Opatch Guide



OPatch User's Guide 11g Release 1 (11.1) for Windows and UNIX


What is Opatch?

OPatch is an Oracle-supplied utility that assists you with the process of applying interim patches to Oracle's software and rolling back interim patches from Oracle's software.
OPatch is a Java-based utility that requires installation of the Oracle Universal Installer. It is platform-independent and runs on all supported operating systems. Another version of OPatch, called standalone OPatch, is also available. It runs on Oracle homes without Oracle Universal Installer
Patches are a small collection of files copied over to an existing installation. They are associated with particular versions of Oracle products. When applied to the correct version of an installed product, patches result in an upgraded version of the product.
Interim patches are bug fixes available to customers in response to specific bugs. They require a particular base release or patchset to be installed before you can apply them. They generally address specific bugs for a particular customer. These patches are not versioned and are generally available in a future patchset as well as the next product release.

OPatch Features

The OPatch 11.1 utility has the following features:
·         Scalability — OPatch is scalable to support a large number of patches.
·         Reliability — OPatch is reliable and protects the Oracle home and inventory. It can bring back the Oracle home to a stable state from patch application failures. It can also easily detect patch conflicts.
·         Availability — Opatch's online patching improves system availability by allowing database patches to be applied without needing to shut down databases.
·         Portability — OPatch is compatible with all operating systems for which Oracle releases software.
·         Robust — OPatch is very robust. It is very easy to apply a patch as well as remove it.
·         Easy to maintain — OPatch is easy to maintain and is also extensible.
·         Support for Silent Operation — OPatch supports silent operation. This mode allows you to run the software without any user interaction.
·         Support for Real Application Clusters — OPatch supports Real Application Clusters and works well in that setup. It is easy to extend it to Enterprise Manager Grid Control.
·         Easy to debug — OPatch has various levels of logging and tracing mechanisms. It also has a debug option that helps to easily diagnose software problems.
OPatch supports the following tasks:
·         Applying an interim patch.
·         Rolling back the application of an interim patch.
·         Detecting a conflict when applying an interim patch after previous interim patches have been applied. It also suggests the best options to resolve a conflict.
·         Reporting on installed products and interim patches.

Getting Interim Patches

Oracle releases interim patches frequently to fix a bug or a set of bugs. You can get the interim patches by specifying the patch ID in My Oracle Support (formerly MetaLink) from the following location:
http://www.oracle.com/support/metalink/index.html

Environment Variables OPatch Uses

OPatch uses the following environment variables:
ORACLE_HOME — Oracle home location.
PATH — Path information.
OPATCH_DEBUG — Log level that specifies the amount of logging OPatch should perform.

Requirements for OPatch

The OPatch utility requires the following environment:
·         The Oracle home environment variable (ORACLE_HOME) must point to a valid Oracle home directory and match the value used during installation of the Oracle home directory.
·         JRE version 1.4 or higher, Java commands for Windows, and ar, cp, fuser, and make commands for UNIX must be made available.
·         The library path must be set correctly for Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. OPatch uses some APIs to detect if the system is a Real Application Clusters system. Ensure that the library path is set correctly as follows:
·                For Solaris:
·                LD_LIBRARY_PATH = $ORACLE_HOME/lib32:$ORACLE_HOME/lib
·                 
·                For HP-UX:
SHLIB_PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/lib32:/usr/lib

Prerequisite Checks for OPatch

Before you invoke OPatch, perform the prerequisite checks described in the following sections.

Checks for Single Instances and Real Application Clusters

Check ORACLE_HOME and Environment Variable
OPatch verifies if the Oracle home is present. You must ensure that the ORACLE_HOME environment variable is set to the Oracle home of the product you are trying to patch. Check the respective vendor documentation for details to set the environment variable.
Check for JRE
OPatch requires JRE version 1.4 or higher to work properly.
Check for System Space
When OPatch processes the script for the installation of a patch, it simultaneously generates a Rollback script and saves a copy of every file edited or deleted during the patching. OPatch also backs up the inventory information. Consequently, Oracle recommends that you have sufficient system space to accommodate the patch and the backup information.
Check for Oracle Universal Installer and OPatch Version Compatibility
OPatch 11.1 requires Oracle Universal Installer 11.1 or higher to work properly. If the Oracle Universal Installer version is less than what OPatch requires, OPatch errors out.
Check for Patch Applicable on Operating System
OPatch detects if a particular patch is applicable for an operating system. If it is not applicable, OPatch displays an error message.
Check for System Commands
OPatch supports a set of properties used for various software operations. You can use these properties to control the internal operations of OPatch. By default, OPatch uses the standard Java property format to specify the properties. The following list shows the default properties and their values:
fuser=/sbin:/usr/sbin
 
