To keep Oracle Database Appliance running with the latest software, check for and apply Oracle Database Appliance patch bundles when they are released. As well as offering new features, patches may improve the functionality of existing features.
Oracle Database Appliance patch bundles are released on a quarterly schedule. My Oracle Support note 888888.1 provides information about the latest Oracle Database Appliance patch bundle.
All patching of Oracle Database Appliance is done using the quarterly Oracle Database Appliance patch bundle. The patch bundle provides all relevant patches for the entire system, including:
BIOS
Hardware drivers, management pack, and firmware drivers for various components
Oracle Appliance Manager
Oracle Linux
Oracle VM
Java Development Kit (JDK)
Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (Oracle ILOM)
Oracle Database Patch Set Update (PSU)
Oracle Auto Service Request (Oracle ASR)
Oracle Grid Infrastructure
Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI)
The patch bundle is comprised of three logical parts or groups of patches:
| Patch Component | Components to Be Patched |
|---|---|
| Infrastructure (INFRA) | Disk firmware, Controller Firmware, Linux Operating System, Oracle ILOM, BIOS, Hardware Management Pack, IPMI, OAKCLI, Oracle ASRFor the virtualized platform, this component also includes Dom0 updates. |
| Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) | Oracle Grid Infrastructure stack |
| Database (DB) | RDBMS stack |
Important:
The patch bundle must be applied to first patch Infrastructure components (INFRA) followed by the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) and then the Oracle Database (DB).Here are the basic steps for patching Oracle Database Appliance Software:
Step 1: Download the Oracle Database Appliance Patch Bundle from My Oracle Support
Step 2: Copy and Unpack the Patch Bundle
Step 3: Verify Components that Require Patching
Step 4: Patch the Infrastructure (INFRA)
Step 5: Patch the Grid Infrastructure (GI) Components
Step 6: Patch the Oracle Database
Step 7: Validate the Installation
Read the specific patch readme file and any help information for details on how to apply each particular patch.
Note:
Read the My Oracle Support note 888888.1 for information about patching and known issues. To find information specific to a given patch, read the readme file for the patch.Infrastructure patches (OS, Firmware, Oracle ILOM, and so on) will require a short downtime of Oracle Database Appliance while the patch is being applied. Oracle Appliance Manager verifies that a patch meets all prerequisites to prevent you from installing patches in the wrong order. For example, you can't patch the Oracle Grid Infrastructure without first updating the Infrastructure.
When applied, most new patches will automatically install themselves on both nodes. The output displayed by the patch process advises you if the patch is being installed on one or both nodes. For older patches that only install on a single node, you'll need to run the oakcli update -patch command on the second node. See oakcli update for more details.
From an external client machine, log on to My Oracle Support and access note 888888.1 at
>https://support.oracle.com/CSP/main/article?cmd=show&type=NOT&id=888888.1
Under Patch Search, select Oracle Database Appliance from the Product list.
Select the patch release number from the Select a Release list.
Click Search.
Select the patch or patches and click Download.
Caution:
You must use an Oracle Database Appliance patch bundle or SAP patch bundle (downloaded from the SAP Service Marketplace) to patch Oracle Database Appliance. Do not use individual patches for Oracle Grid Infrastructure, Oracle Database, or Oracle Linux. If you use patches that are not intended for Oracle Database Appliance, or if you use Opatch or a similar patching tool, then Oracle Database Appliance inventory is not updated, and you cannot complete future patch updates.Log in to Oracle Database Appliance as root.
Move the patch to a temporary directory (for example /tmp) on each node of Oracle Database Appliance.
Note:
On Oracle Database Appliance Virtualized Platform, copy the patch bundle to ODA_BASE (Dom1)To prepare the patch for installation, use the oakcli unpack -package command to unpack the patch files on each node. This command will extract (unzip) the patch bundle and copy the contents of the patch bundle into the patch repository. Use the following syntax to specify the complete path to the patch bundle file, where path is the absolute path to the patch file:
# oakcli unpack -package path
To prepare the patch files for Oracle Database Appliance release 12.1.2.5.0:
Copy the patch files (p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_1of2.zip and p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_2of2.zip) into the /tmp directory on each node.
Run the following oakcli unpack -package commands:
On Node 0:
# oakcli unpack -package /tmp/p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_1of2.zip # oakcli unpack -package /tmp/p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_2of2.zip
On Node 1:
# oakcli unpack -package /tmp/p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_1of2.zip # oakcli unpack -package /tmp/p21645601_121250_Linux-x86-64_2of2.zip
Before installing the patch, run the oakcli validate -c ospatch -ver patch_version command on Node 0 to identify any possible problems in your environment such as missing dependencies or other conflicts that may have been introduced due to any changes or customization of the standard configuration. This command shows a report that lists the components that require patching. If a component is listed as "Up-to-date" for the Supported Version, then that component will not be patched.
For example, use the following command to check for any possible problems in applying the 12.1.2.5.0 patch bundle on your system:
# oakcli validate -c ospatch -ver 12.1.2.5.0
The command output will inform you whether the patch will succeed in your environment. If the output indicates a possible problem (for example, if there are missing RPM dependencies), then you might want to defer applying the patch until you have addressed the identified issue.
When you are upgrading to a newer patch version than what is currently installed on Oracle Database Appliance, you need to patch the Infrastructure (INFRA) to the version level you are deploying in order to get the correct version of the Oracle Appliance Manager.
Patching the Infrastructure requires downtime when shared components are being patched. If a failure occurs, then you can restart the patching process by reissuing the same command.
To patch the Infrastructure, start the patching process by running the following command ONLY on Node 0. The command will patch both nodes at the same time:
#/opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli update -patch version --infra
version is the patch update version number, as in the following example:
#/opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli update -patch 12.1.2.5.0 --infra
The Infrastructure patch will automatically install itself on both nodes. The output displayed by the patch process advises you of the installation progress.
Important:
You must patch the Infrastructure (INFRA) before you attempt to patch the Grid Infrastructure (GI).The Grid Infrastructure patching process is a rolling upgrade that automatically patches Node 1 after patching Node 0. This allows the Oracle Grid Infrastructure stack to be up and running on one of the nodes during patching.
To start the Grid Infrastructure patching process, run the oakcli update -patch --gi command:
#/opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli update -patch version --gi
version is the patch bundle version number, as in the following example:
#/opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli update -patch 12.1.2.5.0 --gi
See "Updating and Upgrading the Oracle Database on Oracle Database Appliance" and follow the steps for patching your specific deployment:
Important:
You must patch the Infrastructure (INFRA) before you attempt to patch the Grid Infrastructure (GI)Run the oakcli version -detail command to verify that all components of the Oracle Database Appliance patch installation have a version that is up-to-date.
# /opt/oracle/oak/bin/oakcli version -detail
Oracle Database Appliance ships from the factory with a default iso image preinstalled. To use Oracle Database Appliance Virtualized Platform, you will need to reimage Oracle Database Appliance.
To reimage Oracle Database Appliance, check MOS Note 888888.1, download the required ISO image and refer to the included readme file for detailed installation instructions.