Skip Headers
Oracle® Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Administrator's Guide
12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1)

Part Number E24473-09
Go to Documentation Home
Home
Go to Book List
Book List
Go to Table of Contents
Contents
Go to Index
Index
Go to Feedback page
Contact Us

Go to previous page
Previous
Go to next page
Next
PDF · Mobi · ePub

15 Updating Cloud Control

The Self Update feature allows you to expand Enterprise Manager's capabilities by updating Enterprise Manager components whenever new or updated features become available. Updated plug-ins are made available via the Enterprise Manager Store, an external site that is periodically checked by Enterprise Manager Cloud Control to obtain information about updates ready for download.

Cloud Control also provides support for plug-in and connector management. The ability to update plug-ins is particularly important because core Enterprise Manager features - such as Oracle Database management functionality - is now made available via plug-ins.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Using Self Update

The Self Update feature is accessed via the Self Update home page, a common dashboard used to obtain information about new updates and a common workflow to review, download and apply the updates. The Self Update console frees you from having to monitor multiple channels to get informed about new updates that are available from Oracle. The Self Update console automatically informs you whenever new updates are made available by Oracle. Only those updates that are applicable to your site are shown, eliminating the need to wade through unrelated updates.

What Can Be Updated?

Specific updates authored by Oracle that are usually bundled with specific Cloud Control releases can be updated via Self Update. Some examples are Oracle authored Management Plug-ins or Deployment Procedures. In general, Oracle-supplied entities are read-only. You can create a copy and customize the copy as per your needs but you cannot modify the original Oracle-supplied entity.

These entities can also be published on Oracle Web sites such as Oracle Technology Network (OTN) and My Oracle Support (MOS). You can download and import the entity archive into their Cloud Control deployment using specific import features provided by the update-able entity.

Entity Types That Can Be Updated

Examples of update-able entity types are:

  • Management Agents

  • Management Plug-ins

  • Management Connectors

  • Database Profiles and Gold Images

  • Application Server Profiles and Gold Images

  • Provisioning Bundles

  • Enterprise Manager Deployment Pre-requisite Checks

  • Compliance Content

  • Diagnostic Checks

Setting Up Self Update

Before the Self Update feature can be used, a few prerequisites must be met.

Review the following sections for instructions on setting up Self Update:

Setting Up Enterprise Manager Self Update Mode

In order to setup/modify the Enterprise Manager Self Update feature, you must have Enterprise Manager Super Administrator privileges.

  1. Log into on to Enterprise Manager as an administrator with Super Administrator privileges.

  2. From the Setup menu, select Extensibility, then select Self Update. The Self Update console appears with the default setup displayed.

  3. From the General status area, click on the Connection Mode status to set either offline or online mode. Enterprise Manager takes you to the Patching Setup page to specify online and offline settings.

  4. Once the desired connection mode has been selected, return to the Self Update console.

    From here you can select entity types, schedule updates from the Enterprise Manager Update Store.

Assigning Self Update Privileges to Users

In order for Enterprise Administrators to use the Self Update feature, they must have the requisite privileges. The Enterprise Manager Super Administrator must assign the following Self Update roles to these administrators:

  • VIEW_SELF_UPDATE - User can view the Self Update console and can monitor the status of download and apply jobs.

  • MANAGE_SELF_UPDATE - User can schedule download and apply jobs. User can also suppress/unsuppress updates. This privilege implicitly contains VIEW_SELF_UPDATE.

By default, the Super Administrator will have MANAGE_SELF_UPDATE privilege granted to him.

To assign Self Update privileges to regular Enterprise Manager administrators:

  1. From the Setup menu, select Security, then select Administrators.

  2. Select an administrator and click Edit.

  3. From the Roles page, assign the appropriate Self Update roles.

Setting Up the Software Library

The Software Library is a repository that stores software patches, virtual appliance images, reference gold images, application software and their associated directive scripts. It allows maintaining versions, maturity levels, and states of entities.