ar=/usr/ccs/bin/
 
make=/usr/bin
You can specify OPatch properties in the following ways:
·         By using the default OPatch properties.
·         By specifying the location of the user-defined properties file.
·         By using the command line. The syntax is as follows:
·                PROPERTY_NAME=VALUE
Example: fuser=/sbin:/usr/sbin

Additional Checks for Real Application Clusters

For Real Application Clusters, ensure that you perform the following prerequisite checks besides the other checks listed in the preceding section.

Check for User Equivalence

You must ensure that the cluster machines have user equivalence set for the user installing Oracle Clusterware/ Real Application Clusters. On UNIX, this means rsh or ssh or both should be set up on the cluster machines. On Windows, this means the same <domain>\<user> should have administrative privileges on all the cluster machines, and the machines should be a member of the <domain>.
If the user equivalence is set properly, the following command will work properly:
$ rsh <nodename> date

 

Check for OPatch Lsinventory

Ensure that you are able to invoke the opatch lsinventory -detail command and are able to see the node information being printed out. If you do not find the node information correctly printed out, you need to update the node list. For more information on updating the node list,
The following example shows the command output for 118 installed products and SQL, PL/SQL, and online patches:
Invoking OPatch 11.1.0.6.6
 
Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.6
Copyright (c) 2009, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.
 
 
Oracle Home       : /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /home/userid/newDB/oraInventory
   from           : /etc/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI location      : /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/ db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2008-07-17_23-08-20PM.log
 
Lsinventory Output file location : /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/ db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory2008-07-17_23-08-20PM.txt
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installed Top-level Products (1): 
 
Oracle Database 11g                                                  11.1.0.4.0
There are 1 products installed in this Oracle Home.
 
Installed Products (118): 
 
