Hi Folks, Environment, VM guests: Source ------------ Oracle: *10.2.0.4* with APEX 3.2 using Embedded PL/SQL Gateway (EPG). No ASM, no RAC 32-bit OS: Suse Linux 10.1 2.6.16.13-4-default i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux Target ---------- Oracle: *11.1.0.6* - installed - nothing else 32-bit OS: openSuse 11.1 2.6.27.7-9-default SMP i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux Goal: --------- Get the database that's running on source, running on target. Its only small (~500M) and there are no downtime issues as this is a sandpit environment and the exercise purely for training. I have a couple of ideas for the "best" way to go with this: Exp/imp (traditional or datapump): ========================= 1) Build empty database on target 2) [on target] exp or expdb from source (full = y) 3) copy exp to target (not req'd if exp done on target) 4) imp full=y 5) run upgrade scripts or DBUA 6) configure EPG This seems the simplest approach (I have seen the recent discussion full=y vs separate schemas) Use RMAN ========= Not sure about this one. 1) on source "backup copy copy of database" 1a - hypothetical) IF in production then stop app 2) copy to target inc archive redo, controlfiles, pfile 3) on target: set SID and recover database 4) run upgrade scripts or DBUA 6) configure EPG Pros: 1) dont have to pre-create empty database on target 2) possibly quicker than imp / exp (not an issue right now, but always worth investigating for real-world scenarios) What are you're thoughts list? Regards Tony