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I first asked this question on stackoverflow, but someone pointed out that this might be the appropriate site. Hope I am doing this right.

To perform tests in advance of an upgrade from Oracle 11gR2 to 12c on our production systems, I tried to update the database of a developer virtual machine (Windows 7). The current Oracle Database version of this old developer machine is 11.2.0.1.0. The setup file of Oracle 12c then told me to patch to 11.2.0.2, 11.2.0.3 or 11.2.0.4 first. So I tried to find and download the Patch to 11.2.0.4 for Windows x64. The official Oracle page only lists 11.2.0.1, so I did a quick search that lead me to this page.

I am used to be forced to login to download stuff from Oracle, but the second page tells me I need special support privileges. Seriously? Oracle allows me to setup a developing machine with their enterprise editions but I need support privileges to download a patch to the most recent version of Oracle 11?

Did I miss something? How am I supposed to test the upgrade process on my developing machine(s)?

Thanks for any help!

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Short version: install the 12c software, create an empty database, and transfer the data with Data Pump. This way you can skip 11.2.0.1+ versions.

Long version: OTN Developer License Terms

In this, there is the following:

No Technical Support
Unless Oracle support for the Programs, if any, is expressly included in a separate, current support agreement between You and Oracle, Oracle’s technical support organization will not provide technical support, phone support, or updates to You for the Programs provided under this Agreement.

So no, you can not download updates officially with the OTN Developer License.

A valid support contract is needed for that. Actually a support contract costs extra on top of the database license, so there are companies that choose not to pay for it (and not to install patches...).

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  • Thanks for the quick answer. Using the data pump is not a true alternative, since the production database is hosted by another company department, and we want to simulate their upgrade process as near as possible.
    – user2169797
    Jul 7, 2015 at 10:12
  • @user2169797 The upgrade does not touch user data, but if you insist on doing this, I see no other (legal) way of doing this than asking the hosting department to create a test environment for you and provide the required installation media there. Or... you could Google the file name.
    – Balazs Papp
    Jul 7, 2015 at 11:05

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