Software Images

Software images are resources within your tenancy that you create before provisioning or updating the Oracle Grid Infrastructure or Oracle Database software.

There are two types of software image resources:
  • Grid Infrastructure software image: Grid Infrastructure software images are resources containing Oracle Grid Infrastructure software used to update the Grid Infrastructure in the DB system.
  • Database software image: Database software images are resources containing Oracle Database software used to provision and update Oracle Databases and Oracle Database homes in the DB system.

Software images are either Oracle-published software releases or custom software images created by you that include the desired release updates (RU) and additional one-off (interim) updates or patches referenced from specific Oracle home inventory file.

There is no limit on the number of software images you can create in your tenancy, and you can create your software images with any supported Oracle Grid Infrastructure or Oracle Database release update available in the OCI Console.

Software images are automatically stored in Oracle-managed Object Storage and can be viewed and managed in the OCI Console.

Software images are regional-level resources and can be accessed from any region within your tenancy.

Note:

The software images incur Object Storage usage costs.

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

View the List of Software Images

Perform the following steps to view the list of software images in your tenancy.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.

Create a Grid Infrastructure Software Image

Perform the following steps to create a Grid Infrastructure software image.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. Click Create software image.
  4. In the Image type field, select Grid Infrastructure software image.
  5. In the Display name field, provide a display name for the software image. Avoid entering confidential information.
  6. Select your Compartment.
  7. Select a Grid Infrastructure release for the software image.
  8. Select a Grid Infrastructure version for the software image. You can create a software image using any supported release update (RU).
  9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-separated list of one-off patch numbers.
  10. Optionally, you can upload an Oracle home inventory file from an existing DB system. For instructions on creating an inventory file using OPatch, see Verify the Updates Applied to an Oracle Home.

    Note:

    Oracle Home inventory contains a list of updates installed in a Grid Infrastructure or database home. To ensure that a new software image contains, at a minimum, all updates and patches installed in an existing home, you can upload a file containing the output of the "opatch lsinventory" command run in the existing home.
  11. Click Show advanced options to add tags to your software image. To apply a defined tag, you must have permission to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you must apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
  12. Click Create software image.

Create a Database Software Image

Perform the following steps to create a Database software image.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. Click Create software image.
  4. In the Image type field, select Database software image.
  5. In the Display name field, provide a display name for the software image. Avoid entering confidential information.
  6. Select your Compartment.
  7. Select a Database release for the software image.
  8. Select a Database version for the software image. You can create a software image using any supported release update (RU).
  9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-separated list of one-off patch numbers.
  10. Optionally, you can upload an Oracle home inventory file from an existing DB system. For instructions on creating an inventory file using OPatch, see Verify the Updates Applied to an Oracle Home.

    Note:

    Oracle Home inventory contains a list of updates installed in a Grid Infrastructure or database home. To ensure that a new software image contains, at a minimum, all updates and patches installed in an existing home, you can upload a file containing the output of the "opatch lsinventory" command run in the existing home.
  11. Click Show advanced options to add tags to your software image. To apply a defined tag, you must have permission to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you must apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
  12. Click Create software image.

Create a Database Software Image from an Existing Database

You can create a database software image from a database in a DB system.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
  3. In the list of DB systems, select the DB system that contains the database you want to use to create a database software image.
  4. The details of the DB system followed by a list of databases are displayed.
  5. In the list of databases, select the name of the database that you want to use to create a database software image.
  6. The details of the database are displayed.
  7. Click More actions, and then click Create image from database.
  8. In the Create database software image dialog, specify the following:
    • In the Display name field, provide a display name for the database software image.
    • Select a compartment. Optionally, you can select a different compartment from the one you are working in to store the database software image.
    • Click Create.

View Details of a Software Image

You can view the version and release update information, and included one-off (interim) updates of the Database and Grid Infrastructure software image.

Perform the following steps to view the software image details.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, select the image you want to view.
  4. On the Software image details page, the following details are displayed.
    • Lifecycle state: The lifecycle state of the software image such as Available, Provisioning, or Failed.
    • Compartment: The compartment where the software image is located.
    • OCID: The unique Oracle Cloud Identifier (OCID) for this software image.
    • Created: Date of creation of this software image.
    • Image type: Type of the software image, either Grid Infrastructure or Database.
    • Service: Name of the Oracle Cloud Service using which this software image was created.
    • Release: The release number of the Database or Grid Infrastructure, such as 19c.
    • Version: The version number of the Database or Grid Infrastructure, such as 19.16.0.0 for Database and 19.16.0.0.0 for Grid Infrastructure.
    • One-Off Updates: The number of one-off updates included in the software image, if any. The count includes all updates specified when creating the software image (including updates listed in lsinventory). To view the included updates (if any are included), click the show link or click the Copy link and paste the list of included updates into a text editor. The copied list of update numbers is comma-separated and can be used to create additional database software images.

