This chapter describes the tools and procedures required for you to patch your existing Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2 (11.1.2).
Table 3-1 provides links to additional information for each of the patching steps.
Table 3-1 Summary of Patching Procedures and Links to Documentation
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Perform the following general pre-patching tasks:
If you are patching in silent mode, see Section 3.2.5, "Renaming the emCCR File for Silent Patching". |
|
2 |
Download and start the appropriate installer for your product: For details, see Section 3.3, "Downloading and Starting the Installer". |
|
3 |
Update the software in your Oracle home using the downloaded Installer. |
|
4 |
Perform any necessary post-patching tasks (for example, starting the servers and processes in a domain, starting Oracle instances, running scripts or modifying configuration files). The tasks that need to be performed will vary depending on the version of your existing software and components configured in your environment. |
|
5 |
Start the servers and processes. For more information, see Section 3.5, "Starting the Servers and Processes". |
|
6 |
Verify that your patch installation is complete. For more information, see Section 3.6, "Verifying Your Patch Set Installation". |
If you are running your products in a distributed environment (for example, you have Managed Servers running in multiple domains on multiple systems) and you have set up a shared Middleware home on a shared network drive mounted to each machine that is part of your domain, then this patching procedure only needs to be done once (see Section 2.3.3, "Patching in a Distributed Environment").
If your distributed environment has a separate Middleware home on each system, then this patching procedure must be repeated for each domain on each system.
More information about distributed topologies can be found in the Enterprise Deployment Guide for your specific product.
This section describes tasks that should be completed before you patch your software:
Section 3.2.1, "Reviewing System Requirement, Certification and Interoperability Information"
Section 3.2.3, "Backing Up Your Middleware Home, Domain Home and Oracle Instances"
Section 3.2.4, "Backing Up Your Database and Database Schemas"
Section 3.2.5, "Renaming the emCCR File for Silent Patching"
Before you begin to update your software, you should make sure that your system environment and configuration meet the minimum requirements for the software you want to install in order to perform the update. This section contains links to several key pieces of documentation you should review:
For certification information, refer to the System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 document on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations page at the following URL:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html
This document contains information related to hardware and software requirements, minimum disk space and memory requirements, database schema requirements, and required system libraries, packages, or patches.
Read the System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.x) Certification Matrix document. This document contains certification information related to supported 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems, databases, web servers, LDAP servers, adapters, IPv6, JDKs, and third-party products.
Read Oracle Fusion Middleware Interoperability and Compatibility Guide for Oracle Forms and Reports. This document contains important information regarding the ability of Oracle Fusion Middleware products to function with previous versions of other Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle, or third-party products. This information is applicable to both new Oracle Fusion Middleware users and existing users who are upgrading their existing environment.
Before you run the installer to update your software, you should stop all servers and processes (including OPMN) on all machines which are part of any domain used from the Middleware home.
Instructions for stopping an Oracle Fusion Middleware environment are provided in "Stopping an Oracle Fusion Middleware Environment" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.
If your environment is running Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN), you should also stop OPMN with the opmnctl stopall command.
If you are running Node Manager, you should also stop Node Manager. You can do this by closing the console window in which Node Manager is running, or by using the stopNodeManager WLST command.
Note:
In order for thestopNodeManager command to work, Node Manager must be configured with QuitEnabled=true.
See "stopNodeManager" in Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference for more information.
After stopping the servers and processes, back up your Middleware home directory (including the Oracle home directories inside the Middleware home), your local Domain home directory, your local Oracle instances, and also the Domain home and Oracle instances on any remote systems that use the Middleware home.
If your patch set installation is unexpectedly interrupted, or if you choose to cancel out of the installation before it is complete, you may not be able to install the patch unless you restore your environment to the previous configuration before running the Installer again.
Note:
There is no patch set deinstallation procedure. The -deinstall procedure that you would use for a typical installation will not remove the patch set.If the product you are installing has associated database schemas, you should also back up your database before you begin the patching procedure. Make sure this back up includes the schema version registry table, as each Fusion Middleware schema has a row in this table. The name of the schema version registry table is SYSTEM.SCHEMA_VERSION_REGISTRY$. Refer to your database documentation for instructions on how to do this.
If you run the Patch Set Assistant to update an existing schema and it does not succeed, you must restore the original schema before you can try again. Make sure you backup your existing database schemas before you run the Patch Set Assistant.
If you are patching your software in silent mode, you may encounter the following error messages:
"SEVERE:Values for the following variables could not be obtained from the command line or response file(s): MYORACLESUPPORT_USERNAME(MyOracleSupportUsername)"
To work around this issue, rename the ORACLE_HOME/ccr/bin/emCCR (on UNIX operating systems) or ORACLE_HOME\ccr\bin\emCCR (on Windows operating systems) file.
