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Can I FTP files in a Unix-to-Linux Oracle migration?

I will be migrating Oracle 9.2.0.4 from Unix to Red Hat Advanced Server 3.0.1. Should I do a reinstall of the Oracle software on the server and then do an import of the database or can I do a file copy of the Oracle software and datafiles and just FTP them to the box?

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As much as I'm sure you'd like to, you can't just FTP Oracle software from Unix to Linux and expect it to work. The hardware is different, which means that many binaries are recompiled to the native platform.

Even if this were not the case, there are also licensing issues that would compel you to do a reinstall. You'll have to go through the usual steps to set up your Oracle environment (including running root.pre), which involves reinstalling Oracle and setting up your entire environment, including Oracle_Home, tnsnames.ora, oratab, etc.

Please don't forget about any shell scripts that you may have written in Unix that at the very least will have to be copied over and tested. In all likelihood, some of these scripts will need to be modified for them to work on your new host. Oracle provides a ton of information on Linux, you might want to start your research here.

The good news is that your data should be able to be imported succesfully, provided you are familiar with the DBA related steps involved in porting the actual data. Good luck.

This was first published in March 2005

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