to its proven stability in production systems and extended support through 2029.
Osman’s DBlog 