PolarDB is a next-generation relational database service that is developed by Alibaba Cloud. It is compatible with MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle database engines. PolarDB provides superior performance in storage and computing to meet diverse requirements of enterprises. This topic describes how to migrate data from a self-managed Oracle database to a PolarDB for Oracle cluster by using Data Transmission Service (DTS).

Prerequisites

  • The version of the self-managed Oracle database is 9i, 10g, 11g, 12c, 18c, or 19c.
  • The self-managed Oracle database is running in ARCHIVELOG mode. Archived log files are accessible and a suitable retention period is set for archived log files. For more information, see Managing Archived Redo Log Files.
  • Supplemental logging, including SUPPLEMENTAL_LOG_DATA_PK and SUPPLEMENTAL_LOG_DATA_UI, is enabled for the self-managed Oracle database. For more information, see Supplemental Logging.
  • The tables to be migrated from the self-managed Oracle database contain primary keys or UNIQUE NOT NULL indexes.

Precautions

  • DTS uses read and write resources of the source and destination databases during full data migration. This may increase the loads of the database servers. If the database performance is unfavorable, the specification is low, or the data volume is large, database services may become unavailable. For example, DTS occupies a large amount of read and write resources in the following cases: a large number of slow SQL queries are performed on the source database, the tables have no primary keys, or a deadlock occurs in the destination database. Before you migrate data, evaluate the impact of data migration on the performance of the source and destination databases. We recommend that you migrate data during off-peak hours. For example, you can migrate data when the CPU utilization of the source and destination databases is less than 30%.
  • If a data migration task fails, DTS automatically resumes the task. Before you switch your workloads to the destination database, stop or release the data migration task. Otherwise, the data from the source database will overwrite the data in the destination database after the task is resumed.
  • If the version of your Oracle database is 12c or later, the names of the tables to be migrated cannot exceed 30 bytes in length.
  • If the self-managed Oracle database is deployed in a Real Application Cluster (RAC) architecture and is connected to DTS over an Alibaba Cloud virtual private cloud (VPC), you must connect the Single Client Access Name (SCAN) IP address of the Oracle RAC and the virtual IP address (VIP) of each node to the VPC and configure routes. The settings ensure that your DTS task can run as expected. For more information, see Configure a route between DTS and Express Connect, VPN Gateway, or Smart Access Gateway.
    Notice When you configure the source Oracle database in the DTS console, you can specify the SCAN IP address of the Oracle RAC as the database endpoint or IP address.

Billing

Migration type Task configuration fee Internet traffic fee
Schema migration and full data migration Free of charge. Charged only when data is migrated from Alibaba Cloud over the Internet. For more information, see Pricing.
Incremental data migration Charged. For more information, see Pricing.

Migration types

Migration type Description
Schema migration DTS migrates the schemas of the required objects from the source database to the destination PolarDB for Oracle cluster (PolarDB cluster in short). DTS supports schema migration for the following types of objects: table, view, synonym, trigger, stored procedure, function, package, and user-defined type.
Note In this scenario, DTS is incompatible with triggers. If an object contains triggers, data will become inconsistent between the source and destination databases.
Full data migration DTS migrates historical data of the required objects from the source database to the destination PolarDB cluster.
Note During schema migration and full data migration, we recommend that you do not perform data definition language (DDL) operations on the required objects. Otherwise, the objects may fail to be migrated.
Incremental data migration DTS retrieves redo log files from the self-managed Oracle database. Then, DTS synchronizes incremental data from the self-managed Oracle database to the destination PolarDB cluster.

Incremental data migration allows you to ensure service continuity when you migrate data from the self-managed Oracle database to the destination PolarDB cluster.

Before you begin

Log on to the source Oracle database, create an account for data collection, and grant permissions to the account.

