Export/Import DataPump Parameter VERSION - Compatibility of Data Pump Between Different Oracle Versions (Doc ID 553337.1)

Last updated on JANUARY 20, 2025

Applies to:

Oracle Database - Personal Edition - Version 10.1.0.2 to 12.2.0.1 [Release 10.1 to 12.2]
Oracle Database - Enterprise Edition - Version 10.2.0.2 and later
Exadata X4-2 Full Rack - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Oracle Database Cloud Schema Service - Version N/A and later
Oracle Database - Standard Edition - Version 10.1.0.2 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Purpose

This article describes issues related to the compatibility of the different versions of the Oracle Export Data Pump and Import Data Pump utilities.

Scope

The article is intended for users of the Oracle10g and Oracle11g databases who wish to use Export Data Pump (expdp) and Import Data Pump (impdp) to export data from an Oracle database release x and import this data into an Oracle database release y. The article gives information how to create an Export Data Pump dumpfile that can be imported into a higher or lower release database, and how the compatibility applies when Data Pump is used over a database link.
For the compatibility of the original export and import clients (exp resp. imp), see:
<Note:132904.1> "Compatibility Matrix for Export & Import Between Different Oracle Versions"
For the transportable tablespaces export/import, see:
<Note:291024.1> "Compatibility and New Features when Transporting Tablespaces with Export and Import"
In the text below, the following terminology is used:

Source database = the database where the data is exported from.
Target database = the database where the data is imported into.
Database compatibility level = the value of init.ora/spfile parameter COMPATIBLE.
Data Pump client version = the release version of the Data Pump client (software version).
Database version = the release version (the first four digits) of the ORACLE_HOME (= version of database dictionary).