After the
release of Oracle Database AI 26ai (Enterprise Edition only) there are some
questions to ask.
One is, can I reuse my response files created with the Database
Configuration Assistant of my 19c database, where do I maybe need to or would be
able to do changes? To answer this question, a view/comparison of the two
response files is necessary. The configuration was done on both database
versions with “advanced configuration” on Linux (as all other 26ai versions are
not available yet, the 19c dbca response file was created with 19c RU 24).
So, let’s
start with the comparison. One interesting fact is found at the beginning of
the response file. The file version is 12.2.0 (because 19c was/should have been
a 12.2.X release) while the 26ai is using response file 23.0.0 – not a big
surprise, as 26ai is showing itself as a 23.26 in a lot of different places.
The next
interesting fact is the databaseConfigType. In 19c there was SI (Single Node),
RAC and RACONENODE available, with 26ai Oracle added SEHA (Standard Edition
High Availability). As today (Feb. 5th, 2026) the Standard Edition Software is
not available for 26ai there is no chance to test this, but it should make the
configuration of SEHA environments easier in the future. Therefore, 26ai added
also more SEHA related parameters, e.g the sehaServiceName and the sehaNodeList
(unfortunately it is not grouped together in the response file, so one must
search for the parameters manually).
The next
topic added is the managementPolicy. It controls, how the database handles PDBs
when restarting. Flora has a very informative blog post done for 23c, so details
how to use that can be found here: https://oracleandme.com/2023/05/16/23c-floating-pdbs-the-lab/
As there is
no Database Express management possibility anymore in 26ai, emConfiguration now
does only allow CENTRAL (Enterprise Manager Cloud Control) or NONE as values.
DBEXPRESS and BOTH are not allowed anymore.
One
interesting fact: In my 19c response file the fast recovery area was part of
the InitParams line, with 26ai a new parameter recoveryAreaSize was added, but
the value is also still part of the initParams line. What will happen, if there
are two different sizes specified in the response file? Is there a difference
between the setup part and the running part later?
Also new are
the specification of the dbOptions and pdboptions, which now can be different,
e.g. SPATIAL can be installed at CDB level with dbOptions SPATIAL:true but can
be excluded from the PDB pdbOptions with SPATIAL:false.
The last
new parameter I found in the 26ai response file is useOMF, which can be set to
true of false. In the 19c response file, there is no useOMF parameter – it was set
at the background to true.
The last
new parameter I’ve found is enableArchive which is default set to false, meaning
the database is not using archive log mode after it was created.
sampleSchema
installation is now removed from the 26ai response file, typically now one
installs them in a production or test environment.
All in all,
there are not so many differences in the response files. All new parameters are
not mandatory except of SEHA, if one uses this option the depending parameters
must be inserted, and the default values are typically set to none.
One funny
thing in 26ai is, that createAsContainerDatabase is not mandatory, but the
default value is still false. As 26ai can’t be installed as non-CDB, I question
myself, why this was inserted (also inserted is the initParams entry “enable_pluggable_database=true”):
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Name :
createAsContainerDatabase
# Datatype : Boolean
# Description : flag to create database
as container database
# Valid values : Check Oracle12c
Administrator's Guide
# Default value : false
# Mandatory : No
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
createAsContainerDatabase=true
If you are
interested in the response files, you can download them from my storage:
19c: dbca_19c.rsp
26ai: dbca_26ai.rsp