Note If you have created a database account and the account has the permissions that are listed in the following table, skip this step.
Database Schema migration Full data migration Incremental data migration
Self-managed Oracle database The permissions of the schema owner The permissions of the schema owner Database administrator (DBA)
PolarDB cluster The permissions of the schema owner The permissions of the schema owner The permissions of the schema owner

For more information about how to create and authorize a database account, see the following topics:

Enable logging and grant fine-grained permissions to an Oracle database account

Notice If you need to migrate data from an Oracle database but the database administrator (DBA) permission cannot be granted to the database account, you can enable archive logging and supplemental logging, and grant fine-grained permissions to the account.

  1. Enable archive logging and supplemental logging.
    Type Procedure
    Archive logging Execute the following statements to enable archive logging:
    shutdown immediate;
startup mount;
alter database archivelog;
alter database open;
archive log list;
    Supplemental logging Enable supplemental logging at the database or table level:
    Note You can enable database-level supplemental logging to ensure the stability of DTS tasks. You can enable table-level supplemental logging to reduce the disk usage of the source Oracle database.
    • Enable database-level supplemental logging
      1. Enable minimal supplemental logging:
        alter database add supplemental log data;
      2. Enable primary key and unique key supplemental logging at the database level:
        alter database add supplemental log data (primary key,unique index) columns;
    • Enable table-level supplemental logging
      1. Enable minimal supplemental logging:
        alter database add supplemental log data;
      2. Enable table-level supplemental logging by using one of the following methods:
        • Enable primary key supplemental logging at the table level:
          alter table table_name add supplemental log data (primary key) columns;
        • Enable table-level supplemental logging for all columns:
          alter table tb_name add supplemental log data (all) columns;
    Force logging Execute the following statements to enable force logging:
    alter database force logging;
  2. Grant fine-grained permissions to an Oracle database account 
    # Create a database account, for example, rdsdt_dtsacct, and grant permissions to the account.
create user rdsdt_dtsacct IDENTIFIED BY rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant create session to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant connect to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant resource to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant execute on sys.dbms_logmnr to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on V_$LOGMNR_LOGS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  dba_registry to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any table to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any transaction to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$log privileges
grant select on v_$log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logfile privileges
grant select on v_$logfile to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$archived_log privileges
grant select on v_$archived_log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$parameter privileges
grant select on v_$parameter to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$database privileges
grant select on v_$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$active_instances privileges
grant select on v_$active_instances to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$instance privileges
grant select on v_$instance to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logmnr_contents privileges
grant select on v_$logmnr_contents to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- system tables
grant select on sys.USER$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.OBJ$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.COL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.IND$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.ICOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CDEF$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CCOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABSUBPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABCOMPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on DBA_TAB_COMMENTS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
    # Switch to the pluggable database (PDB). Create a database account, for example, rdsdt_dtsacct, and grant permissions to the account.
ALTER SESSION SET container = ORCLPDB1;
create user rdsdt_dtsacct IDENTIFIED BY rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant create  session to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant connect  to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant resource to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant execute on sys.dbms_logmnr to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  dba_registry to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any table to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any transaction to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$log privileges
grant select on v_$log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logfile privileges
grant select on v_$logfile to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$archived_log privileges
grant select on v_$archived_log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$parameter privileges
grant select on v_$parameter to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$database privileges
grant select on v_$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$active_instances privileges
grant select on v_$active_instances to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$instance privileges
grant select on v_$instance to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logmnr_contents privileges
grant select on v_$logmnr_contents to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on sys.USER$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.OBJ$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.COL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.IND$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.ICOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CDEF$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CCOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABSUBPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABCOMPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- V$PDBS privileges
grant select on V_$PDBS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on DBA_TAB_COMMENTS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;