Delete a Software Image

Perform the following steps to delete a software image.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, find the software image you want to delete and click the Actions icon (three dots) at the end of the row.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Alternatively, you can select the software image you want to delete, and in the software image details, page, click Delete.
  6. Confirm when prompted.

Move a Software Image to a Different Compartment

Perform the following steps to move a software image to a different compartment of your choice.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
  2. Under Resources, select Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, find the software image you want to delete and click the Actions icon (three dots) at the end of the row.
  4. Click Move resource.
  5. In the resulting Move resource to a different compartment dialog, choose a compartment.
  6. Click Move resource.

Provision a Database Using a Database Software Image

You can use a database software image to provision a DB system. For more information, see Create a DB System Using the Console.

Update a Database Using a Database Software Image

You can use a database software image to update the database of an existing DB system. This is sometimes referred to as an "in-place update". For information about using a custom database software image to update a database in a DB system, and to determine if a database has been updated with a particular database software image, see Update a Database.

Update Grid Infrastructure using a Grid Infrastructure Software Image

You can use a Grid Infrastructure software image to update the Grid Infrastructure of an existing DB system. For more information, see Update the Grid Infrastructure of a DB System.

Oracle Data Guard Associations

You can use a database software image for in-place updates on both the primary and standby database instances to ensure that both databases have the same updates.

Verify the Updates Applied to an Oracle Home

The OPatch utility enables you to apply and manage interim patches for your Oracle Database software. Using the lsinventory command provided by OPatch, you can create a file that lists the interim patches applied to an Oracle Database Home. This file can then be uploaded to the OCI Console during the creation of a custom database software image to add the exact set of patches used by the source database home to the list of patches included in the software image. You can find the OPatch utility in the $ORACLE_HOME/Opatch directory. The following example shows how to use the lsinventory command to create the lsinventory file. 

ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory
Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 12.2.0.1.21
Copyright (c) 2021, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

Oracle Home : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2
Central Inventory : /u01/app/oraInventory
from : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 12.2.0.1.21
OUI version : 12.2.0.7.0
Log file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2021-01-21_09-22-45AM_1.log

Lsinventory Output file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory2021-01-21_09-22-45AM.txt

Using 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 database updates.

  • CreateDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • ListDatabaseSoftwareImages
  • GetDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • DeleteDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • ChangeDatabaseSoftwareImageCompartment

Policy Details for Database Software Images

This topic provides the details for writing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies to control access to database software images used by Base Database resources.

Tip:

For a sample policy, see Let database admins manage Oracle Cloud database systems.

Resource-Types

The database-software-image resource-type covers the Oracle and custom database software images available through the database software image feature. The database-family aggregate resource-type covers the database software image resource-type as well as other resources related to Base Database instances. For more information, see Resource-Types in How Policies Work.

Aggregate Resource-Type

There are no aggregate resource-types for database software images.

Individual Resource-Types

  • database-software-image (covered under the database-family aggregate resource-type)

Supported Variables

Only the general variables are supported. For more information, see General Variables for All Requests in Policy Reference.

Details for Verb + Resource-Type Combinations

The following tables show the permissions and API operations covered by each verb. The level of access is cumulative as you go from inspect > read > use > manage. A plus sign (+) in a table cell indicates incremental access compared to the cell directly preceding it, whereas "no extra" indicates no incremental access.

Table - Details for verb + database-software-image combinations

Verbs Permissions APIs fully covered APIs partially covered
inspect DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT

ListDatabaseSoftwareImages

GetDatabaseSoftwareImage

 none
read no extra none none
use

READ +

DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_UPDATE

UpdateDatabaseSoftwareImage

ChangeDatabaseSoftwareImageCompartment

 none
manage

USE +

DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_CREATE

DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_DELETE

CreateDatabaseSoftwareImage

DeleteDatabaseSoftwareImage

 none

Permissions Required for Each API Operation

The following tables list the API operations for database software images in a logical order, grouped by resource type.

Database Software Image API Operations

Table - Database Software Image API Operations

API operation Permissions required to use the operation
ListDatabaseSoftwareImages DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT
GetDatabaseSoftwareImage DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT
UpdateDatabaseSoftwareImage DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT and DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_UPDATE
ChangeDatabaseSoftwareImageCompartment DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT and DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_UPDATE
CreateDatabaseSoftwareImage DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT and DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_CREATE
DeleteDatabaseSoftwareImage DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_INSPECT and DB_SOFTWARE_IMG_DELETE
For more information about permissions and verbs, see Advanced Policy Features.