Upgrading Operating System and Database

When you update the SAP system, you may have to upgrade your operating system and database to a new version.

Prerequisites

For more information about upgrading Oracle Database, see the Help Portal at http://help.sap.com.

Context

For more information about which versions are currently supported, see the Product Availability Matrix on SAP Support Portal at http://support.sap.com/pam Information published on SAP site . The Software Update Manager only checks the minimum versions required for the update.

If you need to upgrade an operating system or database, or migrate a database, then the timing and the sequence of the individual upgrades is of great importance. The procedure differs according to the database you use. The following text provides an overview of the main process steps for upgrading the operating system and database system for each database.

Note

As of SAP NetWeaver 7.1, SAP only supports systems based on 64-bit on the target release. If you have to migrate the operating system and database to 64-bit, make sure that you plan enough time in your upgrade schedule for the migration, and perform the migration before the upgrade.

If you need to change the hardware, we recommend that you use the SAP System Copy procedure to migrate to 64-bit. For more information about system copy, see the System Copy Guide on SAP Support Portal at http://support.sap.com/sltoolsetSystem Provisioning System Copy Option.
Make sure that your current database version is supported for your scenario. To check the minimum database version for updates to
- SAP NetWeaver 7.4 SPS08 and higher:, see SAP Note 1951491
- SAP NetWeaver 7.5 and higher:, see SAP Note 2158828
- SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP 7.51 Innovation Package, see SAP Note 2329005

Procedure

Install the Oracle client software for the target release. For more information about this procedure, see SAP Note 819829 .
Perform the following steps:
1. Execute the following SQL statement on the database via SQL*Plus:
  
  SQL> select * from V$NLS_PARAMETERS where PARAMETER = 'NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET' ;
2. If the NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET returns value US7ASCII, change it to UTF8 as described in SAP Note 669902 .
Run the Software Update Manager up to the Checks roadmap step and analyze the results.
Roadmap step Checks informs you about the minimum version for the operating system and database.

If necessary, upgrade the operating system.

If you have not already done so, migrate the Oracle database as described in the document Upgrade to Oracle Database <Version>: <Platform> to at least the minimum required version.
Upgrade the SAP system