2 Starting Smart Update

This section provides the following topics:

Before You Start

Before you begin using Smart Update to download and apply updates to your product installations, be sure to read the following topics:

Designating the Patch Download Directory

The patch download directory is a single-level directory or folder into which patch files are placed when you download them from the download server. Before you start downloading patches, ensure that you have designated a directory to serve this function, as described in this section.

A patch download directory is created automatically the first time you use Smart Update to download a patch, but you may not want to use it in its default location. For example, your organization might encourage or require you to use a particular location for storing maintenance updates that are downloaded from software vendors. This location might be a centralized repository, or a set of cache directories labeled for certain configurations. By taking advantage of the flexibility of Smart Update for storing updates, you can adapt the maintenance download model of Smart Update to business practices in which software maintenance is administered centrally or in which the maintenance image must be replicated easily for promotion to QA, staging, and production environments.

To designate a patch download directory, complete the following steps:

  1. Start Smart Update.

    Note:

    Logging in to My Oracle Support is not necessary.
  2. From the main Smart Update window, choose the File > Preferences menu option.

    The Preferences dialog box is displayed.

  3. In the Patch Download Directory section of the Preferences dialog box, specify the path of the patch download directory.

    Note the following information about the patch download directory:

    • The directory BEA_HOME\utils\bsu\cache_dir is created as the default patch download directory for the current system when you download a patch for the first time.

    • Until you specify a different directory, the default patch download directory is used for storing downloaded patches for all products on your system; the directory used for this purpose is not changed when additional Middleware home directories are created.

    Note:

    Starting from the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 release, MW_HOME is the new term for BEA_HOME.

Obtaining Required Access

Before you start using Smart Update, ensure that you have access to all required resources. Specifically:

  • Ensure that you have a valid My Oracle Support account and login ID.

    For information about obtaining a My Oracle Support account, see Obtaining a My Oracle Support Account.

  • Ensure that you have proper write privileges for the patch download directory, particularly if this directory resides on a remote disk drive or computer.

  • If you are running Smart Update on a system located behind a firewall, you might need to specify, in the Preferences dialog box, one of two types of information. These are the host name and port number for an HTTP proxy server, or the authentication information required for perimeter security.

  • Ensure that you have the privileges required to access the target product installation directories. The ability to access these directories is especially important if you are patching product installations on networked or remotely mounted disk drives.

How to Start Smart Update

Table 2-1 provides instructions for starting the Smart Update graphical interface on Windows and UNIX systems.

Table 2-1 Starting Smart Update

To start Smart Update on this platform Perform the following steps

Windows

From the Start Menu, choose:

Start > Programs > Oracle WebLogic > Smart Update

Or, from an MS-DOS command prompt window:

  1. Go to the BEA_HOME\utils\bsu directory, where BEA_HOME is the host directory for the product installation that you want to update.

    Note: Starting from the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 release, MW_HOME is the new term for BEA_HOME.

  2. At the prompt, enter the following command:

    bsu.cmd
    

    The Smart Update login window is displayed.

UNIX

Note: If you want to run Smart Update on a UNIX system, the console attached to the system on which you are upgrading the software must support a Java-based GUI.

  1. Log in to the UNIX system.

  2. Go to the BEA_HOME/utils/bsu directory, where BEA_HOME is the host directory for the product installation that you want to update.

    Note: Starting from the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 release, MW_HOME is the new term for BEA_HOME.

  3. At the prompt, enter the following command:

    bsu.sh
    

    The Smart Update login window is displayed.


Logging In to Smart Update

To establish a connection to My Oracle Support, enter the following information in the Login dialog box:

  • Your Support ID

  • Your password

Because a connection to My Oracle Support is required for the following operations, the Login dialog box is displayed whenever you:

  • Start Smart Update. When you start Smart Update, you are given the option of working offline, that is, without a live connection to My Oracle Support.

  • Select the Get Patches tab, if you are not logged in.