In the context of applying updates, it is the "local store" that entities are downloaded to before deployment.

Follow these steps to set up the Software Library.

  1. Create a folder in the system where Enterprise Manger is installed. For example, /net/hostname/scratch/aime/swlib1.

  2. From the Enterprise menu, select Provisioning and Patching, then select Software Library.

  3. Click Actions, then Administration.

  4. Click Add.

  5. In the pop up window, enter a name and location for the folder you want to use as the Software Library. For example, swlib1 and /net/hostname/sample/swlib1. This should be the folder that you created in step 1.

  6. Wait for the processing to complete.

Setting Up the EM CLI Utility (Optional)

If you plan to apply software updates in offline mode, or to deploy non-Oracle plug-ins, you will need to use the Enterprise Manager Command Line Utility, or EM CLI, to import entity archives for deployment to Enterprise Manager.

A page is provided in the Cloud Control console with instructions on setting up EM CLI. Access the page by appending /console/emcli/download to the URL used to access the Cloud Control console:

https://emcc_host:emcc_port/em/console/emcli/download

For example:

https://server01.example.com:7801/em/console/emcli/download

Applying an Update

The process for applying updates is essentially as follows:

Review the following sections to learn how to apply an update:

Applying an Update in Online Mode

Updates must be downloaded to the Software Library (the local store) before they can be applied. You can review the latest available updates from the Self Update console.

Note that Enterprise Manager must have access to the Enterprise Manager Store via the Internet to download available updates. If this access is not possible, you can download entities in offline mode. See Applying an Update in Offline Mode for details.

  1. From the Setup menu, choose Extensibility, then choose Self Update.

  2. Click Self Update to get the complete list of available updates.

  3. Select the desired entity type and choose Open from the Action menu. The entity type page appears.

  4. Select an update from the list of available updates.

  5. Click Download. The Schedule Download dialog appears.

  6. Select when to download the update. Note that multiple downloads can be scheduled simultaneously.

    The following options are available:

    • Immediately

    • Later (specified time)

    • Whether or not to send a notification when the download is complete.

  7. Click Select. An Enterprise Manager job is created to download the update to the Software Library.

    Enterprise Manager starts downloading the archive from the Oracle Enterprise Manager store. Wait for the download to complete. (When in offline mode the system starts reading from the specified location.)

    When the download is complete, Enterprise Manager displays the Confirmation page, and the downloaded plug-in is shown in the local Oracle Enterprise Manager Store.

    Note:

    The page is not refreshed automatically. Click the refresh icon to view the updated download status.
  8. Once an entity has been downloaded to the Software Library, it is ready to be applied to your installation. Select an update from the list whose status is Downloaded, then click Apply.

    Note that the application process varies according to the entity type:

    • For connectors, diagnostic checks, and compliance content, clicking Apply will install the update to Enterprise Manager. No further action is required.

    • For plug-ins, you will be redirected to the plug-in deployment page.

    • For provisioning bundles, you will need to exit the Enterprise Manager console, run Opatch and other commands via a terminal, and then restart the OMS.

Applying an Update in Offline Mode

Under certain circumstances, such as in high security environments, an active Internet connection between Enterprise Manager and the Enterprise Manager Update Store may not be available. In such situations, the Self Update feature can be used in "offline mode".

The update process still requires that a computer exist at your site that has an Internet access, as a connection to the Enterprise Manager Update Store is still required to obtain the updates. Update files from this computer can then be transferred to a computer behind your firewall.

The generic offline mode update procedure is as follows:

  1. Ensure Cloud Control is set to offline mode. From the Setup menu, select Provisioning and Patching, then select Offline Patching.

  2. Change the setting for Connection to Offline.

  3. Click Check for Updates on the Self Update home page. A message is displayed that contains the URL to be accessed to download a catalog of all updates.

  4. From an Internet-enabled computer, download the catalog file using the aforementioned URL.

  5. Copy the downloaded file to the Oracle Management Service host or the Management Agent host you will deploy the update to.

