8.6.1 Overview of Oracle Exadata Storage Server Updates

When updating storage servers, there is more than one type of software that needs to be updated and different methods of performing the updates.

Oracle Exadata System Software release updates contain updates for the following components within an Oracle Exadata storage server:

• Oracle Linux operating system
• Firmware (Flash, Disk, RAID controller, Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM), HCA)
• Oracle Exadata System Software

What software and firmware that is updated depends on the current Oracle Exadata System Software release the storage server is on and the release it is updated to. Oracle Linux operating system packages and Oracle Exadata System Software are always updated, while firmware updates are applied only on a small selection of the components, or not at all.

Updates for Oracle Exadata storage server can be applied independently from the updates to Oracle Exadata database server or RDMA Network Fabric switches unless specified otherwise. It is not mandatory to apply each and every Oracle Exadata System Software update that comes out. For example, you can skip two or three releases and update directly to a newer release.

Updating the Oracle Exadata System Software is always performed “out of place”. This means that a new version of the operating system including the Oracle Exadata System Software is installed on the inactive system partition. The utility to update the Oracle Exadata System Software ships with the update itself.

If you cannot afford cluster-wide downtime, you can update the storage servers in a rolling fashion. Rolling means updating one storage server at a time. If you can afford the cluster-wide downtime, you can update all storage servers in parallel. Non-rolling updates reduce the overall time required.

Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 18c (18.1.0), there is a more scalable alternative to using patchmgr for software updates. The storage servers automatically verify preconditions and download the update software from a URL that you specify. Each storage server downloads the software to its active partition, and then loads the software on its passive partition. At a specified time, the storage servers reboot to the new version. The storage servers use the Oracle Automatic Storage Management (Oracle ASM) disk deactivation status to determine when it is safe to deactivate the disks and reboot the storage server to the new software version. These scheduled updates invoke the same scripts that are currently used by the patchmgr process.