Agent Required Support Files                                         10.2.1.3.1
Assistant Common Files                                               11.1.0.4.0
Bali Share                                                           1.1.18.0.0
Buildtools Common Files                                              11.1.0.4.0
Character Set Migration Utility                                      11.1.0.4.0
Database Configuration and Upgrade Assistants                        11.1.0.4.0
Database SQL Scripts                                                 11.1.0.4.0
Database Workspace Manager                                           11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Edition Options                                           11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Manager Agent                                             10.2.1.3.1
Enterprise Manager Agent Core Files                                  10.2.1.3.1
Enterprise Manager Common Core Files                                 10.2.1.3.1
Enterprise Manager Common Files                                      10.2.1.3.1
Enterprise Manager Database Plugin -- Agent Support                  11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Manager Database Plugin -- Management Service Support     11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Manager Database Plugin -- Repository Support             11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Manager Grid Control Core Files                           10.2.1.3.1
Enterprise Manager plugin Common Files                               11.1.0.4.0
Enterprise Manager Repository Core Files                             10.2.1.3.1
Generic Connectivity                                                 11.1.0.4.0
Generic Connectivity Common Files                                    11.1.0.4.0
HAS Common Files                                                     11.1.0.4.0
HAS Files for DB                                                     11.1.0.4.0
Installation Common Files                                            11.1.0.4.0
Installer SDK Component                                              11.1.0.6.6
JAccelerator (COMPANION)                                             11.1.0.4.0
LDAP Required Support Files                                          11.1.0.4.0
OLAP SQL Scripts                                                     11.1.0.4.0
Oracle 11g Warehouse Builder Server                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Advanced Security                                             11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Application Express                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Call Interface (OCI)                                          11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Clusterware RDBMS Files                                       11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Code Editor                                                   1.2.1.0.0I
Oracle Configuration Manager                                         10.2.5.0.0
Oracle Containers for Java                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Core Required Support Files                                   11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Data Mining RDBMS Files                                       11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Database 11g                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Database 11g                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Database 11g interMedia Files                                 11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Database User Interface                                       2.2.13.0.0
Oracle Database Utilities                                            11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Display Fonts                                                  9.0.2.0.0
Oracle Enterprise Manager Console DB                                 11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Extended Windowing Toolkit                                    3.4.42.0.0
Oracle Globalization Support                                         11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Globalization Support                                         11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Help For Java                                                  4.2.9.0.0
Oracle Help for the  Web                                             2.0.11.0.0
Oracle Ice Browser                                                    5.2.3.6.0
Oracle interMedia                                                    11.1.0.4.0
Oracle interMedia Annotator                                          11.1.0.4.0
Oracle interMedia Client Option                                      11.1.0.4.0
Oracle interMedia Java Advanced Imaging                              11.1.0.4.0
Oracle interMedia Locator                                            11.1.0.4.0
Oracle interMedia Locator RDBMS Files                                11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Internet Directory Client                                     11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Java Client                                                   11.1.0.4.0
Oracle JDBC Server Support Package                                   11.1.0.4.0
Oracle JDBC/OCI Instant Client                                       11.1.0.4.0
Oracle JDBC/THIN Interfaces                                          11.1.0.4.0
Oracle JFC Extended Windowing Toolkit                                4.2.36.0.0
Oracle JVM                                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle LDAP administration                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Locale Builder                                                11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Message Gateway Common Files                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Net                                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Net Listener                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Net Required Support Files                                    11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Net Services                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Notification Service                                          10.1.0.3.0
Oracle ODBC Driver                                                   11.1.0.4.0
Oracle ODBC Driverfor Instant Client                                 11.1.0.4.0
Oracle OLAP                                                          11.1.0.4.0
Oracle OLAP API                                                      11.1.0.4.0
Oracle OLAP RDBMS Files                                              11.1.0.4.0
Oracle One-Off Patch Installer                                       11.1.0.6.6
Oracle Partitioning                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Programmer                                                    11.1.0.4.0
Oracle RAC Required Support Files-HAS                                11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Recovery Manager                                              11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Security Developer Tools                                      11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Spatial                                                       11.1.0.4.0
Oracle SQL Developer                                                 11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Starter Database                                              11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Text                                                          11.1.0.4.0
Oracle UIX                                                           2.2.20.0.0
Oracle Ultra Search Common Files                                     11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Ultra Search Middle-Tier                                      11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Ultra Search Server                                           11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Ultra Search Server Rdbms                                     11.1.0.4.0
Oracle Universal Installer                                           11.1.0.6.6
Oracle Wallet Manager                                                11.1.0.4.0
Oracle XML Development Kit                                           11.1.0.4.0
Parser Generator Required Support Files                              11.1.0.4.0
Perl Interpreter                                                      5.8.3.0.6
PL/SQL                                                               11.1.0.4.0
PL/SQL Embedded Gateway                                              11.1.0.4.0
Platform Required Support Files                                      11.1.0.4.0
Precompiler Common Files                                             11.1.0.4.0
Precompiler Required Support Files                                   11.1.0.4.0
Provisioning Advisor Framework                                       10.2.1.3.1
RDBMS Required Support Files                                         11.1.0.4.0
RDBMS Required Support Files for Instant Client                      11.1.0.4.0
regexp                                                                2.1.9.0.0
Required Support Files                                               11.1.0.4.0
Sample Schema Data                                                   11.1.0.4.0
Secure Socket Layer                                                  11.1.0.4.0
Secure Socket Layer                                                  11.1.0.4.0
SQL*Plus                                                             11.1.0.4.0
SQL*Plus Required Support Files                                      11.1.0.4.0
SQLJ Runtime                                                         11.1.0.4.0
SSL Required Support Files for InstantClient                         11.1.0.4.0
Sun JDK                                                               1.5.0.0.6
XDK Required Support Files                                           11.1.0.4.0
XML Parser for Java                                                  11.1.0.4.0
XML Parser for Oracle JVM                                            11.1.0.4.0
There are 118 products installed in this Oracle Home.
 