  • Choose the File > Login menu option.

  • Select a maintenance pack to install when using the Maintenance Pack Update component.

    Note:

    You do not have to log in to install and manage patches that you have downloaded. It is, however, strongly recommended that you log in before you start applying patches so you can validate them with the latest dependency and conflict data. For more information about using Smart Update offline, see Working Offline.

Once you log in, Smart Update establishes an Internet connection to My Oracle Support and provides you with the ability to perform the following tasks for the products installed on your system:

  • View publicly available patches and patch sets.

  • Download private and publicly available patches and patch sets.

  • Download and install maintenance pack updates.

  • Validate patches against the latest dependency and conflict data.

Obtaining a My Oracle Support Account

To obtain a My Oracle Support account, go to the Oracle Support site, http://www.oracle.com/support/index.html, and click My Oracle Support Login or Oracle Metalink Login.

On the My Oracle Support page, follow the instructions to register as a new user.

Working Offline

You do not need to log in to My Oracle Support to use Smart Update. If you are managing or installing maintenance updates to the product installations, you can work offline.

Note the following:

  • The command-line interface to Smart Update does not include the ability to log in to My Oracle Support, so it can be used only in offline mode.

  • When you are working offline, Smart Update is not able to validate patches against the latest dependency and conflict data. Therefore, the system from which you log in to Smart Update to obtain patches must be able to reference a target installation that matches the maintenance level of the system from which you apply patches while working offline.

You can initiate an offline Smart Update session in either of the following ways:

  • If you are starting Smart Update, click Work Offline in the Login dialog box.

  • If you are logged in, choose the File > Logout menu option.

Setting Preferences

From the Preferences dialog box, you can set the following options:

  • Location of the patch download directory

  • Display mode for patch sets in the Downloaded Patches panel of the Smart Update window

  • HTTP proxy or perimeter security authentication information

Choosing a Patch Download Directory

Before you start downloading patches from My Oracle Support, Oracle recommends that you choose an appropriate location to serve as the patch download directory. For more information, see Designating the Patch Download Directory.

Displaying Patch Sets in the Downloaded Patches Panel

Smart Update lets you select a display mode for patch sets shown in the Downloaded Patches panel of the main Smart Update window:

  • Choose Display patch sets and all constituent patches if you want to display an entry for each patch in a patch set you have downloaded, and an entry for the patch set itself. (This is the default setting.)

  • Choose Hide constituent patches when patch set is present and complete if you want to display only the entry for the patch set that you have downloaded, hiding entries for individual patches that belong to the set.

The second display mode, Hide constituent patches when patch set is present and complete, is in effect only for the Downloaded Patches panel. This setting does not affect the display of patch sets and constituent patches in other locations of the Smart Update interface; namely, in the list of publicly available patch sets in the Get Patches tab, and in the list of patch sets for each profile displayed in the Manage Patches tab.

Setting HTTP Proxy Information

If the system on which you are running Smart Update is located behind a firewall, you might need to specify one of the following options so that you can download patches and install maintenance packs:

  • Use HTTP Proxy

    Select this option if you want to use an HTTP Proxy server for the download. To use an HTTP Proxy server, you must specify the following settings in Smart Update in Offline mode, before logging into the download server for the first time. Subsequently you do not need to use offline mode to change the settings.

    In the Login dialog box, click Work Offline, and specify the following:

    • Host—The name or IP address of the proxy server

    • Port—The port number of the proxy server

      In addition, you might also need to configure the HTTP Proxy Server to allow access to the download servers. Specify the following settings for the HTTP Proxy Server:

      • Host—http://pmlb.bea.com

      • Port—80

      • Host—http://bidslb.bea.com

      • Port—80

  • Use Authentication

    Select this option if the HTTP Proxy server you are using requires server-side authentication. If you select this option, you must specify:

    • Username—A valid username required by the proxy server

    • Password—A valid password for the user