  6. Run the emcli import_update command to import the file into the Oracle Management Service instance or the Management Agent you want to update.

    See Importing an External Archive into Enterprise Manager for instructions on using the emcli import_update command.

  7. Review the update from Self Update Home and select and click download. A messages is displayed with URL and instructions.

  8. Select and click Apply to apply the update.

Acquiring or Updating Management Agent Software

Management Agent software for the various platforms (operating systems) supported by Enterprise Manager Cloud Control can be downloaded to the Software Library using the Self Update console. Once a Management Agent is persisted to the Software Library, it can be installed on host machines that you want to bring under Cloud Control management using the Management Agent installation wizard.

Steps for obtaining Management Agent software in both online and offliine modes are discussed below.

Acquiring Management Agent Software in Online Mode

Using Self Update in online mode requires Enterprise Manager to have access to My Oracle Support via the Internet.

  1. From the Setup menu, choose Extensibility, then choose Self Update.

  2. Select the entity type Agent Software and choose Open from the Action menu. The entity type page appears to show agent software for different platforms.

  3. Select an update from the list of available updates. All entries other than the one which matches the platform of the OMS host should show their status as Available.

  4. Click Download. The Schedule Download dialog opens.

  5. Select when to download the update. The following options are available:

    • Immediately

    • Later (specified time)

    • Whether or not to send a notification when the download is complete

  6. Click Select. An Enterprise Manager job is created to download the Agent software to the Software Library.

    Enterprise Manager starts downloading the archive from the Oracle Enterprise Manager store. Wait for the download to complete. (When in offline mode the system starts reading from the specified location.)

    When the download is complete, Enterprise Manager displays the Confirmation page, and the downloaded plug-in is shown in the local Oracle Enterprise Manager Store.

  7. Once the download is complete, select the Management Agent, then click Apply. This step will stage the Agent software in the Software Library and make it available to the Add Targets wizard, which you will use to install the Agent on host machines.

  8. Click Agent Software to launch the Add Targets/Agent Installation wizard.

Acquiring Management Agent Software in Offline Mode

Follow this Self Update process only when Enterprise Manager is in offline mode.

  1. Ensure Cloud Control is set to offline mode. From the Setup menu, select Provisioning and Patching, then select Offline Patching.

  2. Change the setting for Connection to Offline.

  3. From the Setup menu, select Extensibility, the select Self Update.

  4. Click Check for updates on Self Update home page. A message is displayed that contains the URL to be accessed to download a catalog of all updates.

    Note that the archive containing the Management Agent software should also be available from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) site.

  5. From an Internet-enabled computer, download the catalog file using the aforementioned URL.

  6. Copy the downloaded file to either of the following:

    • To any host that has a Management Agent and EM CLI installed

    • To the Oracle Management Service (OMS) host

  7. Run the emcli import_update command to import the archive into the Oracle Management Service instance or the Management Agent you want to update.

    See Importing an External Archive into Enterprise Manager for instructions on using the emcli import_update command.

  8. Select the entity type Agent Software and choose Open from the Action menu. The entity type page appears displaying agent software for different platforms.

  9. Select an update from the list of available updates. All entries other than the one which matches the platform of the Oracle Management Service host will show their status as Available.

  10. Click Download. A message is displayed with a URL and instructions.

  11. From an Internet-enabled computer, download the file from the URL displayed in step 8. Do one of the following:

    • Copy the file to a Management Agent and follow the instructions displayed in step 8.

    • Copy the file to Oracle Management Service and follow the instructions displayed in step 8.

    At this stage, the update will show up in downloaded state in the Self Update home page.

  12. Once the download is complete, select the Managment Agent, then click Apply. This step will stage the Management Agent software in the Software Library and make it available to the Add Targets wizard, which you will use to install the Management Agent on host machines.