Interim patches (3) :
 
Patch  300100       : applied on Tue Jul 10 02:21:40 PDT 2008
   Created on 01 Jan 2007, 04:57:12 hrs US/Eastern
   Bugs fixed:
     300101
   Files Touched:
     test.pch --> ORACLE_HOME/hpatch/test.pch
   Instances Patched:
     online, venkat
   Patch Location in Inventory:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/inventory/oneoffs/300100
   Patch Location in Storage area:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/.patch_storage/       300100_Jan_01_2007_04_57_12
 
Patch  100100       : applied on Thu Jun 21 21:01:35 PDT 2008
   Created on 22 Apr 2008, 23:57:54 hrs PST8PDT
   Bugs fixed:
     100100, 100101
   Files Touched:
     /shof.o --> ORACLE_HOME/lib/libagent10.a
     /oracle/help/AppletWindowManager.class --> ORACLE_HOME/jlib/help4.jar
     dbui2.jar --> ORACLE_HOME/jlib/dbui2.jar
     DummaDummy.class --> ORACLE_HOME/plsql/DummaDummy.class
   Sql scripts Executed:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/scripts/2.sql
   Sql Procedures Touched:
     JAN_300500_1, JAN_300500_2
   Patch Location in Inventory:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/inventory/oneoffs/100100
   Patch Location in Storage area:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/.patch_storage/100100_Apr_22_2008_23_57_54
 
Patch  300500       : applied on Tue Jun 05 03:06:55 PDT 2008
   Created on 07 Nov 2007, 04:57:14 hrs US/Eastern
   Bugs fixed:
     300500, 300501, 300502
   Files Touched:
     abc1.sql --> ORACLE_HOME/jlib/abc1.sql
     abc.sql --> ORACLE_HOME/jlib/abc.sql
   Patch Location in Inventory:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/inventory/oneoffs/300500
   Patch Location in Storage area:
     /scratch/userid/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/.patch_storage/       300500_Nov_07_2007_04_57_14
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
OPatch succeeded.

Backup and Recovery Considerations for Patching

Note:
It is highly recommended that you back up the ORACLE_HOME before any patch operation. You can back up the ORACLE_HOMEusing your preferred method. You can use any method such as zip, cp -r, tar, and cpio to compress the ORACLE_HOME.
If the ORACLE_HOME does not appear when you execute the opatch lsinventory -detail command, the ORACLE_HOME might be missing from the Central Inventory, or the Central Inventory itself could be missing or corrupted.
If the ORACLE_HOME is listed when you execute the opatch lsinventory -detail command, but the products and components within the ORACLE_HOME are not listed, the inventory within the ORACLE_HOME (local inventory) might be missing or corrupted.
If the local inventory is corrupted or lost for some reason, you can simply restore the ORACLE_HOME/inventory if it was backed up. If a backup does not exist, you may have to reinstall the software.

OPatch Utility for OUI-based Oracle Homes

Note:
OPatch also provides a standalone method of patching that does not require the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI). The options for these commands are a subset of those offered here for the standard method of patching using OUI. For information on standalone patching and the available options for commands, 
You can run the OPatch utility, located in the <Path_to_Oracle_Home>/OPatch directory, with various commands and options. The following string shows the syntax for the OPatch utility:
<Path_to_OPatch>/opatch [-help] [-r[eport]] [command] [-option]
where:
·         help — Displays the help message for the command.
·         report — Prints the actions without executing.
·         command — One of the OPatch commands, described in Table 7-1.
·         option — One of the OPatch command options, described starting with Table 7-2.
Table 7-1 OPatch OUI-based Commands
Command
Description
apply
Installs an interim patch.
napply
Installs n number of patches (hence napply) 
auto
Applies Oracle Clusterware patches. Refer to "Auto Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes" for more information.
lsinventory
Lists what is currently installed on the system. 
query
Queries a given patch for specific details.
rollback
Removes an interim patch. 
nrollback
Removes n number of patches (hence nrollback). 
version
Prints the current version of the patch tool.

To view additional information for any command, use the following command:
<Path_to_OPatch>/opatch command -help
For Perl, use the following command:
perl opatch.pl command -help

