How to Migrate Database from Oracle to PostgreSQL

Even though both Oracle or PostgreSQL are considered very famous Database Management Systems packed with a large number of tools, however, comparing the two Database Management Systems we come to note that PostgreSQL has several advantages over Oracle. PostgreSQL is open source and goes through liberal licensing like BSD or MIT. Also, Oracle is expensive and has much more strict licensing terms. Hence, a lot of companies have decided to migrate their databases to PostgreSQL from Oracle.

You can follow the following steps to transport your database from Oracle to PostgreSQL manually:

1. In the form of DDL statements you need to export table definitions in Oracle
2. Now you need to convert these Data Definition Language statements into PostgreSQL format by mapping the data and substituting Oracle functions not supported by the PostgreSQL
3. Now import the table definitions in PostgreSQL format into the database of choice
4. In a Comma Separated Values (CSV) format export all of required Oracle data from the initial database you want to export
5. Now convert this data into a PostgreSQL format by converting necessary binary data, dates and escaping special symbols inside text fields as per requirement
6. The resulting CSV files should be imported into the PostgreSQL database
7. Convert Oracle triggers, views and stored procedures into SQL statements and as source code
8. Edit these statements as per destination format
9. Import your files into the new database

The manual procedure to convert your data from Oracle to PostgreSQL is quite a long journey. It is extensively confusing and one could mess up the entire process easily, causing a loss to data.  In order to avoid any such accidents, it’s better to use special software for automated database migration.

Luckily, there are brands offering the service to automate the procedure of converting data from Oracle to PostgreSQL. The Intelligent Converters (since 2001) developed the Oracle to PostgreSQL conversion tool to help you through this process.

Some of the Features the Product offers include:

• It can work with any version of Oracle or PostgreSQL
• It can convert objects including table definitions, constraints, data, indexes and foreign keys
• All the settings are stored in a profile (for reuse)
• To help in automation the converter offers a command line panel
• It can allow you to add Oracle data to an already present PostgreSQL database
• For a faster conversion speed, the Oracle to PostgreSQL tool uses direct connection and bulk insert methods

Apart from the above mentioned features, there is more to this converter. Options like filtering data make the tool flexible and much more useful. This feature specifically will make it possible for you to only select specific columns or records that you want to convert. Ahead are mentioned a few examples of using SELECT-queries for different purposes. It can allow you to filter records, be able to join different tables or you can also rename a column you want.

Another factor that makes this product stand out is the unlimited reliable support it provides coupled with a 1 year subscription of regular updates to improve your experience.

Paul Petersen