  13. Click Agent Software to launch the Add Targets/Agent installation wizard.

Deploying and Updating Plug-ins

A plug-in is a component (module) that can be plugged into an existing Enterprise Manager Cloud Control installation to extend its management and monitoring capabilities. The plug-in management features provided with Cloud Control simplify lifecycle management by allowing you to install and deploy plug-ins, as well as upgrade to newer versions as they become available.

With all releases of Enterprise Manager, external companies provide plug-ins that monitor specific types of targets, such as non-Oracle databases or applications. In a major architectural change, core Enterprise Manager Cloud Control features for managing and monitoring Oracle technologies - such as Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Fusion Applications - are also provided via plug-ins that can be downloaded and deployed.

This new “pluggable” framework enables Cloud Control to be updated with management support for the latest Oracle product releases, without having to wait for the next Cloud Control release to provide such functionality. For example, when a new version of Oracle Database is released, you can simply download and deploy the latest Oracle Database plug-in, which will include management support for the latest release.

See the following sections:

Deploying a Plug-in

The process of enabling a plug-in to monitor targets in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control is essentially as follows:

  • The plug-in archive is downloaded to the Software Library.

  • The plug-in is deployed to the Oracle Management Service (OMS) instance that manages and monitors targets of the plug-in's type. As part of this process, the plug-in metadata is written to the Management Repository.

    Note that deployment of most plug-ins will require the Oracle Management Service instance to stop, then re-start. This process will occur automatically as part of the plug-in deployment process.

  • Targets that the plug-in will monitor are added - or promoted to managed status - in Cloud Control.

  • As part of the target promotion process, a Management Agent containing the required plug-in content is assigned to monitor the target. (If a Management Agent already exists on the target host, it will be updated with the plug-in content.)

See the following sections for details:

Downloading a Plug-in from the Enterprise Manager Store

Plug-in archives that are provided by Oracle will be made available through the Enterprise Manager Store, just like any other update. The plug-in must be downloaded to the Software Library, again like any other update, before it can be deployed.

See Applying an Update in Online Mode for instructions on download plug-in archives.

Importing an External Archive into Enterprise Manager

External, non-Oracle plug-ins - that is, plug-ins that have been created by a company other than Oracle - must be imported into the Software Library using EM CLI before the plug-in deployment process can be initiated.

Note that this process can also be used to import other types of entity archives if Self Update is used in offline mode.

The plug-in archive must first be downloaded to an accessible location. Once downloaded, the plug-in can be imported into Enterprise Manager Cloud Control using the emcli import_upate command. See Setting Up the EM CLI Utility (Optional) for instructions on setting up EM CLI.

You have two options for importing the plug-in archive, depending on where EM CLI is installed:

  • If EM CLI is on the same system as the system as the location you downloaded the plug-in archive (*.opar file) to, run the following command.

    emcli import_update 
     -file=”<path to *.opar file>”
     -omslocal
    

    The -omslocal flag indicates that the plug-in archive is on the same system where you are running this command and the path exists on this system.

  • If EM CLI is on a different system than the plug-in archive, run the following command:

    emcli import_update 
             -file=”<path to *.opar file you created>”  
             -host="host1.example.com" 
             -credential_name="host1_creds" 
             -credential_owner="admin1"
    

    The command syntax is as follows:

    • -file: The absolute path to the *.opar file on the system where you created the archive.

    • -host: The target name for a host target where the file is available.

    • -credential_name: The name of the credentials on the remote system you are connecting to.

    • -credential_owner: The owner of the credentials on the host system you are connecting to.

  • As an alternative to the previous step, you can also run the following command:

    emcli import_update 
          -file=”<path to *.opar file you created>”          
          -host="hostname" 
          -credential_set_name="setname"
    

    -credential_set_name: The set name of the preferred credential stored in the Management Repository for the host target. It can be one of the following:

    • HostCredsNormal: The default unprivileged credential set.

    • HostCredsPriv: The privileged credential set.

Once the archive has been imported, the plug-in (or other entity downloaded in offline mode) can be deployed.

