You can now upgrade the Oracle Database and the Oracle Grid Infrastructure software version to 23ai using the Console or APIs.

For more information, see Upgrade a Database and Upgrade a DB System.

You can now migrate your DB system from Intel-based X7 shapes or AMD-based E4 flexible shapes to AMD-based E5 flexible shapes by using the change shape operation.

For more information, see Change the Shape of a DB System.

You can now enable unified auditing in Base Database Service. It provides selective and effective auditing inside the Oracle database using policies and conditions.

For more information, see Create a DB System Using the Console.

You can now protect your resources with additional security using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR). ZPR protects sensitive data from unauthorized access through intent-based security policies.

For more information, see Zero Trust Packet Routing.

You can now assign new key versions and rotate keys for container databases and pluggable databases independently.

For more information, see Manage Encryption Keys.

The ability to create a custom software image for Oracle Database and Grid Infrastructure with all the required updates bundled together and certified in the customer environment will allow developers and database administrators to build an approved and reusable "gold image".

For more information, see Software Images.

You can now use the AMD E5 flexible shape for your DB system. Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

You can now backup and restore from a standby database in a Data Guard association for the Autonomous Recovery Service.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

Oracle Database 23ai is a regular production release available on Base Database Service. With this release, you can perform all the lifecycle operations on the 23ai database.

For more information, see About Oracle Base Database Service.

You can now use an existing backup and restore it to create a database (out-of-place restore) across availability domains within the same region or in a different region using a backup created with Object Storage or Autonomous Recovery Service.

You can also restore a backup taken on either a database that was configured using host-based wallets (local wallets) or OCI Vault.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

You can now set up a cross-region Data Guard between two databases if their keys are residing in a virtual private vault and are managed by the OCI Vault service. It enables you to have the encryption keys used for the primary and standby databases available in the primary and standby regions, respectively, so that they provide protection against a single point of failure for the OCI Vault key.

For more information, see Use Oracle Data Guard on a DB System

The SQL Worksheet provides a web-based SQL workspace where you can work with SQL statements directly in the browser.

You can now launch and use the SQL Worksheet for your Pluggable Databases from the Console.

For more information, see SQL Worksheets.

You can now upgrade the operating system of your DB system to Oracle Linux 8 (OL8) using the Console or APIs.

For more information, see Upgrade a DB System.

You can now backup and restore from a standby database in a Data Guard association.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

You can now restore, relocate, and refresh Pluggable Databases.

For more information, see About Pluggable Databases.

Autonomous Recovery Service is now the default backup destination for automatic backups in all regions and includes default limits without having to request them.

For more information, see Back Up a Database Using the Console.

You can now use an existing backup and restore it to create a new database (out-of-place restore), either within the same availability domain or in a different availability domain within the same region, using a backup created with Object Storage or Autonomous Recovery Service.

For more information, see Create a DB System from a Backup Using the Console.

You can now use Arm-based Ampere A1 flexible shape for your DB system. Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

You can now use these enhanced controls for database backups. With these enhanced controls, you can:

• Specify whether you want the initial L0 backup to start immediately or according to the L0 schedule.
• Choose a time window for the future full backups to start.
• Choose a time window for the incremental backups to start, which can be different from the time window for the L0 backups.

The time windows will remain the same, two-hour scheduling windows and the default six-hour window.

For more information, see:

• Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service
• Back Up a Database Using the Console

You can now cancel an ongoing backup, allowing you to free up system resources. You will no longer have to call the Oracle Cloud Operations team to have this backup job canceled.

For more information, see:

• Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service
• Back Up a Database Using the Console

You can now monitor the health, capacity, and performance of your DB systems and databases with metrics, alarms, and notifications.

You can use Console, Monitoring APIs, or Database Management APIs to view metrics.

For more information, see:

• View Metrics for Base Database Service Resources
• Available Metrics for Base Database Service Resources

Oracle Database Autonomous Recovery Service provides an optimized policy-driven automatic backup and recovery system for the Base Database Service. It also offers a real-time data protection feature that enables protected databases with zero data loss recovery in the event of a database failure. Since real-time data protection is an extra cost option, you can choose to enable or disable it.

For more information, see Back Up and Recovery in Base Database Service.

To support upcoming features, OCI cloud automation needs to communicate with various OCI services such as Identity, Object Storage Service (OSS) etc. either using an internet gateway or a service gateway.

For more information, see VCN and Subnets.

You can now use Intel X9 flexible shape for your DB system. Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

You can now monitor the health and performance of your PDBs by using Database Management metrics and Performance Hub.

For more information, see:

• View Metrics for Base Database Service Resources
• View Performance Hub Metrics for Base Database Service Resources

You can now configure the database in the Base Database Service to use Microsoft Azure Active Database authentication and authorization to allow Azure AD users to access the database with Azure AD credentials.

For more information, see Use Azure Active Directory Authentication with Base Database Service.

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in troubleshooting network connectivity failures.

For more information, see Troubleshoot Network Connectivity Failures.

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in managing Database Management.

For more information, see:

• Manage Database Management for Base Database Service Resources
• View Metrics for Base Database Service Resources
• View Performance Hub Metrics for Base Database Service Resources

You can now migrate your DB system from Intel-based X7 shapes to AMD-based flexible shape E4 by using the Change shape operation.

For more information, see Change the Shape of a DB System.

New article have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you with security features.

For more information, see Security Guide for Base Database Service.

New articles have been added to the Base Database Service documentation to help you in troubleshooting failures.

For more information, see:

• Troubleshoot Backup Failures
• Troubleshoot Update Failures
• Troubleshoot Shape Change Failures

With the latest Release Update, you can now configure the database in a DB system to use OCI Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication and authorization to allow IAM users to access the database with IAM credentials.

For more information, see Use Identity and Access Management Authentication with Base Database Service.

Using the OCI tagging system, Base Database Service resources may now be tagged according to your organizational scheme, allowing you to group resources, manage costs, and gain usage insights.

For more information, see Tags for Base Database Service Resources.

The diagnostics collection and notifications feature enables Oracle Cloud Operations and you to identify, investigate, track, and resolve guest VM issues quickly and effectively. Database Service Events feature enables you to get notified about health issues with your Oracle Databases or other components on the DB system.

You can now use TCPS to connect when enabling database management support for the Base Database Service.

For more information, see Enable Database Management for Oracle Cloud Databases.

The event names for Base Database Service have changed.

For more information, see Event Types for Base Database Service.

For more information, see Enable Oracle Data Guard on a DB System.

You can now upgrade the database that has a Data Guard association. The upgrade options are available in the Console for Data Guard associations created using the Console.

For more information, see Upgrade a Database.

Flexible shapes let you customize the number of OCPUs allocated to an instance. When you create a DB system using a flexible shape, you select the number of OCPUs that you need for the workloads that run on the instance. This flexibility lets you build DB systems that match your workload, enabling you to optimize performance and minimize cost.

For more information, see About Virtual Machine DB Systems.

You can now update a database using the database software images using the Console.

For more information, see Update a Database.

You can now upgrade the operating system and the Oracle Grid Infrastructure using the Console or APIs.

For more information, see Upgrade a DB System.