Apply Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command applies an interim patch to an Oracle home from the current directory. The ORACLE_HOME environment variable must be set to the Oracle home to be patched.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch apply  [-delay <value> ] [ -force ]              [-invPtrLoc <Path to oraInst.loc> ]              [-jre <LOC> ] [-local ] [-minimize_downtime ]              [-no_bug_superset ] [-no_inventory ]              [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ] [-retry <value> ] [-silent ]              [-verbose ]  [-no_relink] [-pre <parameters for the              pre script in escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]              [-post <parameters for the post script in escaped              quotes> [-opatch_post_end] ] [-no_sysmod]              [-property_file <Path to property file>]               [-local_node <Local node name>]              [-remote_nodes <List of remote nodes (node1,node2)>]              [-connectString  <List of connect strings>]               [-runSql] [-sqlScript <path of the sql file>]              [-ptlSchema <portal schema>] [-ptlPassword <portal password>]              [-ptlConnect <portal connect string>]              [-init <parameters for the init script in escaped double               quotes> [-opatch_init_end] ] [-report]
              [<Patch Location>]
Options
Table 7-2 lists the options available for this command.
Table 7-2 Apply Options for OUI Patches
Option
Description
connectString
Specifies the list of database instances on which the patch needs to be applied. Specify the value for this option using the following syntax:
SID:User:Passwd:Node
Example:
oracle:dba:dba:mymachine,oracle1:::
The SID is required, but you can disregard the other parameters if desired, because OPatch provides default values for them.
Note: If the system is not part of a RAC setup and you want to patch just the local node, provide the node name as an empty string.
delay
Specifies how many seconds to wait before attempting to lock the inventory again for a previous failure. You can use this option only if you specify the retry option.
force
Removes conflicting patches from the system. If a conflict exists that prevents the patch from being applied, you can use this option to apply the patch. OPatch removes all the conflicting patches before applying the current patch.
init
Passes parameters to the init script, which executes before prerequisite checks are run. The values for this option must be enclosed in double-quotes.
invPtrLoc
Specifies the location of the oraInst.loc file. The invPtrLoc option is needed when this option is used during installation. Oracle recommends the use of the default Central Inventory for a platform.
jre
Instructs OPatch to use JRE (Java) from the specified location instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
local
Specifies that OPatch should patch the local node and update the inventory of the local node. It does not propagate the patch or inventory update to other nodes.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments and non-clustered environments. If an entire cluster is shut down before patching, you can use this option for non-rolling patches.
local_node
Tells OPatch the local node for this cluster. You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
minimize_downtime
Specifies the order of nodes that OPatch should patch.
This option only applies to Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. You cannot use it with the -localoption with a rolling patch.
no_bug_superset
Specifies to error out if the current patch's bugs-to-fix is a superset (or same set) of an installed patch's bugs-fixed in the Oracle home directory.
no_inventory
Bypasses the inventory for reading and updates. You cannot use this option with the local option. This option places the installation into an unsupported state.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operations. You can use it during multiple patch applications and to perform the linking step only once. OPatch does not keep track of the make operations it did not perform. You need to make sure to execute OPatch without this option at the end for compilation.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch does not need to update the files in the system. It only updates the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default. This takes precedence over the environment variable ORACLE_HOME.
opatch_init_end
Marks the end of the init options. You use this option with the init option. If you do not use this option, everything after init until the end of the command is passed into init.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post option. You use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. You use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
post
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the post script. This script is executed after the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
pre
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the pre script. This script is executed before the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
ptlConnect
Specifies the connection string credentials of the portal schema.
ptlPassword
Specifies the password of the portal schema.
ptlSchema
Specifies the schema of the portal repository.
remote_nodes
Tells OPatch the list of remote nodes. You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. The node names must be separated with commas, but without spaces.
report
Prints the action to the screen without executing it.
retry
Tells OPatch how many times it should retry when there is an inventory lock failure.
runSql
Tells OPatch to run the SQL script and SQL procedures if they exist in the given patch. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching, 
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any answers to "yes."
sqlScript
Specifies the custom SQL script that OPatch should run after patching completes. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching, 
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Note:
If a patch consists of SQL changes, follow the instructions in the patch readme, which is included with the patch to apply the SQL scripts.

