Oracle Utilities Network Management System has the option to use a dual-environment configuration to reduce downtime when installing patches.

Dual-environment configuration requires:

In this configuration, each environment is numbered 1 or 2 (based on the NMS_ENVIRONMENT environment variable). Only one of these environments can be active at a time.

While one environment is active, most of the steps for installing a patch can be performed on the other environment without interrupting users logged in to the active environment.

The following environment variables must have different values in the separate environments:

The following parameters in the CES_PARAMETERS table must have different values in the separate environments:

The $NMS_DATA_FILES/model-sync-filter.cfg must exist and be a valid rsync filter configuration file. This is used by the nms-sync-model script (run by nms-setup and nms-post-setup) when syncing $OPERATIONS_MODELS from the other environment to the current environment. $NMS_BASE/templates/model-sync-filter.cfg.template is a template that can be used to create this file. Run the following command to copy the template:

Edit if necessary to exclude any files or directories that should not be copied between environments, such as temporary files. In most cases, the template can be used as-is. Note that there should not be any blank lines in the file. Running nms-install-config will install the file from $NMS_CONFIG/sql to $NMS_DATA_FILES. More information about installing patches in this configuration can be found under Steps to Deploy a Patch Bundle in Dual-Environment Configuration in the Oracle Utilities Network Management System Installation Guide.