This chapter describes how to apply patches to your Oracle Communications Evolved Communications Application Server (OCECAS) system.
You can develop and maintain a strategy to handle the installation of patch releases so that your customers experience a seamless transition.
Oracle Communications distributes the following types of OCECAS patches to resolve issues, to resolve any perceived vulnerability in the software, or to improve its overall performance:
Patch Set. A Patch Set is the most comprehensive patch release. It contains the accumulated resolutions and updates in OCECAS from the time of the last general release up to the current Patch Set release. Oracle recommends that you stay up-to-date by installing Patch Sets as soon as they become available.
OCECAS 7.0 Patch Sets use the release numbering scheme 7.0.0.x, where x is the Patch Set number. For example, the first Patch Set for OCECAS 7.0 would be Evolved Communications Application Server 7.0.0.1.
Debug patch. A debug patch is used to troubleshoot an ongoing issue in your OCECAS system. A debug patch represents a concerted attempt by you and Oracle Technical Support to fix an issue in your OCECAS system. Oracle Technical Support uses debug patches as a tool to extract better data from your OCECAS system as a way of resolving the issue. Therefore, the debug patch may not resolve the issue, and more patches may be required.
Because debug patches address a single issue, OCECAS numbers them as v1, v2, v3, and so on. Each subsequent version replaces the prior version of the debug patch.
Temporary fix. Temporary fixes are tailored to solve an issue in your OCECAS system. They are urgent, time-sensitive, or critical corrections that solve an issue you are experiencing. You may have to install more patches to make the temporary fix work.
Because each temporary fix addresses a single issue, OCECAS numbers the fixes as v1, v2, v3, and so on. Each subsequent version replaces the prior version of the temporary fix.
By default, every patch contains the following items:
A README file
The README file for a patch release describes how to install the patch. Additionally, in case you encounter problems while applying the patch, the README describes how you can revert to your current setup by rolling back the patch.
Software updates to OCECAS
These updates consist of fixes or debug changes.
At times, the patch includes a subdirectory named custom, which contains the following items:
Additional documentation resources
For example, the patch may contain the description of a specific fix detailing what configuration settings are required to utilize the fix.
Manual patching steps
The patch may target a resource you have modified, such as startup scripts.
OPatch is an Oracle-supplied Java-based utility that supports the following tasks:
Applying a patch
Rolling back a patch to a previous version
Listing the installed patches
Detecting a conflict when applying a patch after previous patches have been applied. It also suggests the best options to resolve a conflict
OPatch requires installation of the Oracle Universal Installer software. It is platform-independent and runs on all supported operating systems.
For more information, see "About OPatch" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Patching with OPatch.
Complete the following tasks before you use OPatch for the first time on your system:
For more information about the prerequisite checks for OPatch, see Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide.
For the latest information about the OPatch utility, the JRE versions, or the Java commands for Linux, or to check for updates and get the latest versions, go to My Oracle Support at:
The patch installation process uses the OPatch and ZIP software. Ensure that your system can find and use the software by setting your PATH environment variable to include:
The Ocecas_home/OPatch directory
The ZIP software directory
To confirm that your system can find the OPatch and ZIP software, enter the following at a command prompt:
which opatch which unzip
To apply patches successfully, OPatch needs access to a valid version of Oracle Universal Installer, a valid Oracle Inventory directory (oraInventory), and a valid version of OPatch. Validate the versions on your system by entering the following command:
opatch lsinventory -oh Ocecas_home
This command displays your system's OPatch and Oracle Universal Installer versions and directories, and lists the patches currently installed in Ocecas_home. For example, the following shows a sample of the information displayed at the beginning of the output:
Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 13.2.0.0.0 Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. Oracle Home : Ocecas_home Central Inventory : /export/oraInventory from : Ocecas_home/oraInst.loc OPatch version : 13.2.0.0.0 OUI Version : 13.2.0.0.0 Log file location : Ocecas_home/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2015-6-16_11-16-55AM_1.log
For more information, see "OPatch Utility Reference".
Caution:
If the lsinventory command errors out, do not proceed further with the patch attempt. Contact Oracle Technical Support to validate and verify the inventory setup.Before you start any patch operation, back up the contents of the Ocecas_home directory. You can back up the contents of Ocecas_home by using your preferred method. Use any of the following methods to compress the Ocecas_home contents:
zip
cp -r
tar
cpio
To install an OCECAS patch:
Log in to the target system.
Download the patch from the My Oracle Support website to a temporary directory:
The patch archive (PatchName.zip) is downloaded to your temporary directory.
Determine whether you need to stop all servers in your OCECAS system by checking the patch README file.
The README file explicitly states whether the patch requires you to stop your servers before installing the patch.
Create a directory for storing the unpacked patch contents. This document and the patch README file refer to this directory as the Patch_top directory.
Note:
Ensure that the PatchName.zip file is not located inside the Patch_top directory.Go to the directory where you downloaded the patch and unpack the patch archive (PatchName.zip) into the Patch_top directory.
The PatchName subdirectory is created.
Go to the Patch_top/PatchName directory.
Run the OPatch utility by entering the following at a command prompt:
opatch apply -oh Ocecas_home
OPatch validates the patch and makes sure that there are no conflicts with the software already installed in Ocecas_home before applying the patch to your OCECAS system.
