Oracle 23ai DB Creation in an ExaCC Fails with DBAAS-60022

10 Apr Oracle 23ai DB Creation in an ExaCC Fails with DBAAS-60022

If you’re working with Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer (ExaCC), you may encounter unexpected failures when provisioning a new Oracle 23ai database using the standard dbaascli tooling or Cloud Automation workflows.

During the DBCA (Database Configuration Assistant) execution, the process fails with a fatal error code (DBAAS-60022) due to an incompatible Java version on the database virtual machine (DomU for dbaas tool, which is version 25.1.1. This issue stems from a mismatch between the compiled class version used in DBCA components and the Java runtime environment (JRE) available on the DomU.

You’ll see a failure like this during the Perform_dbca_prechecks job in the provisioning logs:

[FATAL] [DBAAS-60022] ... Exception in thread "main"
java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError: oracle/cluster/verification/VerificationException
has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime (class file version 55.0),
this version of the Java Runtime only recognizes class file versions up to 52.0

This means the system tried to execute Java 11-compiled classes using Java 8, which is not supported.

Oracle 23ai’s DBCA utility contains components compiled using Java 11 (class file version 55). However, the default runtime environment in some DomU VMs — even with Image 25.1.3 — may still be pointing to Java 8 (class file version 52), especially if JDK 11 hasn’t been explicitly installed or linked.

As a result, DBCA fails with a java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError, halting the DB creation process.

This behavior has been acknowledged by Oracle under Bug 37705130 -This issue is tracked and fixed in dbaas tool 25.2

Until then, a manual fix is required.

Exadata Image 25.1.3 does not yet enforce JDK 11 as a hard requirement or install it by default so this workaround is still necessary in some cases.

DBCA determines which Java version to use by scanning in the following order:

1. Java 11

2. Java 17

3. Java 8 (used as fallback – not compatible for 23ai)

If only Java 8 is available, DBCA fails.

Solution

To resolve this issue, install JDK 11 on your DomU using the following steps:

1. Download JDK 11 RPM

Go to the official Oracle JDK archive and download the RPM:
https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/jdk11-archive-downloads.html

Recommended file:
jdk-11.0.21_linux-x64_bin.rpm

2. Copy the JDK RPM to Your DB Node

scp jdk-11.0.21_linux-x64_bin.rpm <your-dbnodename>:/tmp

3. Install the RPM on the DB Node

SSH into the DomU and install using sudo:

sudo rpm -ivh /tmp/jdk-11.0.21_linux-x64_bin.rpm

4. Verify Installation

# Check the installed JDK packages
rpm -qa | grep jdk

# List available Java runtimes
ls /usr/lib/jvm

# Expected output:
/usr/lib/jvm/
├── jdk-1.8-oracle-x64
└── jdk-11-oracle-x64

You do not need to change the system-wide default Java version — DBCA will detect JDK 11 automatically if it exists under /usr/lib/jvm.

Once JDK 11 is installed, reinitiate the database creation operation via dbaascli or your preferred deployment method. The precheck phase (Perform_dbca_prechecks) should now succeed without error, and the database will be provisioned correctly.

For customers managing deployments at scale (e.g., via Ansible, Terraform, or Oracle-provided automation), consider integrating a Java precheck routine in your workflows to ensure JDK 11 is present before invoking DBCA for 23ai builds.

Hope this helps someone save time on a head-scratcher!

Summary

• Issue: DBCA fails with DBAAS-60022 due to Java runtime mismatch.

• Applies To: Oracle 23ai DBs on ExaCC with image version 25.1.3.0.0.250313.

• Fix: Install JDK 11 on the DB node (DomU).

• Oracle Bug: Bug 37705130