Napply Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command applies interim patches to several Oracle homes at the same time.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch napply [patch_location] [-id comma-separated list of patch IDs]                          [-delay <value> ] [ -force ]                      [-invPtrLoc <Path to oraInst.loc> ]                      [-jdk <LOC> ] [-jre <LOC> ] [ -local ]                      [-minimize_downtime ] [-no_bug_superset ]                      [-no_inventory ] [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ]                      [-retry <value> ] [-silent ]                      [-verbose ]  [-no_relink]                       [-pre <parameters for the pre script in                      escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]                      [-post <parameters for the post script in                      escaped double quotes> [-opatch_post_end] ]                      [-no_sysmod]                      [ -property_file <Path to property file> ]                      [ -local_node <Local node name> ]                      [ -remote_nodes <List of remote nodes (node1,node2)> ]                      [ -all_nodes ]                      [ -phBaseFile <Path to the file containing the                        location of the patches to be applied> ]                      [-skip_subset] [-skip_duplicate] [-report]
Examples
·         The following example applies all patches under the <patch_location> directory:
·                opatch napply <patch_location>
·         The following example applies patches 1, 2, and 3 that are under the <patch_location> directory:
·                opatch napply <patch_location> -id 1,2,3
·         The following example applies all patches under the <patch_location> directory. OPatch skips duplicate patches and subset patches (patches under<patch_location> that are subsets of patches installed in the Oracle home).
·                opatch napply <patch_location> -skip_subset -skip_duplicate
See the description for the skip_subset option in Table 7-3 for more information.
·         The following example applies patches 1, 2, and 3 that are under the <patch_location> directory. OPatch skips duplicate patches and subset patches (patches under <patch_location> that are subsets of patches installed in the Oracle home).
·                opatch napply <patch_location> -id 1,2,3 -skip_subset -skip_duplicate
See the description for the skip_subset option in Table 7-3 for more information.
Options
Table 7-3 lists the options available for this command.
Table 7-3 Napply Options for OUI Patches
Option
Description
all_nodes
Applies the patch using the all-node mode.
delay
Specifies how many seconds to wait before attempting to lock the inventory again for a previous failure. You can use this option only if you specify the retry option.
force
Removes conflicting patches from the system. If a conflict exists that prevents the patch from being applied, you can use this option to apply the patch. OPatch removes all the conflicting patches before applying the current patch.
invPtrLoc
Specifies the location of the oraInst.loc file. The invPtrLoc option is needed when this option is used during installation. Oracle recommends the use of the default Central Inventory for a platform.
jdk
Instructs OPatch to use JDK (jar) from the specified location instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory. If you do not specify the jre option, JVM is executed from the jdk location.
jre
Instructs OPatch to use JRE (Java) from the specified location instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory. You cannot specify the jdk and jre options together.
local
Specifies that OPatch should patch the local node and update the inventory of the local node. It does not propagate the patch or inventory update to other nodes.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments and non-clustered environments. If an entire cluster is shut down before patching, you can use this option for non-rolling patches.
local_node
Tells OPatch the local node for this cluster. You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
minimize_downtime
Specifies the order of nodes that OPatch should patch.
This option only applies to Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. You cannot use it with the -localoption with a rolling patch.
no_bug_superset
Specifies to error out if the current patch's bugs-to-fix is a superset (or same set) of an installed patch's bugs-fixed in the Oracle home directory.
no_inventory
Bypasses the inventory for reading and updates. You cannot use this option with the local option. This option places the installation into an unsupported state.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operations. You can use it during multiple patch applications and to perform the linking step only once. OPatch does not keep track of the make operations it did not perform. You need to make sure to execute OPatch without this option at the end for compilation.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch does not need to update the files in the system. It only updates the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default. This takes precedence over the environment variable ORACLE_HOME.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post option. You use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. You use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
phBaseFile
If you do not specify <patch_location>, use this option to point OPatch to a file containing a list of patches to be n-applied. Each line in the file points to a location of a patch.
post
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the post script. This script is executed after the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
pre
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the pre script. This script is executed before the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
remote_nodes
Tells OPatch the list of remote nodes. You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. The node names must be separated with commas, but without spaces.
report
Prints the action to the screen without executing it.
retry
Tells OPatch how many times it should retry when there is an inventory lock failure.
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any answers to "yes."
skip_duplicate
Skips patches to be applied that are duplicates of other patches installed in the Oracle home. Two patches are duplicates if they fix the same set of bugs.
skip_subset
Skips patches to be applied that are subsets of other patches installed in the Oracle home. One patch is a subset of another patch if the former fixes a subset of bugs fixed by the latter.
For example, if you used napply yesterday for patch A that fixed bugs 1 and 2, then you use napply today with this option for patch B that fixes bug 1 and patch C that fixes bugs 1, 2, and 3, then subset patch A is skipped, and patch C then becomes a superset of patch A.
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Auto Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

