New Features

• Duplicate PDBs into an existing CDB

  The DUPLICATE command can be used to duplicate a PDB to an existing CDB.

  See Also:

  • About Duplicating PDBs

  • Duplicating a PDB to an Existing CDB

• Duplicate databases to Oracle Cloud

  An on-premise Oracle database can be duplicated to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic. Similarly, you can duplicate an Oracle database in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Classic as an on-premise database.

  See Also:

  • Duplicating Databases to Oracle Cloud

  • Duplicating an Oracle Cloud Database as an On-premise Database

• Roll forward a physical standby

  Improvements to the functionality for rolling forward a standby database result in a simplified procedure for performing this task.

  See Also:

  Steps to Refresh a Physical Standby Database with Changes Made to the Primary Database

• RMAN backups usable after migration

  RMAN backups of a non-CDB or PDB that were created before the non-CDB or PDB was migrated and plugged in to a different CDB can be used for recovery operations in the new CDB.

  See Also:

  • Creating a Preplugin Backup of the Whole Database

  • Creating Preplugin Backups of PDBs Using RMAN

  • Performing Complete Recovery of PDBs Using Preplugin Backups

• Shadow lost write protection

  Data loss is minimized by fast detection and immediate response to data block lost rewrites.

  See Also:

  Enabling Shadow Lost Write Protection

New Features

• Support for restore points in PDBs

  You can create a PDB restore point, which is a restore point that is specific to a single pluggable database (PDB). Creating a PDB restore point for a particular PDB ensures that there are no name conflicts with restore points defined for other PDBs in the multitenant container database (CDB).

  See:

  • Overview of Restore Points in a Multitenant Environment

  • Creating CDB Restore Points

  • Creating PDB Restore Points

  • Listing Restore Points Using the V$RESTORE_POINT View

• Flashback Database support for PDBs

  You can perform a Flashback Database operation for a single PDB without impacting other PDBs in the multitenant container database (CDB). This enables you to rewind only the specified PDB, instead of the entire CDB, to a previous point in time. A Flashback Database operation on a particular PDB does not impact other PDBs in the CDB.

  In Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1), to perform a flashback database operation for a CDB across PDB point-in-time recovery (PITR), you had to make all data files in the PDB for which PITR was performed offline. This restriction is now removed. You can perform a flashback database operation on a CDB across PDB PITR or PDB flashback with COMPATIBLE set to 12.2 or higher.

  See:

  • Basic Concepts of Performing Flashback Database for CDBs and PDBs

  • Performing a Flashback Database Operation for a Whole CDB

  • Performing a Flashback Database Operation for PDBs

  • Performing Flashback Database with SQL*Plus

• Enhancements to recovering tables and table partitions

  Before performing table recovery, RMAN checks if there is sufficient space on the target host to create the auxiliary instance that is used during recovery. You can also recover tables and table partitions into a schema that is different from the source schema in which they originally existed.

  See:

  • Steps Performed By RMAN to Recover Tables and Table Partitions

  • About Recovering Tables and Partitions Into a New Schema

  • Example: Recovering a Table into a New Schema

• Enhancements to cross-platform transport

  You can perform cross-platform transport of a PDB into a new CDB. Encrypted tablespaces can be transported across platforms. You can also restore and recover files across platforms and over the network.

  See:

  • Performing Cross-Platform Transport of a Closed PDB

  • Performing Cross-Platform Transport of a PDB Using Inconsistent Backups

  • Steps to Transport Read-Only Tablespaces to a Different Platform Using Backup Sets

  • Steps to Transport Inconsistent Tablespaces to a Different Platform

  • Performing Cross-Platform Transport of Data Files Over the Network

• Enhancements to database duplication

  You can use the DUPLICATE command to create an Oracle Data Guard far sync instance.

  See Duplicating the Whole Database.

• Backup and recovery support for application containers

  You can use RMAN to perform backup, complete recovery, and point-in-time recovery of application containers. This includes the application root and one or more application PDBs.

  See:

  • Backing Up Application Containers

  • Performing Complete Recovery of Application Containers

  • Performing Point-in-Time Recovery of Application PDBs

• Backup and Recovery of Sparse Databases

  RMAN enables you to perform backup, recovery, and backup-based duplication for sparse databases with the COMPATIBLE initialization parameter set to 12.2 or higher. You can also backup and recover individual sparse data files, tablespaces, CDBs, and PDBs.

  See:

  • About Sparse Backups

  • Backing Up Sparse Databases with RMAN

  • Performing Complete Recovery of Sparse Databases

  • Performing Point-in-Time Recovery of Sparse Databases

  • Duplicating Sparse Databases