# Switch to the CDB$ROOT, which is the root container of the container database (CDB). Create a database account and grant permissions to the account by using one of the following methods:
ALTER SESSION SET container = CDB$ROOT;
Method 1: Create a global account starting with C##, for example, C##rdsdt_dtsacct, and grant permissions to the account. If you use this method, you must submit a ticket and contact the DTS team to modify some parameters. The link to submit a ticket is provided in the note.
create user C##rdsdt_dtsacct IDENTIFIED BY rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant create session to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant connect to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant resource to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v_$logmnr_contents to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant LOGMINING to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant EXECUTE_CATALOG_ROLE to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant execute on sys.dbms_logmnr to C##rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on DBA_TAB_COMMENTS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
Method 2: Create a database account, for example, rdsdt_dtsacct, and grant permissions to the account. If you use this method, you must modify the default parameters of the Oracle database.
alter session set "_ORACLE_SCRIPT"=true;
create user rdsdt_dtsacct IDENTIFIED BY rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant create session to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant connect to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v_$logmnr_contents to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant LOGMINING TO rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant EXECUTE_CATALOG_ROLE to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant execute on sys.dbms_logmnr to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on DBA_TAB_COMMENTS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
    # Create a database account, for example, rdsdt_dtsacct, and grant permissions to the account.
create user rdsdt_dtsacct IDENTIFIED BY rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant create  session to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant connect  to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant resource to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on V_$LOGMNR_LOGS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  all_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on  dba_registry to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any table to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select any transaction to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$log privileges
grant select on v_$log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logfile privileges
grant select on v_$logfile to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$archived_log privileges
grant select on v_$archived_log to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$parameter privileges
grant select on v_$parameter to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$database privileges
grant select on v_$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$active_instances privileges
grant select on v_$active_instances to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$instance privileges
grant select on v_$instance to rdsdt_dtsacct;
-- v$logmnr_contents privileges
grant select on v_$logmnr_contents to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on sys.USER$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.OBJ$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.COL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.IND$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.ICOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CDEF$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.CCOL$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABSUBPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on SYS.TABCOMPART$ to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant LOGMINING TO rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant EXECUTE_CATALOG_ROLE to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant execute on sys.dbms_logmnr to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on v$database to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_objects to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on DBA_TAB_COMMENTS to rdsdt_dtsacct;
grant select on dba_tab_cols to rdsdt_dtsacct;
    Note To create a global account starting with C## for a multitenant CDB$ROOT in Oracle 12c to 19c, you must submit a ticket and contact the DTS team to modify some parameters.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the DTS console.
  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Data Migration.
  3. At the top of the Migration Tasks page, select the region where the destination cluster resides.
  4. In the upper-right corner of the page, click Create Migration Task.
  5. Configure the source and destination databases.
    Configure the source and destination databases
    Section Parameter Description
    N/A Task Name DTS automatically generates a task name. We recommend that you specify an informative name to identify the task. You do not need to use a unique task name.
    Source Database Instance Type Select an instance type based on the deployment of the source database. In this example, select User-Created Database with Public IP Address.
    Note If you select other instance types, you must deploy the network environment for the source database. For more information, see Preparation overview.
    Instance Region If you select User-Created Database with Public IP Address as the instance type, you do not need to specify the Instance Region parameter.
    Note If a whitelist is configured for the self-managed Oracle database, you must add the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the database. You can click Get IP Address Segment of DTS next to Instance Region to obtain the CIDR blocks of DTS servers.
    Database Type Select Oracle.
    Hostname or IP Address Enter the endpoint that is used to connect to the self-managed Oracle database. In this example, enter the public IP address.
    Port Number Enter the service port number of the self-managed Oracle database. The default port number is 1521.
    Note The service port of the self-managed Oracle database must be accessible over the Internet.
    Instance Type
    • If you select Non-RAC Instance, you must specify the SID parameter.
    • If you select RAC Instance, you must specify the Service Name parameter.
    Database Account Enter the account of the self-managed Oracle database. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Before you begin.
    Database Password Enter the password of the database account.
    Note After you specify the information about the self-managed Oracle database, you can click Test Connectivity next to Database Password to check whether the information is valid. If the information is valid, the Passed message appears. If the Failed message appears, click Check next to Failed. Then, modify the information based on the check results.
    Destination Database Instance Type Select PolarDB.
    Instance Region Select the region where the destination PolarDB cluster resides.
    PolarDB Instance ID Select the ID of the destination PolarDB cluster.
    Database Name Enter the name of the destination database.
    Database Account Enter the database account of the destination PolarDB cluster. For information about the permissions that are required for the account, see Before you begin.
    Database Password Enter the password of the database account.
    Note After you specify the information about the RDS instance, you can click Test Connectivity next to Database Password to check whether the information is valid. If the information is valid, the Passed message appears. If the Failed message appears, click Check next to Failed. Then, modify the information based on the check results.
  6. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Set Whitelist and Next.
    Note DTS adds the CIDR blocks of DTS servers to the whitelist of the destination PolarDB cluster. This ensures that DTS servers can connect to the destination PolarDB cluster.
  7. Select the migration types and the objects to be migrated.
    Select the migration types and the objects to be migrated
    Setting Description
    Select the migration types
    • To perform only full data migration, select Schema Migration and Full Data Migration.
    • To ensure service continuity during data migration, select Schema Migration, Full Data Migration, and Incremental Data Migration.
    Note
    • If Incremental Data Migration is not selected, we recommend that you do not write data to the source database during full data migration. This ensures data consistency between the source and destination databases.
    • If Incremental Data Migration is selected, DTS migrates the ROWID columns in tables without primary keys. This allows you to deduplicate and verify data in tables without primary keys.
    Select the objects to be migrated

