Courtney Llamas

Oracle Enterprise Manager 13.4 is Here!

The wait is finally over! Oracle Enterprise Manager 13.4 has finally been released and is available for download. This blog post by no means is meant to replace the upgrade guide as there’s a lot of important detail to be found there! Just a few key things to note before you start your downloads (or while you’re downloading)…

Download binaries
Documentation

Things to know up front

  • If you are on Enterprise Manager 13.2 or 13.3 like most customers, then you’re good to go! If you’re on a lower release, you’ll need to upgrade to 13.2/13.3 to proceed. This includes anyone on 12.1.0.5 (or, gasp, 11g or 10g)!
  • Next on the list is to verify that your repository database is 12.1.0.2, 12.2,+ 18.3+ or 19c(19.3/5). While no patch requirements are listed, be sure that you take the time to apply the latest PSU for your DB version.
  • With Enterprise Manager 13.4 comes updated stack. The DB version is under your control within certain limitations, but the Fusion Middleware 12.2.1.3 with JDK 8u231 will be deployed during the upgrade.
  • Check your existing Enterprise Manager agents before upgrading and ensure that all are at 13.2 at a minimum. If you have any 12.1 or 13.1, use the Agent Upgrade Console to upgrade these before moving to 13.4.
  • If you are thinking or planning to move to a Disaster Recovery environment now is the time to do the pre-work.
  • There are a lot of pre-requisites, so please don’t skip these steps! Most of all, don’t skimp on the backup steps. I know it’s tempting, but it’s well worth the time.
  • Additionally, it’s a great idea to run an EMDIAG check and validate your environment. There are some automated fix scripts that can resolve issues in your environment so you start clean.
  • Finally, after the upgrade, be sure to restart your OMS agent and upgrade it to 13.4, as well as finish off the post-upgrade tasks.

Once the upgrade is complete, be sure to review the Setup > Manage Cloud Control > Health Overview tab to validate Enterprise Manager status. Verify your OMS and repository targets are Up, and watch for backlogs in upload, jobs and notifications. These may spike up right after restarting, but the trend should immediately start turning down. Also be on alert for agent backoffs.

Enterprise Manager Health Overview

Often overlooked, check the Alerts for the OMS and Repository systems to be sure there’s no open alerts or incidents. Particularly review the related metric errors and related alerts to ensure that the host and other components are being monitored properly.

There’s a lot of new features and while most are available today, some are still pending release (i.e. Grafana plugin, Mobile app) due to some additional requirements. Keep checking back for these! I’m hoping to get some time to dig into and write about some of these new features but for now, be sure to review the New Features guide.

Happy testing!