EXADATA Hardware Migration - X9 to X10

As part of an EXADATA hardware upgrade, the client planned to migrate from X9 servers to X10 servers, beginning with NON-PROD environments, followed by PRODUCTION and the recently upgraded 19c databases. While the PROD and NON-PROD migrations were successful, significant challenges arose in stabilizing the 19c upgraded instances. To resolve this, critical system adjustments were made, ensuring operational stability and enabling further upgrades.

Problem

Statement

The migration of 19c upgraded instances presented several challenges that hindered progress:

  • The client could not proceed with further upgrades until the existing 19c instance issues were addressed.
  • A critical autoconfig issue in the 4-NODE RAC environment needed resolution.
  • The issue became a showstopper, preventing any further upgrade activities.

Solution

Proposed

To restore system stability, all XML and TNS file modifications directing configurations to the new X10 servers were removed and the process was restarted from scratch.

After attempting 30+ solutions and consulting an external Centroid DBA without success, the issue was finally resolved after 25 days of troubleshooting using a combination of four key solutions:

  • Redirecting TNS entries to the GLOBAL name instead of PDB or CDB.
  • Configuring the correct limit values in SQLNET.ORA.
  • Ensuring proper service parameter settings for the GRID listener.
  • Setting LOCAL LISTENER values to use the hostname instead of the IP address, following 19c best practices.

Post-implementation testing confirmed that all systems were fully operational.

Business

Values

With the issue resolved, the client was able to proceed with the next upgrade instance, which had been on hold for over a month. The successful migration allowed the upgrade process to continue, leading to the decommissioning of the legacy X9 servers and a smooth transition to the X10 infrastructure.