Review this topic to understand changes in the patching process for 12.1.2.7, and to understand new patching options available to you in this patch set release.
Oracle Database Appliance patch set release 12.1.2.7 includes new enhancements, while continuing to provide a comprehensive patching solution for Oracle Database Appliance.
Note:
You must be on Patch Set Release 12.1.2.6 before you can upgrade to 12.1.2.7.
Changes in the Patch Set Update Process for Patch Set Release 12.1.2.7
To simplify the patching process and improve system availability, 12.1.2.7 Oracle Database Appliance patching supports the following patch options:
Automatic rolling patching
Manual rolling patching
The 12.1.2.7 release also introduces the following new patch options:
SERVER: This patch contains the patches previously obtained in earlier releases from the Infrastructure (infra) and Grid Infrastructure (gi) patch updates.
STORAGE: This patch contains only patches for shared storage components.
DB: This patch contains Oracle Database patches.
These new patch options replace the previous release patch options infra (infrastructure patches), gi (Grid infrastructure patches), and databases (Oracle Database patches).
You can carry out rolling upgrades with both the server and DB patches.
Apply the server patch first. You must apply the storage patch andDB patch after completing a server patch. The DB patch can be deferred and does not require system downtime. You must schedule downtime and restart the system for the storage patch. However, you can usually defer running the storage patch until a scheduled maintenance window.
Overview of the 12.1.2.7 Patch Upgrade
The patch set upgrade consists of the following steps:
Download the Oracle Database Appliance Patch Bundle from My Oracle Support.
Copy and unpack the patch bundle.
Verify components that require patching.
Patch the server.
(Optional) Patch the shared storage.
Patch Oracle Database.
Validate the patch update.
About Oracle Database Appliance Software Updates
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.
Patch Set Component Bundles
The patch bundle is comprised of three logical parts or groups of patches
Table 1-2 12.1.2.7 Patch Set Component Names and Components Patched for Oracle Database Appliance
| Patch Component | Components Patched |
|---|---|
|
|
Patches for the Linux Operating System, Oracle ILOM, BIOS, Hardware Management Pack, IPMI, OAKCLI, local disk firmware, and Oracle ASR. For the virtualized platforms, this component also includes |
|
|
Patches for shared disk firmware, storage controller and expander firmware. |
|
|
Patches for the Oracle Database RDBMS stack. |
Caution:
Apply the server patch before you apply the storage patch. You must patch the server patch before you apply any other patches. You must restart each server node after it is patched. The server patch restarts a server node. The storage patch restarts both nodes.
Patching Updates and Known Issues
My Oracle Support note 888888.1 to obtain the must current updates and known issues for this Oracle Database Appliance patch bundle installation:
https://support.oracle.com/CSP/main/article?cmd=show&type=NOT&id=888888.1