Deploying a Plug-in to Oracle Management Service (OMS)

A plug-in must be deployed on Oracle Management Service (OMS) before it can be used to monitor targets. Follow the steps below to deploy the plug-in on Enterprise Manager Cloud Control.

Note:

A plug-in deployment failure could put the Management Repository in an inconsistent state. Therefore it is strongly recommended that you back up the Management Repository before deploying the plug-in.
  1. From the Setup menu, select Extensibility, then select Plug-ins. Enterprise Manager displays the list of plug-ins that have been downloaded and can be deployed on the Plug-ins page.

  2. On the Plug-ins page, select the specific plug-in you want to deploy. Note that the plug-in archive must have already been downloaded to the Software Library.

  3. Click Deploy On>Management Servers.

    Be sure that dependent plug-ins are deployed and that all existing Management Agents are compatible with the version of the specified plug-in. Enterprise Manager prompts for credentials if the agent is not available.

    Note:

    Plug-ins must be deployed on Oracle Management Service prior to being deployed on Management Agents.
  4. Specify the required details on the Deploy Plug-in dialog box. Note that you will need the Management Repository SYS user password to complete the deployment process.

    In the Version of Plug-in to Deploy section, select or choose the Plug-in version from the Plug-in drop-down. The Target Type information is displayed in the table. Enter the Repository sys Password, then click Continue.

  5. Proceed through the steps in the Deploy Plug-in dialog box.

  6. Click Deploy to deploy the selected plug-in on all Enterprise Manager servers.

    Deployment time varies by plug-in, depending on the volume of data populated in the Management Repository. A page is displayed that allows you to monitor the deployment status.

    Note that deployment of most plug-ins will require the Oracle Management Service instance to stop, then re-start. This process will occur automatically as part of the plug-in deployment process.

    You can also monitor the deployment status by going to the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control console, then going to the plug-ins page as described in step 1, selecting the plug-in and select the Recent Deployment Activities tab at the bottom of the page for the selected plug-ins. This bottom section also lets you see details of your plug-in, which includes the plug-in ID, version, vendor, and so on.

    If any of the steps during plug-in deployment fails, the log is available in $ORACLE_HOME/cfgtoollogs/pluginca/*. Append these in while logging a support request for failure while deploying the plug-in. You can also use them to debug the problem.

Adding Targets for the Plug-in to Monitor

In the current Cloud Control release, deployment of a plug-in to a Management Agent that will monitor targets is no longer required. Instead, the plug-in for a specific target type is automatically deployed with the Management Agent that will monitor targets of that type.

This is a significant change from previous releases, in which plug-ins had to first be manually deployed to a Management Agent, and a target instance then had to be manually added to the Management Agent.

You can add targets that the plug-in will monitor through Enterprise Manager Cloud Control by selecting Add Targets from the Setup menu. The process for adding targets - known in Cloud Control terminology as target promotion - will vary depending on the option you choose.

See Chapter 1, "Discovering Targets" for details on adding targets for the plug-in to monitor.

Important Details Regarding Plug-in Deployment

  • You can import multiple versions of the same plug-in. The version to deploy can be selected from a list if you are using Cloud Control to deploy the plug-in, or can be specified on the command line if using EM CLI.

  • Only one version can be deployed on the Oracle Management Service (OMS) at any given time. If a later version has been deployed previously, it cannot be downgraded to an earlier version.

  • Updating a plug-in to a new version does not remove the content of the older plug-in.

  • The Management Agent can have the same or earlier version of the plug-in that is deployed on the OMS host. However a version later than the version on the OMS host is not allowed on the Management Agent host.

  • If the plug-in version available on the OMS is not certified on the Management Agent platform (operating system), the version of the plug-in version that is supported will be deployed to the Management Agent.

  • The plug-in on the OMS host and the plug-in on the Management Agent host can be updated independently of each other.

  • Available updates are visible on the Plug-ins page. They can be downloaded from the Enterprise Manager store or imported using EM CLI as described in Importing an External Archive into Enterprise Manager.

