To change the character set of database , we have to follow following steps:
1. Shut down the database, using either a SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE or a SHUTDOWN NORMAL statement.
2. Do a full backup of the database because the ALTER DATABASE CHARACTER SET statement cannot be rolled back.
3. Startup Oracle database
SQL> startup mount;
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM ENABLE RESTRICTED SESSION;
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES=0;
SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET AQ_TM_PROCESSES=0;
SQL> ALTER DATABASE OPEN;
SQL> ALTER DATABASE CHARACTER SET AL32UTF8;
If you get the error ORA-12712, please update the following table.
"ORA-12712: new character set must be a superset of old character set"