Ordinarily, a Clusterware patch requires several manual steps before and after you apply the patch, such as:
·         Stopping all dependent databases
·         Stopping Clusterware resources
·         Running pre-patch scripts
·         Shutting down Clusterware
·         Running post-patch scripts
·         Starting Clusterware and dependent databases
The opatch auto command automates all of these tasks for patching the CRS home and all other applicable RDBMS homes.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
<path_to_Opatch>/opatch auto          [-rollback [patch_location]]           [[patch_location]-oh <path_to_oracle_home1>,<path_to_oracle_home2>...] |         [[patch_location]-och <path_to_crs_home>]             
... where patch_location is path to the location for the patch. If you do not specify the patch location, the current directory is considered the patch location.
Options
Table 7–4 lists the options available for this command.
Table 7-4 Auto Command Options
Option
Description
rollback
Rolls back the patch rather than applying it.
oh
Comma-separated Oracle homes to patch. The default is all applicable Oracle homes. Use this option to patch RDBMS homes where no database is registered.
och
Path of the Oracle Clusterware home. Use this option to patch only Oracle Clusterware homes where Oracle Clusterware has been stopped already. Do not use this option for Oracle Clusterware with a CRS stack that is up.

Examples
·         The following example applies a patch with an unzipped patch location to all applicable Oracle homes on the system:
·                opatch auto <patch_location>
·         The following example rolls back the patch from all the applicable Oracle homes on the system:
·                opatch auto -rollback <patch_location>
·         The following example patches a selective list of Oracle homes:
·                opatch auto <patch_location> -oh /tmp/oh1,/tmp/oh2,/tmp/oh3
·         The following example only patches the CRS home when the Oracle Clusterware stack is down.
·                opatch auto <patch_location> -och /tmp/ora_crs_home

Lsinventory Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command lists the inventory for a particular Oracle home, or displays all installations that can be found. This command does not have any required options.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch lsinventory [-all ][-all_nodes] 
               [-bugs_fixed asc|desc]
               [-delay <value> ][-detail] 
               [-group_by_date]          
               [-invPtrLoc <Path to oraInst.loc> ][-jre <LOC> ]
               [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ]
               [-patch asc|desc]
               [-property_file <path to property file>]
               [-retry <value> ]
See Table 7–5 for descriptions of the command options.
-detail Option Example
The following example shows the output of opatch lsinventory -detail:
Oracle interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.6
Copyright (c) 2009, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved..
Oracle Home       : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /home/OUIHome_Opatch
   from           : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI location      : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /home/oracle_
TEST/product/11.1.0/db1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.log
Patch history file: /scratch/userid/newDB/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch_history.txt
Lsinventory Output file location : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_
1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.txt
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installed Top-level Products (1):
Oracle Database 11g                                                  11.1.0.6.6
There are 1 products installed in this Oracle Home.
Installed Products (10):
Agent Required Support Files                                         11.1.0.6.6
Assistant Common Files                                               11.1.0.6.6
Bali Share                                                           1.1.18.0.0
Buildtools Common Files                                              11.1.0.6.6
Character Set Migration Utility                                      11.1.0.6.6
Database Configuration and Upgrade Assistants                        11.1.0.6.6
Database SQL Scripts                                                 11.1.0.6.6
Database Workspace Manager                                           11.1.0.6.6
DBJAVA Required Support Files                                        11.1.0.6.6
Enterprise Edition Options                                           11.1.0.6.6
There are 10 products installed in this Oracle Home.
Intermin patches (1) :
Patch  111000       : applied on Mon May 23 19:44:08 IST 2008
Created on 27 Jul 2007, 05:43:46 hrs PST8PDT
Bugs fixed: 111000
Files Touched:
/qmtest.o --> ORACLE_HOME/lib/libserver11.a
libmapsym.so --> ORACLE_HOME/lib/libmapsym.so
ins_rdbms.mk --> ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib/ioracle
/oracle/xml/jaxb/orajaxb.class --> ORACLE_HOME/lib/xml.jar
Patch Location in Inventory:
/home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/inventory/oneoffs/111000
Patch Location in Storage area:
/home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/.patch_storage/111000_Jul_27_2007_05_43_46
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 OPatch succeeded.
-bugs_fixed Option Example
The following example shows the output of opatch lsinventory -bugs_fixed asc:
Oracle interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.6
Copyright (c) 2009, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved..
Oracle Home       : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /home/OUIHome_Opatch
   from           : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI location      : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /home/oracle_
TEST/product/11.1.0/db1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.log
Patch history file: /scratch/userid/newDB/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch_history.txt
Lsinventory Output file location : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_
1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.txt
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installed Top-level Products (2):
 
Oracle Database 11g                                                  11.1.0.6.6
Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Patch Set 2                            11.1.0.6.6
There are 2 products installed in this Oracle Home.
 
