Update a DB System

This article describes the procedures to apply DB system updates and Database Home updates using the Console and the API.

Oracle recommends using only the dbcli utility to update the operating system (OS) of the DB systems, as the DB systems created after April 2022 will use an image based on the UEK5 kernel. The yum repo and versionlock files will not work with UEK5 systems, and Oracle recommends not using UEK4 versionlock in the UEK5 system.

Note:

A DB system that uses an image with the kernel version 4.14 is a UEK5 system.

Required IAM Policy

To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don’t have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment to work in.

For administrators: The policy in Let database admins manage Oracle Cloud database systems lets the specified group do everything with databases and related Database resources.

If you're new to policies, see Getting Started with Policies and Common Policies. If you want to dig deeper into writing policies for databases, see Details for the Database Service.

Related Topics

Prerequisites

DB systems require access to the Object Storage, including connectivity to the applicable Swift endpoint for Object Storage. We recommend using a service gateway with the VCN to enable this access. For more information, see these topics:

Note:

In addition to the prerequisites listed in this section, ensure that the following conditions are met to avoid update failures:

The /u01 directory on the database host file system has at least 15 GB of free space to execute update processes.
The Oracle Clusterware is running on the DB system.
All DB system nodes are running.

For more information, see:

Currently Available Updates

Version	Architecture Type	DB System Update	Database Update
23.0.0.0	Linux.x64	July 2024	July 2024
21.0.0.0	Linux.x64	July 2024, April 2024	July 2024, April 2024, January 2024, October 2023
19.0.0.0	Linux.x64	July 2024, April 2024	July 2024, April 2024, January 2024, October 2023
19.0.0.0	Linux.ARM	Not applicable	July 2024, April 2024, January 2024, October 2023 (first update)
18.0.0.0	Linux.x64	October 2021 (final update)	October 2021 (final update)
12.2.0.1	Linux.x64	July 2023, April 2023	October 2023, July 2023, April 2023, January 2023
12.1.0.2	Linux.x64	Not applicable	October 2023, July 2023, April 2023, January 2023
11.2.0.4	Linux.x64	Not applicable	October 2023, July 2023, April 2023, January 2023

Note:

For DB systems running version 18.0.0.0 software, the October 2021 update is the final update that will be available.
For bare metal DB systems, the October 2022 update is the final update that will be available.

For guidelines on how to update Oracle Database releases 12.2, 12.1, and 11.2 for the January 2024 Release Update, see Patching Guidelines - Oracle Cloud Customers with lower database release version 18c and lower (Doc ID 2997504.1).

For a list of Release Updates and Release Update Revisions for Oracle Database 19c, see Oracle Database 19c Proactive Patch Information (Doc ID 2521164.1).

For more information, see:

About Updating a DB System

Updating a DB system requires a reboot, which can take several minutes. To minimize the impact on users, run the update at a time when the system has the fewest users. To avoid system interruption, consider implementing a high availability strategy such as Oracle Data Guard.

Oracle recommends backing up your database and testing the update on a test system before you apply the update.

Oracle recommends updating the DB system before updating the database within that DB system. For the Grid Infrastructure, updates are available for two most recent versions (N and N-1). For the Oracle Database, updates are available for four most recent versions (N through N-3). For example, if an instance is using 21c and the latest version of 21c offered is 21.10.0.0, then 21.10.0.0 and 21.9.0.0 are available for Grid Infrastructure updates, while 21.10.0.0, 21.9.0.0, 21.8.0.0, and 21.7.0.0 are available for Oracle Database updates. You can use any of these updates, but Oracle recommends using the latest.

Update the Operating System of a DB System

Perform the following steps to update the operating system of a DB system.

Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
In the list of DB systems, click the name of the DB system you want to update. Details of the DB system you selected are displayed.
In the DB system information tab, under Version, click the View link beside the Update available field.
Under DB system, under OS updates, review the list of available OS updates for the DB system.
Click the Actions menu for the update you are interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
- Run precheck: Check for any prerequisites to ensure that the update can be successfully applied. To run precheck, click Run precheck and provide confirmation in the Confirm precheck dialog.
- Apply: Applies the selected update. Oracle recommends that you run the precheck operation for an update before applying it. To apply the update, click Apply and provide confirmation in the Apply update dialog.

In the list, the State displays the status of the operation. While an update is being applied, the State displays as Updating. The status of the DB system also displays as Updating. Lifecycle operations on the DB system and its resources might be temporarily unavailable. If the update completes successfully, the State changes to Applied and the status of the DB system changes to Available.

Update the Grid Infrastructure of a DB System

Perform the following steps to update the Grid Infrastructure of a DB system.

Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
In the list of DB systems, click the name of the DB system you want to update. Details of the DB system you selected are displayed.
In the DB system information tab, under Version, click the View link beside the Update available field.
Under DB system, under Grid Infrastructure updates, review the list of available Grid Infrastructure updates for the DB system.
- The Oracle Grid Infrastructure Software Images tab displays generally available Oracle Grid Infrastructure software images that you can use to update your DB system.
- The Custom Grid Infrastructure Software Images tab allows you to select a Grid Infrastructure software image you have created in advance.
  - Use the Select a compartment selector to specify the compartment that contains the software image.
  - Use the Region filter to access the software images created in a different region.
Click the Actions menu for the update you are interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
- Run Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to ensure that the update can be successfully applied. To run precheck, click Run precheck and provide confirmation in the Confirm precheck dialog.
- Apply: Applies the selected update. Oracle recommends that you run the precheck operation for an update before applying it. To apply the update, click Apply and provide confirmation in the Apply update dialog.

View the DB System Update History

Use the API

For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.

Use the following APIs to manage DB systems updates:

ListDbSystemPatches
ListDbSystemPatchHistoryEntries
GetDbSystemPatch
GetDbSystemPatchHistoryEntry
UpdateDbSystem

For the complete list of APIs for the Database service, see Database Service API.

Title and Copyright Information

Oracle and/or its affiliates.