Hello,
You can use Oracle Database 19c, 18c, Oracle Database 12c releases 1 and 2, and Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.3 or later) with Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c. You musn’t use the versions of srvctl, lsnrctl, or other Oracle Grid infrastructure home tools to administer earlier version databases. Only administer earlier Oracle Database releases using the tools in the earlier Oracle Database homes. To ensure that the versions of the tools you are using are the correct tools for those earlier release databases, run the tools from the Oracle home of the database.
Oracle Database homes can only be stored on Oracle ASM Cluster File System (Oracle ACFS) if the database version is Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2.0.3) or later. When installing 11.2 databases on an Oracle Flex ASM cluster, the Oracle ASM cardinality must be set to All.
To configure earlier release Oracle Database on Oracle ACFS;
– Install Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c
– Start Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) as the grid installation owner
./asmca
– Install Oracle Database 11g release 2 (11.2) software-only on the Oracle ACFS file system you configured.
– From the 11.2 Oracle Database home, run Oracle Database Configuration Assistant (DBCA) and create the Oracle RAC Database, using Oracle ASM as storage for the database data files.
./dbca
-Modify the Oracle ACFS path dependency
srvctl modify database -d my_112_db -j Oracle_ACFS_path
To use Oracle ASM with Oracle Database releases earlier than Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2), you must pin all the cluster nodes. After you install Oracle Grid Infrastructure 18c or later release, if you want to use Oracle ASM to provide storage service for Oracle Database releases that are earlier than Oracle Database 12c Release 2 (12.2), then you must use the following command to pin the nodes:
crsctl pin css -n node1 node2
This setting updates the oratab file for Oracle ASM entries.
You can check the pinned nodes using the following command:
./olsnodes -t -n
You must use Oracle ASM Configuration Assistant (ASMCA) to create and modify disk groups when you install earlier Oracle databases and Oracle RAC databases on Oracle Grid Infrastructure installations. If you need to administer Oracle Database 19c local and scan listeners using the lsnrctl command, set your $ORACLE_HOME environment variable to the path for the Oracle Grid Infrastructure home (Grid home).
As mentioned in Oracle Doc ID 337737.1, the following table shows you the compatibility between various versions:
| Clusterware | ASM | DB | Certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21c | 21c | 21c | Y |
| 21c | 21c | 19c | Y |
| 21c | 21c | 18c | Y |
| 21c | 21c | 12.2 | Y |
| 19c | 19c | 19c | Y |
| 19c | 19c | 18c | Y |
| 19c | 19c | 12.2 | Y |
| 19c | 19c | 12.1 | Y |
| 19c | 19c | 11.2(a) | Y |
| 18c | 18c | 18c | Y |
| 18c | 18c | 12.2 | Y |
| 18c | 18c | 12.1 | Y |
| 18c | 18c | 11.2(a) | Y |
| 12.2 | 12.2 | 12.2 | Y |
| 12.2 | 12.2 | 12.1 | Y |
| 12.2 | 12.2 | 11.2(a) | Y |
| 12.1 | 12.1 | 12.1 | Y |
| 12.1 | 12.1 | 11.2(a) | Y |
| 12.1 | 12.1 | 11.1(a) | Y |
| 12.1 | 12.1 | 10.2(a) | Y |
| 11.2 | 11.2(b) | 11.2 | Y |
| 11.2 | 11.2(b) | 11.1 | Y |
| 11.2 | 11.2(b) | 10.2 | Y |
| 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1(c) | Y |
| 11.1 | 11.1 | 10.2 | Y |
| 11.1 | 11.1 | 10.1 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.2 | 11.1 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.2 | 10.2 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.2 | 10.1 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.1(d) | 11.1 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.1(d) | 10.2 | Y |
| 11.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | Y |
| 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | Y |
| 10.2 | 10.2 | 10.1 | Y |
| 10.2 | 10.1(d) | 10.2 | Y |
| 10.2 | 10.1 | 10.1 | Y |
| 10.1 | 10.1 | 10.1 | Y |
(a) Pre-12.1 database instances require an ASM instance resident on the same node as the database instance. Pre-12.1 database instances cannot leverage the implicit HA of Flex ASM.
(b) The Matrix is valid after the (rolling) upgrade has been completed. During the upgrade you may use an older ASM version.
(c) Linux specific: see My Oracle Note 781628.1
(d) The ASM version needs to be at least 10.1.0.3
Before 18c, the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) /Clusterware (CRS) version must be of equal or the highest version down to the 4th digit in the possible combinations at all times.
Starting from 18c, the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) /Clusterware (CRS) version must be of equal or the highest version down to the first digit in the possible combinations at all times. For example: Grid infrastructure can be at 18.1.0.0 and Database can be at 18.3.0.0
Oracle Grid Infrastructure/Clusterware must be installed into its own ORACLE_HOME (also referenced as CRS_HOME)
You can have multiple ORACLE_HOMEs for the database releases.
Starting with Oracle Database 10g Release 2, ASM and database can be installed in separate homes. Since Oracle Database 11g Release 2 ASM is part of the Grid Infrastructure.
When mixing software versions ASM functionality reverts to the functionality of the earliest release in use. For example, a 10.1.0.3 RDBMS instance working with a 10.2 ASM instance does not take advantage of new features in ASM. Conversely, 10.2 RDBMS instance working with a 10.1 ASM instance, will not take advantage of any of the new 10.2 features of ASM.
You can use different users for Oracle Grid Infrastructure/Clusterware and database homes as long as they belong to the same primary group.
Database users do not need access to the OCR and voting disk.
Talip Hakan Ozturk's ORACLE BLOG 