Error correction/Patching and support for Oracle Database 18c ended last year. The same happened with 12.2, with the exception of a custom market driven support contract.
Most Oracle Database users have planned and executed an upgrade to 19c over the past few years, as it represents the current major long term release.
However, Premier Support (PS – free) for 19c will also end in April 2024 and Extended Support (ES) fees will be required between 2024 and 2027.
Oracle Recommendations
The following are Oracle’s major recommendations:
- For product longevity and patching, Oracle strongly recommends upgrading to 19c which is the Long Term Release with a support end date of April 30, 2027 (or April 30, 2024 if you choose not to pay Extended Support fees or purchase a ULA).
- If you are currently running 11.2.x/12.1.x you will need to upgrade to the terminal release (i.e. 11.2.0.4/12.1.0.2) for the DB Release you are running and then continue the upgrade process by upgrading to the 19c. 11.2.0.4 is in Sustaining Support with Market Driven Support available for some platforms.
- If you are currently running 12.2.0.1 or 18c, you should upgrade to 19c without delay. 18c and 12.2 are in Sustaining Support.
Support and Release Guide
For most Oracle Database users, an upgrade to 19c is essential. For some, exploring 21c – the newest innovative release with many new features – is a good idea. You can read more about 21c here.
To help you plan your upgrade strategy, here’s a short guide:
| Release | Patching End Date | Notes and Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| 21c Innovation Release | April 30, 2024 | Error Correction / Patching is available until April 30, 202421c is not eligible for Extended Support (ES)Only quarterly Release Updates (RUs) are provided for 21c. Release Update Revisions (RURs) are limited to Long Term Releases21c is not available with Exadata Database Service |
| 19c Long Term Release | April 30, 2024 with no ES/ULA April 30, 2027 with ES/ULA | Premier Support (PS) ends April 30, 2024, Extended Support (ES) fees will be required beginning May 01, 2024 through April 30, 2027 Error Correction / Patching is available through April 30, 2027 with paid ES. Without paid ES, patching is only available until April 30, 2024 |
| 18c Innovation Release | Jun 30, 2021 | Error Correction / Patching was available until Jun 30, 2021. 18c is now in Sustaining Support. 18c is not eligible for Extended Support (ES) |
| 12.2.0.1 | March 31, 2022 | Error Correction / Patching has ended for this release12.2.0.1 is not eligible for Extended Support (ES) |
| 12.1.0.2 Terminal Release | Jul 31, 2022 with paid ES, ULA, or EBS waiver Dec 31, 2023 (with a Custom Market Driven Support Contract) | Error Correction / Patching has ended for this releasePremier Support (PS) ended Jul 31, 2018 and one year of free Extended Support (ES) was in effect until July 31, 2019.ES fees or a ULA was required beginning 01-Aug-2019 through 31-Jul-2022. Without paid ES or ULA, patching ends 31-Jul-2019. We have a global ES uplift fee waiver in place for E-Business customers, see details and dates of expiration see: Extended Support Fee Waiver for Oracle Database 12.1 and 11.2 for Oracle E-Business Suite (Doc ID 2522948.1) or Technical Support Policy Document. * One additional year (01-Aug-2021 through 31-July-2022) has been added to the 12.1.0.2 DB Extended Support time frame with the following exceptions:Apple Macintosh platform patching end date (Error Correction end date) is July 31, 2021. Microsoft Windows platform exception has changed. Regardless of the version used to run the 12.1.0.2 Database, Oracle built the 12.1.0.2 Database on Microsoft Windows 2008 This platform reached end-of-life support on January 14, 2020. However, we will make reasonable efforts to deliver patches for the Database 12.1.0.2 on Windows until July 2022, as long as our tooling continues to function. |
| 12.1.0.1 | Aug 31, 2016 | Error Correction / Patching has ended for this release12.1.0.1 is not eligible for Extended Support (ES)12.1.0.1 was the last release of Standard Edition (SE) and Standard Edition One (SE1) |
| 11.2.0.4 Terminal Release for 11.2 | Dec 31, 2020 (with paid Extended Support or ULA Extended Support or EBS Waiver) Dec 31, 2023 (with a Custom Market Driven Support Contract) Dec 31, 2021 for the OpenVMS platform | Premier Support (PS) ended 31-Jan-2015 and one year of free Extended Support (ES) was in effect until Dec 31, 2018. ES fees or a ULA was required beginning Jan 1, 2019 through Dec 31, 2020. At the end of ES, Market Driven Support (MDS) will be available for two additional years. See https://www.oracle.com/a/ocom/docs/ds-mds-database-11g-r2.pdf Oracle has a global Extended Support Uplift Fee waiver in place for E-Business customers, see details and dates of expiration see: Extended Support Fee Waiver for Oracle Database 12.1 and 11.2 for Oracle E-Business Suite (Doc ID 2522948.1) or Technical Support Policy Document. Gen 1 and Gen 2 ExaCC, OCC DBCS, OCI DBCS,OCI ExaCS and ODA had 3 additional months of Extended Support. The end of Extended Support for 11.2.0.4 databases on these platforms was: 31-March 2021. New instances could be created up until the end of extended support; however, Oracle makes no commitment that any 11.2.0.4 DBCS instances will continue to run after the end of Support. Market Driven Support is only available for the following Database Cloud Services: Gen 1 and Gen 2 ExaCC, OCC DBCS, OCI DBCS (non-PSM), OCI ExaCS. New instances can be created up until the end of Market Driven Support. Oracle makes no commitment that any 11.2.0.4 DBCS instances will continue to run after the end of MDS support. Market Driven Support is not available for PSM-based OCI DBCS, OCI-C DBCS and OCI-C ExaCS. 11.2.0.4 is the terminal release on OpenVMS. During calendar year 2021, customer will receive Severity 1 Fixes and Security Updates for no additional fees beyond standard Premier Support costs. Coverage does not extend to new certifications, third-party products, or any Java/JDK functionality including Java components embedded in the database. Coverage also excludes any updates related to cryptography and network encryption. This offering does not include standard Security Patch Updates (SPUs). |
Planning Your Database Strategy
A new long-term release is expected in the coming years in the form of 23c. With a five year horizon till support for 19c ends, creating a mid-long term database strategy is essential. Looking for help? We’ve got you covered!
