Prepare for Patching

3 Prepare for Patching

Before you start a patching procedure, make sure that you have the correct permissions, that you refresh the local data center mirror and the secondary management node mirror, and that you have downloaded the RPM packages to the appropriate locations. You should also run health checks and perform a system backup before you begin patching procedures.

Verify you have permissions to perform patching operations. Log in to the Service Enclave with an administrator account and enter showcustomcmds patchRequest to ensure you have the correct permissions to use the patching commands.
```
PCA-ADMIN> showcustomcmds patchRequest
    patchCN
    patchIlom
    patchOCIImages
    patchSwitch
    patchZfssa
    patchHost
    patchKubernetes
    patchVault
    patchPlatform
    patchMySQL
    patchEtcd
    setUpstreamUlnMirror
    syncUpstreamUlnMirror
    showUpstreamUlnMirror
```
Patching permissions are available to these groups: SuperAdmin, Admin, and DR Admin. For more information, see the Administrator Account Management chapter of the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Administrator Guide.
Log in to the local mirror server and update the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance repositories by entering the following command:
```
# /usr/bin/uln-yum-mirror
```
Ensure the patch RPM files are updated and in the location you expect, and note the path.

After you have updated the local mirror server, update the local repository used for compute node patches by running the syncUpstreamUlnMirror command:

PCA-ADMIN> syncUpstreamUlnMirror
Command: syncUpstreamUlnMirror
Status: Success
Time: 2022-01-04 15:52:07,120 UTC
Data:
  Upstream mirror sync started. UpstreamMirror status = success

View the status of the update using the showUpstreamUlnMirror command.

PCA-ADMIN> showupstreamUlnMirror
Command: showupstreamUlnMirror
Status: Success
Time: 2022-01-24 17:29:48,965 UTC
Data:
  Mirror URI = https://host.example.com/yum

Alternatively, you can perform this step in the Service Web UI.

Before starting any patching activities, create backups of these critical components: the MySQL database, the ZFS Storage Appliance and the Secret Service (Vault).

Start the three backup operations.

PCA-ADMIN> backup target=vault
PCA-ADMIN> backup target=zfs
PCA-ADMIN> backup target=mysql

Use the backup job ID to check the status of the backups. Make sure they have completed successfully before you proceed to the next step.

PCA-ADMIN> getBackupJobs
[...]
  id                                                                                              displayName                 components
  --                                                                                              -----------                 ----------
  ocid1.brs-job.PCA3X62D9C1.mypca.iew5tphpgr3h6mhliw2fai2ywvv386a0xc7isfo8kisj0wrcx114irnit6ot   brs-job-1668419850-backup   mysql
  ocid1.brs-job.PCA3X62D9C1.mypca.9oaeaa2kw5crqfcjkh8kyhbxcv8bwh0f4ud6n3lucf802oj15ss3k39874bc   brs-job-1668419842-backup   zfs
  ocid1.brs-job.PCA3X62D9C1.mypca.joopwuv9403uzbfrh4x9mprmoduh3ljais6ex233v1b21ccqywu4a3vqykgm   brs-job-1668419778-backup   vault

PCA-ADMIN> getBackupJob backupJobId=ocid1.brs-job.PCA3X62D9C1.mypca.iew5tphpgr3h6mhliw2fai2ywvv386a0xc7isfo8kisj0wrcx114irnit6ot
[...]
  Status = success
  Components = mysql

See the Backup and Restore chapter of the Oracle Private Cloud Appliance Administrator Guide.

Prepare the patching environment.

Populate the repositories with the latest packages and apply the latest YUM configuration. Use the pre-configuration command as shown below. Check that the job completes successfully.

upgradePreConfig option=ULN location=https://host.example.com/yum
[...]
Data:
  Service request has been submitted. Upgrade Job Id = 1692849609034-prepare-45676 Upgrade Request Id = UWS-edfa3b32-c32a-4b67-8df5-2357096052bf

PCA-ADMIN> getUpgradeJob upgradeJobId=1692849609034-prepare-45676
[...]
  Status = Passed
  Execution Time(sec) = 616

Enable the latest patching functionality using the pre-upgrade command. Check that the job completes successfully.

PCA-ADMIN> preUpgrade action=start type=ULN

PCA-ADMIN> preUpgrade action=status
[...]
Data: 
   The previous pre-upgrade task succeeded!
   Pre upgrade status = SUCCESS

Using the Service Web UI

In the navigation menu, click ULN Mirror.
In the top-right corner of the ULN Mirror page, click Update ULN Mirror.

The ULN Mirror window appears.
Click Sync ULN Mirror.

The ULN mirror is updated.
Ensure the system is in a ready state for patching, as described in the Service CLI steps above.
1. Create backups of the critical system components: MySQL database, ZFS Storage Appliance, Secret Service (Vault).
2. Prepare the patching environment to make sure that the latest patching functionality, RPM packages, and YUM configuration are in place.