Contents

Title and Copyright Information

Preface

• Documentation Accessibility
• Related Documents
• Conventions

1 Introduction

• What is New in Smart Update Version 3.3.0
• Products Supported by Smart Update Version 3.3.0
• Downloading and Installing Smart Update 3.3.0
  • Installing Smart Update 3.3.0 in Silent Mode
• Quick Reference Information
• How Smart Update Simplifies Patch Management
  • Patch Validation and Conflict Checking
  • Command-Line Interface
  • Support for Distributed Patching
  • Support for Patching Machines That Cannot Connect to My Oracle Support
    • Smart Update Client
    • Patches and the Patch Catalog
  • Simplified Maintenance Rollback
  • Scoping a Patch to Specific Applications, Domains, or Servers
• Resources Available from My Oracle Support
• Overview of Applying Patches
  • Providing Maintenance to Distributed Machines
  • Maintaining Machines That Do Not Have Access to My Oracle Support
    • Patching New Versions of Smart Update Manually

2 Downloading Patches

• Before You Begin
• Downloading Patches From My Oracle Support
  • Downloading a Single Patch Using the Oracle Patch Number
  • Downloading a Single Patch Using the Smart Update Patch ID
  • Searching for and Downloading All Available Patches

3 Starting Smart Update

• Before You Begin
  • Unzipping Downloaded Patches
  • Obtaining Required Access
• How to Start Smart Update
• Setting Preferences
  • Choosing a Patch Download Directory
  • Displaying Patch Sets in the Downloaded Patches Panel
  • Setting HTTP Proxy Information

4 Applying Patches

• Choosing a Target Installation
  • Specifying Other Middleware Home Directories
• Viewing Patch Information
  • How to Display Patches
  • About Patches Displayed in the Manage Patches Tab
  • Viewing Currently Downloaded Patches
  • Viewing Details About a Patch
• Applying and Managing Patches
  • About Patch Profiles
  • Applying a Patch to the Target Installation
  • Removing a Patch From the Target Installation
• Resolving Patch Conflicts
  • Validation When Applying Patches
  • Validation When Removing Patches
• Creating and Using Maintenance Snapshots
• Applying a Patch to the Client

5 Activating Applied Patches in Your Installations and Applications

• Overview
  • Patches That Must Be Referenced By Start Scripts
  • Patches That Replace Resources For All Applications, Domains, and Servers
  • Patches That Must Be Deployed and Referenced By Applications
  • How Patch Files Are Stored on Your System By Smart Update
  • Structure of the Installation-Level Patch Directories
    • Patch Manifest JAR Files
    • Native Library Files
    • Module Patch Files
• Classpath, Extended Classpath, and Native Library Patches
  • About Pointing Start Scripts at Patches
    • Default Script that Defines Class and Library Paths for All WebLogic Domains and Servers
    • Default Patch Path Environment Variables
    • How Patch Path Variables Are Inserted into Class and Library Paths
    • About Setting a Patch Path Variable in a Server Start Script
• Modifying a Start Script
• Using the Start Script Editor
  • Script Snippet for Windows
  • Script Snippet for UNIX
  • Opening a Start Script
    • Modifying the Domain Start Script
    • Modifying the Start Script for All Managed Servers or a Cluster
    • Modifying the Start Script for a Specific Server
• Pointing All Domains and Servers at Patches Through Custom Scripts
  • Pointing Domains and Servers at Patch JARs in the Default Patch Profile for the WebLogic System Classpath
  • Pointing Domains and Servers at Library Patches in the Default Patch Profile
    • For UNIX Systems
    • For Windows Systems
• Module Patching
  • Module Patching in WebLogic Server
  • Module Patching in OSGi-Based Products
• Native Binaries and Other Artifacts Patches
• Shared Archive Patches
  • Overview
    • Archive Replacement Compared with Insertion
    • Patch Removal
    • For More Information
  • Default Application of Shared Archive Patches
  • Activating Shared Archive Patches in Custom Profiles with Application Scope
    • Updating Application Descriptors

6 Patching Individual Applications, Domains, or Servers

• About Patching Domains or Servers
• About Patching Applications, Domains, or Servers
  • How Custom Profiles Can Patch Individual Domains, Servers, and Applications
  • How a Domain or Server Can Point to a Patch in a Custom Profile
    • Example Use of PATCH_CLASSPATH to Point a Server at Patch Classes
    • Pointing to Custom Patch Profiles in OSGi-based Products
  • Best Practices for Using Custom Patch Profiles
    • Avoiding Proliferation of Custom Profiles
    • Modifying Domain and Server Start Scripts
    • Removing Patches That Affect Installation-Wide Resources
• Creating a Custom Patch Profile
  • Initial Contents of a Custom Patch Profile
  • Cloning a Patch Profile
  • Adding Patches to a Custom Patch Profile
  • Deleting a Custom Patch Profile
• Pointing Domains and Servers at a Custom Patch Profile
  • Important Note if You Use Custom Scripts
• Managing Custom Patch Profiles in a Node Manager Environment

7 Uninstalling Patches

• Important Note about Uninstalling Products
• Removing a Patch
  • Removing a patch or patch set
• Uninstalling a Service Pack, Maintenance Pack, or Upgrade

8 Using the Command-Line Interface

• About the bsu Command
• bsu Command Reference
• Command-Line Interface Examples
  • Installation Example
  • View Patches Example
  • Another View Patches Example
  • Display Maintenance Snapshot
  • Report of Applied Patches

9 Best Practices for Distributing Patches

• Distributing Patches to a Production Environment
  • Using Smart Update Scripts to Promote a Standard Maintenance Level to a Production Environment
  • Creating and Distributing an Archive of the Product Installation
• Providing Patches to Systems that Cannot Connect to My Oracle Support
  • Patching an Offline System Through a Shared Patch Download Directory
    • Requirements
    • Steps
  • Patching an Offline System Through Removable Media
    • Requirements
    • Steps
  • Additional Means for Patching an Offline System

10 Known Limitations in Smart Update

• General Issues and Workarounds
  • Smart Update 3.1 Exits with an Error if Version Strings of Products that are Not Supported by Smart Update are Present in the Registry
  • Smart Update Does Not Run on Apple Macintosh Machine
  • Exceptions are Thrown When You Use Smart Update with Node Manager Running
  • Patch Application Does Not Enforce Product Check in Command-line Mode
  • Invalidated Patches List Other Invalidated Patches as Their Replacement
  • The Patch Profile Maintenance Snapshot Is Poorly Formatted When Viewed in Notepad
  • Smart Update Graphical User Interface Displays an Exception in Rare Cases
  • Uninstall Component Does Not Remove Component Patches Automatically
  • GUI Cannot Refresh Patches Installed from Command Line Without Restart
  • Issues with Domains Created After Rollback from WebLogic Server 10.3.2 to 10.3.1

11 Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I get a Support ID?
• What is a Bug or CR?
• How can I get a fix to a bug? Can I get a patch for a bug?
• How do I obtain security advisory notifications?
• What is a private patch?
• How do I download just a maintenance pack?
• What products can I patch using the Smart Update tool?
• Do I need a support contract to download patches from My Oracle Support?

A Smart Update Quick Reference

• How to Generate a Maintenance Snapshot
• How to Create a Custom Patch Profile
• Smart Update GUI Glossary

Glossary