Updating a Plug-in

When a new version of a plug-ins is released, you have the option of updating the Oracle Management Service instances and Management Agents that use the plug-in with the new version.

Updated versions of Oracle plug-ins are made available through the Oracle Enterprise Manager Store, where then can be downloaded for deployment. The Oracle Enterprise Manager Store is a central store maintained by Oracle, where plug-in metadata and archives are published. Plug-ins must be downloaded to a location (the Local Store) before being deployed.

Updated versions of external non-Oracle plug-ins are not available through the Oracle Enterprise Manager Store, and must first be imported into Oracle Management Service before being deployed. See Importing an External Archive into Enterprise Manager for instructions.

Note that before a plug-in can be upgraded on a Management Agent, it must first be upgraded on the associated Oracle Management Service instance. In addition, you do not need to remove the existing version of a plug-in from OMS or Management Agents before upgrading to the latest version.

For more information, see the following sections:

Downloading the Latest Plug-in Archive from the Oracle Enterprise Manager Store

Plug-ins must be downloaded to the Software Library (the local store) before being deployed.

To download the latest plug-in archive from the Oracle Enterprise Manager Store to the Software Library, follow the instructions in Downloading a Plug-in from the Enterprise Manager Store.

Updating a Plug-in on Oracle Management Service

Once the plug-in is available in the Local Store, you can deploy it to Oracle Management Service. See Deploying a Plug-in to Oracle Management Service (OMS) for instructions.

The plug-in must be updated on the OMS instance managing relevant targets before it is updated on active Management Agents.

Note that you do not need to remove the existing version of a plug-in from the OMS instance before upgrading to the latest version.

Updating a Plug-in on a Management Agent

Once the updated version of the plug-ins has been deployed on OMS, all Management Agents that use the plug-in can be updated with the latest version.

Note that you do not need to remove the existing version of a plug-in from the Management Agents before upgrading to the latest version.

  1. From the Setup menu, choose Extensibility, then select Plug-ins.

  2. Select the row for the plug-in you want to update to in the table.

  3. Click Deploy On>Management Agent.

    Note:

    Plug-ins must be deployed on a Managed Server prior to deploying on Management Agents.
  4. On the Deploy Plug-in dialog box, use the Management Agents to Deploy section to Add or Remove the agents to which you want to deploy the plug-in.

    When you click Add, Enterprise Manager displays the Search and Select dialog box where you can select the agents to add. Click OK to return to the Deploy Plug-in dialog box. Only agents running the operating systems supported by the selected plug-in may be selected.

    To remove an agent, highlight it in the Management Agents to Deploy table and click Remove.

  5. Specify other required details on the Deploy Plug-in on Agents dialog box.

    Select the Plug-in version from the Plug-in drop-down. Click Next.

  6. Click Deploy to deploy the chosen plug-in on the selected Management Agents.

  7. Enterprise Manager displays a page that monitors the deployment status and begins the deployment process with the Install option. Deployment occurs in parallel on all selected agents.

Un-deploying a Plug-in

To un-deploy a plug-in from Oracle Management Service or a Management Agent, follow the steps below. Un-deploying a plug-in completely removes monitoring of affected targets, and also removes all plug-in metadata from the Management Repository.

Notes:

A plug-in must be deployed from all Management Agents before being un-deployed from an Oracle Management Service instance. If not, un-deployment will fail.

In addition, default plug-ins provided by Oracle, such as the Database Management plug-in, cannot be un-deployed.

  1. From the Setup menu, choose Extensibility, then select Plug-ins.

  2. Select the row for the plug-in you want to remove to in the table.

  3. Click Undeploy From, then either Management Servers or Management Agent. You can then select the OMS or Management Agent you want to remove the plug-in from.

  4. Confirm the plug-in removal. Enterprise Manager notifies the connected and relevant Enterprise Manager users and begins the de-configuration process.