Document ID: 14324.1
Subject: VAX/ALPHA AXP AND OPENVMS VERSION COMPATIBILITY
Last Modified: 14 March 1996
Author: Unknown
It is important to keep current on your Oracle software in order to take
advantage of the latest improvements in our technology and fixes to problems
found in prior releases. It is equally important that Oracle software is
compatible with your operating environment which includes not only Oracle but
the operating system and other software products. The purpose of this bulletin
is to provide guidelines on "what works with what" in order to assist you in
developing and implementing a configuration management strategy. Definitions
follow the discussion.
INTRA-VERSION COMPATABILITY (e.g. V7.0.13.0 and V7.0.16.4)
Oracle does not support mixing product versions from different RDBMS version
bundles.
If you are installing a new version of the RDBMS or any other products from a
RDBMS version into an existing code tree, you must replace each product in the
old code tree with the corresponding product from the new RDBMS version.
INTER-VERSION COMPATIBILITY
In general, a product bundle contains a UTIL.BCK save set containing common
object libraries.
The products in this bundle should be linked against the object libraries
contained in the boot.bck save set in this product bundle. In cases where the
product bundle does not contain a boot.bck save set, the products should be
linked against the common object libraiies contained in the product bundle
containing the rdbms.
OPERATING SYSTEM COMPATABILITY
Each RDBMS version requires a minimum version of VMS. This minimum version is
specified in the current Oracle for VAX or ALPHA AXP OpenVMS Installation
Guide.
It is Oracle's policy to support the latest version of OpenVMS on both the VAX
and ALPHA platforms within a reasonable time period after Digital officialy
releases the production version of the Operating System. This time period is
required for acceptance testing and quality assurance of the Oracle products
against the new operating system releases. Oracle is not supported on beta
versions of OpenVMS.
HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY
In general, Oracle products run on all hardware platforms supported by the
specific OpenVMS version. There are, however, exceptions and restrictions for
some of the newer hardware products. Contact Oracle Worldwide Support with
any questions regarding hardware compatibility.
ORACLE APPLICATIONS COMPATIBILITY
Oracle Applications products are certified/tested on specfic rdbms/OS
versions.
THIRD PARTY APPLICATIONS COMPATIBILITY
Third parties are responsible for porting and testing their products to new
releases of Oracle RDBMS versions. Oracle Worldwide Support cannot answer
questions regarding compatibility of third party products with Oracle7
Certain third party products are NOT SUPPORTED for use with Oracle. These
products include disk defragmentors and disk-cache products.
DEFINITIONS:
Product Bundle:
A group of Oracle product version save sets in a separate physical location.
For tape media the product bundles are on separate tapes. For CD-ROM media
the bundles are in separate directories. In general the product bundle
contains a set of common object libraries contained in the boot.bck save set.
Product Version:
All products have a version number of the form:
v.m.p.x.y (e.g. 7.0.15.4.1) where
v = base product functional version
m = base product maintenance number
p = base product number
x = product line (port-specfic) maintenance level
z = product line (port-specific) patch level
Each product version saveset generally contains a "README" file. This file
contains information that may be critical to the sucessfuloperation of the
product. Be sure to read and understand this information before using the
product.
The Product Version Availability (PVR) matrix available on-line allows you to
obtain version information for all of the current production
Oracle products available on ypur platform.
For more information on how to use the PVR screen and RTSS in general, please
consult the Real Time Support User's Guide(Version 5.0), P/N 5124-5-00592.
Product Status:
Product status is categorized as follows:
Production
Current - The product version that is currently availble for shipping.
Supported - Product versions that are no longer being shipped but are
still supported by World Wide Support.
Unsupported - Product versions that are no longer supported. The general
rule is that all products whose base product version number is
two less than the current base product version are not
supported
Beta
Support for beta products is provided on an "as available" basis. Frequently,
support analysts have little training or experience with beta products. Beta
products should never be used in a production environment.
Code Tree:
The directory structure whose top level is defined by the logical ORA_ROOT:
[000000] and whose second level includes product-specific directories such for
products such as RDBMS, SQL*Plus, etc.