    Select one or more objects from the Available section and click the Rightwards arrow icon to move the objects to the Selected section.

    Note
    • You can select columns, tables, or databases as the objects to be migrated.
    • By default, after an object is migrated to the destination database, the name of the object remains unchanged. You can use the object name mapping feature to rename the objects that are migrated to the destination database. For more information, see Object name mapping.
    • If you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that are dependent on the object may fail to be migrated.
    Specify whether to rename objects You can use the object name mapping feature to rename the objects that are migrated to the destination instance. For more information, see Object name mapping.
    Note If you use the object name mapping feature to rename an object, other objects that are dependent on the object may fail to be migrated.
    Specify the retry time for failed connections to the source or destination database By default, if DTS fails to connect to the source or destination database, DTS retries within the next 12 hours. You can specify the retry time based on your needs. If DTS reconnects to the source and destination databases within the specified time, DTS resumes the data migration task. Otherwise, the data migration task fails.
    Note When DTS retries a connection, you are charged for the DTS instance. We recommend that you specify the retry time based on your business needs. You can also release the DTS instance at your earliest opportunity after the source and destination instances are released.
  8. In the lower-right corner of the page, click Precheck.
    Note
    • Before you can start the data migration task, a precheck is performed. You can start the data migration task only after the task passes the precheck.
    • If the task fails to pass the precheck, you can click the Info icon icon next to each failed item to view details.
      • You can troubleshoot the issues based on the causes and run a precheck again.
      • If you do not need to troubleshoot the issues, you can ignore failed items and run a precheck again.
  9. After the task passes the precheck, click Next.
  10. In the Confirm Settings dialog box, specify the Channel Specification parameter and select Data Transmission Service (Pay-As-You-Go) Service Terms.
  11. Click Buy and Start to start the data migration task.
    • Schema migration and full data migration

      We recommend that you do not manually stop the task during full data migration. Otherwise, the data migrated to the destination database will be incomplete. You can wait until the data migration task automatically stops.

    • Schema migration, full data migration, and incremental data migration

      The task does not automatically stop during incremental data migration. You must manually stop the task.

      Notice We recommend that you select an appropriate time to manually stop the data migration task. For example, you can stop the task during off-peak hours or before you switch your workloads to the destination cluster.
      1. Wait until Incremental Data Migration and The migration task is not delayed appear in the progress bar of the migration task. Then, stop writing data to the source database for a few minutes. The delay time of incremental data migration may be displayed in the progress bar.
      2. Wait until the status of incremental data migration changes to The migration task is not delayed again. Then, manually stop the migration task. Stop a task during incremental data migration
  12. Switch your workloads to the destination PolarDB cluster.