Caution:
Be sure to change the name back after the patching process has completed or you may encounter errors with other operations (such as My Oracle Support or other installers.)For example, on a UNIX operating system:
cd ORACLE_HOME/ccr/bin
mv emCCR emCCR_LAST
On a Windows operating system:
cd ORACLE_HOME\ccr\bin
mv emCCR emCCR_LAST
See "Silent Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Deinstallation" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide for more details about silent installation.
The following sections contain instructions on how to obtain the proper installer required to patch your product:
The installers you use to apply the latest Oracle Fusion Middleware patch sets vary in their behavior and capabilities, depending upon the product you are using. The installer for Oracle Forms and Reports is a full installer that can also function as an update installer. You can use it to update an existing Oracle Forms and Reports home, or you can use it to install a new, complete Oracle Forms and Reports home.
To download and unpack the Installer files for your product:
Download the installer from the Oracle Technology Network, My Oracle Support, or Oracle Software Delivery Cloud (formerly E-Delivery).
For more information, see "Select an Oracle Fusion Middleware Software Download Site" and "Download the Software Required for Your Starting Point" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Download, Installation, and Configuration ReadMe Files.
Unpack the downloaded archive that contains the installer and software that you want to install into a directory on the target computer.
To start the installer you just downloaded and unpacked:
Change directory to the Disk1 folder inside the unpacked archive folder.
Start the Installer:
On UNIX operating systems:
./runInstaller
On Windows operating systems run the following:
setup.exe
Depending on your system environment and product you are updating, you may be prompted to provide the location of a JRE/JDK on your system when you start the installer. When you installed Oracle WebLogic Server, a JRE was installed in the jdk160_version directory inside the Middleware home; you can use this location to start the installer.
If you do not have Oracle WebLogic Server installed on your system, you can use the JDK in the jdk directory inside the Oracle home.
Make sure you specify the absolute path to your JRE/JDK location; relative paths are not supported.
The Installer can also be run in silent mode. See "Silent Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Deinstallation" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide for more details.
After you have started the Installer, follow the instructions on the screen to apply the patch set to your existing Middleware home.
Note:
If your domain includes multiple host computers, you must run the Installer separately on each host to update the software on that host.As you review each screen of the installer, note that there are two significant differences between applying a patch set and installing software for the first time:
Note:
When you are applying a patch set, you must identify an existing Middleware home on the Specify Installation Location screen.Table 3-2 provides a summary of the typical installation screens you will see when you are applying a patch set to an existing Middleware home.
If you need additional help with any of the installation screens click Help to access the online help.
Table 3-2 Typical Installation Flow For Installing a Patch Set
| Screen | When Does This Screen Appear? | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Always. |
This page introduces you to the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installer. |
|
|
Always. |
Select the method you want to use for obtaining software updates, or select Skip Software Updates if you do not want to get updates. If updates are found, the installer will automatically attempt to apply them at this point; make sure that the server you are using to perform the installation is connected to the Internet. |
|
|
Always. |
Select an install type:
|
|
|
Always. |
Verify that your system meets all necessary prerequisites. |
|
|
Always. |
Specify your existing Oracle Middleware home and product Oracle home locations. |
|
|
Only if you have not previously registered for security updates for your products. |
Enter your E-mail address if you want to receive the latest product information and security updates. If you have a My Oracle account and wish to receive updates via this mechanism, select I wish to receive security updates via My Oracle Support, then enter your account password. If you do not wish to register for security updates, leave all the fields on this screen blank. |
|
|
Always. |
Verify the information on this screen, then click Install to begin the installation. |
|
|
Always. |
This screen shows the progress of the installation. Click Next when the installation is 100% complete. |
|
|
Always. |
Click Save to save your configuration information to a file. This information includes port numbers, installation directories, URLs, and component names which you may need to access at a later time. After saving your configuration information, click Finish to dismiss the installer. |
After you have finished patching your software and performing any necessary post-patching tasks, you are ready to start the servers and processes.
Instructions for starting an Oracle Fusion Middleware environment are provided in "Starting an Oracle Fusion Middleware Environment" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.
You can start Node Manager as described in "Starting Node Manager" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Node Manager Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebLogic Server.
To verify the installation after applying the patch set, start your browser and enter the following URLs:
To access the Administration Server console:
http://host:admin_server_port/console
You can verify that both Forms and Reports appear in various locations on this screen. For more information about using Fusion Middleware Control with Oracle Forms and Reports, see "Getting Started Using Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.
If you configured your Administration Server to accept SSL connection, use the following URL to access the Administration Server console in secure mode:
https://host:secure_admin_server_port/console
To access Enterprise Manager:
http://host:admin_server_port/em
To access the Enterprise Manager Agent:
http://host:port/emd/main
To access Oracle Forms:
http://host:port/forms/frmservlet
To access Oracle Reports:
http://host:port/reports/rwservlet
You should receive a login screen. Enter your Administration Server user name and password to access the site.
For more information about the Administration Console, see "Getting Started Using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.
For more information about Enterprise Manager, see "Getting Started Using Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.