OCI Autonomous Database — Migration & Connection

Overview

Migrate to and connect with OCI Autonomous Database (ADB) using the Python SDK and python-oracledb. Autonomous Database is OCI's crown jewel but migrating to it from standard Oracle DB or other databases is full of gotchas — wallet downloads require SDK calls (not just console clicks), mTLS is mandatory by default, connection strings use a different format than standard Oracle, and Data Pump exports need specific parameter adjustments for ADB compatibility.

Purpose: Provision an Autonomous Database, download the wallet, establish a connection, and migrate data using Data Pump.

Prerequisites

• OCI Python SDK — pip install oci
• Oracle DB driver — pip install oracledb
• Config file at ~/.oci/config with fields: user, fingerprint, tenancy, region, key_file
• IAM policy — Allow group Developers to manage autonomous-databases in compartment <name>
• Python 3.8+
• For Data Pump: access to the source Oracle database with DBA privileges

Instructions

Step 1: Provision an Autonomous Database