OCM 11g upgrade

Last Friday I went to Munich for THE upgrade exam. I have a few recommendations based on my preparation.

DISCLAIMER: no recommendation is based on the exam

Check you have a similar environment. You will get 11gR1 database and 10g entreprise manager. Personnaly I did my preparation on 11gR2 and 11g/12c em, I did not find useful to prepare on some oldish version. You should have some Linux / Unix around. It does not really matter if you use AIX, HPUX, Solaris or Linux.

I bought myself a keyboard with German Layout (the one with ß, Ä and Ö) to gain speed

Read each topic carefully and get proficiency:
– Database:
I know the meaning of the initialisation parameters. In need, I can quickly check one in the Reference
I am familiar with the sql syntax and have read the SQL Reference more than once

– Network configuration :
I know how to configure sqlnet.ora, tnsnames.ora and listener.ora without looking at the documentation.
I have carefully tested all possible parameters in Net Service Guide

– ADR :
I know how to set up the ADR location in the database and network.
I know how to use the command line utility, documented in utilities -> adrci

– RMAN :
I know how to configure RMAN with the configure statement. I am efficient in doing backups and restores
I have read the RMAN Reference carefully.

– Dataguard :
I am confident with the dgmgrl utility and with oem to configure and monitor dataguard.
I have read the Dataguard Broker Guide

– Materialized view
I have read and tested the examples in the Datawarehouse Guide -> Materialized views

– Secure Lob
I have played with lobs as basicfile and securefiles to check the differences and new features. I have read the secure files guide

– Streams
Streams is a very complex product. I have attended last year a five days course in Paris to only realise it is utterly tricky to maintain and debug, it case of errors.
I know where to look at if the capture, propagation or apply fail. Mostly in alert log, but also in the DBA views. I know how to restart the different processes. I am confident with both the OEM and PL/SQL Packages DBMS_STREAMS_*.
I have read the Streams Concept and Streams Replication Administration

– Resource manager
I know both the GUI and command line. I have read Admin guide -> Resource Manager

– Advisors and baselines
A very valuable resource to read is the 2 Days Perf Guide. It may sound strange to prepare an OCM exam with a 2-Days guide, but it is an awesome lecture.
To get deeper and learn the API usage, read Performance Tuning -> Optimizing SQL Statements

– Replay a capture workload
I learnt both the PL/SQL and EM usage in the Real Application Testing User Guide

Almost all the other topics are self explanatory and almost trivial once you know the syntax by heart…

I spent over one year preparing this exam and if you browse my recent posts, you will find detailled example that somehow relate to miscellaneous findings
Check mount option in linux
Transport tablespace over db links
Fast start failover
On star transformation
my first ADR package

For those of my readers who are on this way, good luck!

PS: no, I do not know the result yet…