Author: John Adolph Palinski

Page: 1 2

Patching Oracle homes and databases is one of the common tasks accomplished by Oracle database administrators. In this article I will discuss some effective tips that will help you make patches/upgrades easy, quicker, safer, and with less downtime. Oracle Home gold copy is a master Oracle home whose function is to be copied and deployed to other places for use as an Oracle home. 

Why do Patching fail?

There are many possibilities that can cause the Oracle home patch to fail.  These include

• Incorrect patch versions
• The environment not set up properly for Opatch
• Failure to stop some processes using the Oracle home

Oracle Patching:

Whatever the reason may be a database administrator is responsible to perform below tasks.

1. Moving the patch software:

First of all the database administrator must move the patch software to the server and unzip the file.

2. Set up environment:

Then the environment must be properly setup to run Opatch.

3. Shutdown:

Shutdown the listener and database

4. Patching:

Patch the Oracle home. This is often a time consuming and risky task and hence it should not fail. This step is performed when the database is down and unavailable for the users.  Any problem in this step increases the database outage and the database administrator must identify the problem and decide if the patch should be rolled back. The gold copy Oracle home cloning eliminates this step by cloning. 

5. Restarting:

Restart the database and listener

6. Running:

Run Catcpu.sql and then run Utlrp.sql to compile PL/SQL.

Why Gold Oracle home?

Gold Oracle home and cloning of the gold home eases the life of database administrators by

Reduced Time and Scheduling:

Oracle home cloning eliminates Steps 1, 2, and 4.  It hence reduces time for bug patches and critical patch updates. The database downtime is reduced and the task of scheduling outages is eased. Scheduling is easy since each Oracle home patch is independent of the others.  If the DBA uses a cloned gold copy and moves the gold copy to each server, time can be saved. 

Eliminating effect of problems:

Eliminating the effect of problems that occur when applying patches in-place

Pointing and Restoring:

Gold copy Oracle home cloning allows the database administrator to patch a cloned Oracle home that is not used by a running database.  Once the cloned gold copy Oracle home is patched is it moved to the proper location and the database brought down and pointed to the new Oracle home.  The original Oracle home is still available allowing if any problems occur. This allows database administrator to retreat and point the database back to the original home and if necessary restore the database from backup.

Compression and moving to target server:

It is possible to create an Oracle home gold copy on a server in a compressed state and move the gold copy to a target server.  Patching a gold copy and moving this copy to a target server can be a very effective tool. FTPing a compressed gold copy to the target server and uncompressing the gold copy usually takes less time than performing steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 on each home.

Less risk and Shorter outages:

Once the gold copy is uncompressed, you have a valid Oracle home.  All is to shut down the database, register the Oracle home with the Oracle inventory, run Catcpu.sql, change the environment to point to the new Oracle home, and start the database and listener.  This will positively result in less risk and shorter outages.  

Saved Disk Space:

Most data servers that support remote applications support a number of databases. A single Oracle home saves disk space as one Oracle home takes less disk space as compared to multiple Oracle homes.

Scheduling each database separately:

A single Oracle home makes patches/upgrades easier as only a single home must be modified.  The arrangement is prone to scheduling problems. Cloning enables database administrator to schedule each database separately by pointing the database toward the new cloned Oracle home and run Catcpu.sql against the database. 

Cloning Oracle home from command line:

Below steps and commands can help you easily clone an Oracle home from the command line for Oracle10g homes. 

Make initial Oracle home gold copy:

Make the initial Oracle home gold copy. 

Download database product:

Download the appropriate Oracle database product.

Create Oracle Home:

Launch the Oracle Universal Installer, and create an Oracle home.  Do not create a database. This Oracle home is the original gold copy version. It is only used for patching and upgrading.  

Apply patches:

Apply all appropriate patches to initial Oracle home gold copy. Continued...

Page: 1 2

 More Oracle Articles, Database Articles and DBA Tips
   Database Security: Step by step guideline
   Exceptional Tips for Exceptions in Oracle
   Beware of Failed Refreshes, Troubleshoot Broken Links!!
   Database Benchmarking – Some Facts!
   Beware of Oracle Automatic Memory Management Pitfalls!!