How to Migrate from MariaDB to Oracle

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How do I migrate my MariaDB database to Oracle without breaking data integrity?

Step-by-step process to copy schema, data, and constraints from a MariaDB database into Oracle.

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Description

Why migrate from MariaDB to Oracle?

Oracle offers advanced analytics, mature replication, and built-in security. Teams move to Oracle when they outgrow MariaDB’s feature set or need enterprise support.

What are the pre-migration checks?

Verify character sets, storage engines, and time zones match Oracle’s targets. Remove unsupported MariaDB features like virtual columns using non-deterministic expressions.

Which tools does Oracle provide?

Oracle SQL Developer (GUI) and its CLI sibling sdcli perform automated schema conversion and data move.GoldenGate or Data Pump can handle near-zero-downtime cut-overs.

How do I export the MariaDB schema?

Use mysqldump with --no-create-db and --routines. Keep each table in its own file to parallelize data loads later.

How do I run an offline migration with `sdcli`?

Create three9property files: source, target, and repository. Run sdcli migration to convert DDL, generate Oracle-compatible scripts, and optionally copy data.

How do I load data into Oracle?

For small datasets, sdcli auto-generates INSERT scripts.For millions of rows, use SQL*Loader or external tables to speed up ingestion.

How do I validate the migrated data?

Run row counts per table, checksum numeric columns, and spot-check random orders. SQL Developer’s "Quick Check" compares source and target databases automatically.

Can I do an online migration?

Yes. Configure GoldenGate bi-directional replication after the initial load.Switch traffic to Oracle once lag reaches zero, then disable MariaDB writes.

What about sequences and auto-increment?

AUTO_INCREMENT becomes a sequence plus a trigger in Oracle. SQL Developer builds both automatically, but confirm starting values match production.

Best practices for ecommerce tables

Partition Orders by month to speed up reporting. Move large text columns to CLOB.Index Customers.email as a unique constraint to retain look-up speed.

Checklist before go-live

Freeze DDL on MariaDB, refresh data gap, switch application connection strings, and monitor error logs for sequence or constraint violations.

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Why How to Migrate from MariaDB to Oracle is important

How to Migrate from MariaDB to Oracle Example Usage


-- Example: Verify row counts after migration
SELECT
    (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Customers)  AS oracle_customers,
    (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dblink_mariadb('SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Customers')) AS mariadb_customers
FROM dual;

How to Migrate from MariaDB to Oracle Syntax


-- 1. Export schema & data from MariaDB
mysqldump -u root -p \
  --single-transaction --no-create-db --routines \
  ecommerce Customers Orders Products OrderItems \
  > ecommerce.sql

-- 2. Convert & migrate with SQL Developer CLI
a) source.properties
   dbType=MYSQL
   hostname=mariadb.host
   port=3306
   user=admin
   password=***
   serviceName=ecommerce

b) target.properties
   dbType=ORACLE
   hostname=oracle.host
   port=1521
   user=ECOM
   password=***
   serviceName=ORCLPDB1

c) repo.properties (holds migration metadata)
   jdbcUrl=jdbc:oracle:thin:@oracle.host:1521/ORCLPDB1
   user=SDC_REPO
   password=***

sdcli migration \
  -sourceConnection source.properties \
  -oracleConnection target.properties \
  -repositoryConnection repo.properties \
  -name ecommerce_migration \
  -includeSchema TRUE \
  -includeData TRUE

-- 3. Run generated Oracle scripts
@ecommerce_schema_ddl.sql
@ecommerce_data_load.sql

Common Mistakes

Ignoring character set differences. MariaDB often stores UTF-8 as utf8mb4, while Oracle defaults to AL32UTF8. Validate and convert to prevent mangled text.
Trusting AUTO_INCREMENT to copy 1:1. Oracle lacks auto-increment fields, so you must use sequences and triggers or identity columns. Let SQL Developer create them or write them manually.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is the migration wizard free?

Yes. Oracle SQL Developer and its CLI are free tools that only require a Java runtime.

Can I roll back after cut-over?

Keep GoldenGate running bidirectionally for a short window so you can reverse traffic if needed.

How long does data conversion take?

Rough estimate: ~30 GB/hour with SQL*Loader direct path on commodity hardware. Parallelizing tables speeds this up.

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