For more information, see "OPatch Utility Reference" and "Dealing with Conflicts When You Run the Apply Command".
Verify that the patch installed successfully by running the following command:
opatch lsinventory -oh Ocecas_home
For more information, see "OPatch Utility Reference".
Determine whether you need to restart all servers in your OCECAS system or perform other tasks by checking the patch README file.
The patch README file explicitly states whether the patch requires you to restart your servers or to perform other tasks after installing the patch.
If you encounter any issues in any of these steps, see "Troubleshooting".
OPatch is reliable and protects Ocecas_home and the inventory. It can bring back the contents of the Ocecas_home directory to a stable state from patch application failures. It can also easily detect patch conflicts.
OPatch logs information to a .log file. Here is an example entry:
Log file location : /home/oracle_ TEST/product/11.1.0/db1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-yyyy_month_dd_HH-MM-SS-IST_Wed.log
If you encountered errors while installing a patch and you need assistance from Oracle Technical Support, be sure to provide the associated log file together with the patch command you used to install the patch.
When you run the OPatch utility, you may receive the following error message:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.UnsupportedClassVersionError:com/oracle/cie/gdr/external/InventoryException : Unsupported major.minor
This occurs because OPatch cannot locate the correct version of the JDK. For supported JDK versions, see "Software Requirements". To fix this error, include the -jre option when you run the OPatch utility from the command line. For example, if the JDK files are located in Path/jre1.8.0_31, enter the following command to apply a patch:
opatch apply -oh Ocecas_home -jre Path/jre1.8.0_31
When you run the OPatch utility, you may receive the following message:
OPatch Version : 13.2.0.0.0 OUI Version : 12.1.0.1.0 The OPatch version is not applicable for current OUI version.
This occurs because OPatch cannot locate the correct version of the OUI libraries. To fix this error, include the -oui_loc option when you run the OPatch utility from the command line. For example, if the OUI files are located in Path/oui, enter the following command to apply a patch:
opatch apply -oh Ocecas_home -oui_loc Path/oui
When you run the OPatch apply command, you may encounter the following conflicts:
Conflict with a patch already applied to the contents of the Ocecas_home directory.
In this case, stop the patch installation and contact Oracle Technical Support.
Conflicts with a subset patch already applied to the contents of the Ocecas_home directory.
In this case, continue the installation, because the new patch contains all of the fixes from the existing patch. The subset patch is automatically rolled back before the installation of the new patch.
If you experience any problems after installing a patch, remove the patch.
To uninstall the patch:
Stop all servers in your OCECAS system.
Roll back the patch with the following command:
opatch -oh Ocecas_home rollback -id PatchNumber
where PatchNumber is the patch number. For more information, see "OPatch Utility Reference".
If you need further assistance, contact Oracle Technical Support with the required information.
By default, the OPatch utility is located in the Ocecas_home/OPatch directory. The following shows the syntax for running the OPatch utility:
opatch [-help] [-jre JRE_home] [-oh Ocecas_home] [-oui_loc OUI_home] [-report] command
where:
-help lists the commands and options supported by the utility.
Use the -help option together with a command to view detailed information for the OPatch command. For example:
opatch apply -help
-jre JRE_home specifies to use JRE from the specified directory.
-oh Ocecas_home specifies to apply the patch to (or roll back the patch from) the product in the specified directory.
-oui_loc OUI_home specifies the directory in which Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) resides. By default, the OCECAS installer copies the OUI files to Ocecas_home/oui.
-report prints the actions without executing the command.
command is one of these OPatch commands:
apply [PatchDirectory]
This command applies the patch from the specified directory to your product. If you do not run the utility from the directory in which the patch content resides (PatchDirectory), include the complete path to the directory.
lsinventory
This command displays your system's OPatch and Oracle Universal Installer versions and directories, and lists the patches currently installed in Ocecas_home. The following shows sample output for the lsinventory command:
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 13.2.0.0.0 Copyright (c) 2015, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved. Oracle Home : Ocecas_home Central Inventory : /export/oraInventory from : Ocecas_home/oraInst.loc OPatch version : 13.2.0.0.0 OUI Version : 13.2.0.0.0 Log file location : Ocecas_home/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2015-6-16_11-16-55AM_1.log OPatch detects the Oracle Home as "Ocecas_home" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Interim patches (1): Patch 19836145 : applied on Tue Dec 16 10:51:13 CST 2014 Unique Patch ID : 1418034883552 Patch description : "[Patch Set v6.0.0.0.1] - Patch set zero" Created on 8 Dec 2015, 02:34:45 hrs PST8PDT Bugs fixed: 123412 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
rollback -id PatchNumber
This command removes the specified patch from the product, where PatchNumber is the patch number.
You can find the patch number by using the lsinventory command. For example, you would use the command rollback -id 19836145 to roll back the patch shown in the following sample lsinventory output:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Interim patches (1) :
Patch 19836145 : applied on Tue Dec 16 10:51:13 CST 2014
Unique Patch ID: 1418034883552
Patch description: "[Patch Set v6.0.0.0.1] - Patch set zero"
Created on 8 Dec 2014, 02:34:45 hrs PST8PDT
Bugs fixed:
123412
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For a full list of the OPatch commands and their descriptions, see "Common OPatch Commands When Patching an Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle home" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Patching with OPatch.