 
List of Bugs fixed by Installed Patches:
 
Bug        Fixed by          Installed at                   Description
           Patch
---        --------          ------------                   -----------
 
1000000    6079591   Mon Oct 13 02:03:42 PDT 2008   test bug
6079591    6079591   Mon Oct 13 02:03:42 PDT 2008   MLR BUG FOR 10.2.0:.3 FOR CPU:JUL2:007
300500     300500    Fri Sep 05 02:25:34 PDT 2008   Demo bug for patching files
300501     300500    Fri Sep 05 02:25:34 PDT 2008   Demo bug for patching files
300502     300500    Fri Sep 05 02:25:34 PDT 2008   Demo bug for patching files
6121268    6121268   Tue Aug 19 23:32:33 PDT 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-007-CPUJUL2007
6121266    6121266   Tue Aug 19 23:32:27 PDT 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-018-CPUJUL2007
6121264    6121264   Tue Aug 19 23:32:22 PDT 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-017-CPUJUL2007
6121263    6121263   Tue Aug 19 23:32:14 PDT 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-016-CPUJUL2007
.....
.....
(Middle section of report is intentionally excluded.)
.....
.....
6121248    6650096   Tue Feb 12 05:50:48 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-015-CPUJUL2007
6650096    6650096   Tue Feb 12 05:50:48 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-036-CPUJAN2008
6121247    6650095   Tue Feb 12 05:50:41 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-006-CPUAPR2007
6397946    6650095   Tue Feb 12 05:50:41 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-031-CPUOCT2007
6650095    6650095   Tue Feb 12 05:50:41 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-035-CPUJAN2008
6650081    6650081   Tue Feb 12 05:50:35 PST 2008   DB-10.2.0.3-MOLECULE-034-CPUJAN2008
6646853    6646853   Tue Feb 12 05:50:28 PST 2008   MLR BUG FOR 10.2.0.3 FOR CPUJAN2008
6452863    6452863   Tue Feb 12 05:50:12 PST 2008   TRACKING BUG FOR CPUJUL2007
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 OPatch succeeded.
-patch desc Option Example
The following example shows the output of opatch lsinventory -patch desc:
Oracle interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.6
Copyright (c) 2009, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved..
Oracle Home       : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /home/OUIHome_Opatch
   from           : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI location      : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /home/oracle_
TEST/product/11.1.0/db1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.log
Patch history file: /scratch/userid/newDB/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch_history.txt
Lsinventory Output file location : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_
1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory-2008_May_25_11-09-34-IST_Wed.txt
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interim patches (39) :
 
Patch  6079591      : applied on Mon Oct 13 02:03:42 PDT 2008
   Created on 21 Jun 2008, 03:42:18 hrs PST8PDT
   Bugs fixed:
     6079591, 1000000
 
Patch  300500       : applied on Fri Sep 05 02:25:34 PDT 2008
   Created on 07 Nov 2007, 04:57:14 hrs US/Eastern
   Bugs fixed:
     300500, 300501, 300502
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 OPatch succeeded.
Lsvinventory Options
Table 7-5 lists the options available for this command.
Table 7-5 Lsinventory Options for OUI Patches
Option
Description
all
Reports the name and installation directory for each Oracle home directory found.
all_nodes
Reports the patches installed on the given Oracle home in all nodes of the RAC system. It also prints the Oracle binary's size and checksum on all nodes. You cannot use this option with the all, detail, or patchoptions.
bugs_fixed
Reports bugs fixed by installed patches in a tabular format. Besides the bugs fixed, the report also displays the installed patches, installed times, and bug descriptions. The fixed bugs are sorted per installed patch. Default display is patches in descending order based on installed time and ascending order of bugs within each patch. You can use 'asc' (or) 'desc' with this option to enforce sort order on bugs within each patch.
You can use this option with the patch or patch_id option to obtain sort orders with installed patches.
delay
If you specify retry, this option tells OPatch how many seconds it should wait before attempting to lock the inventory again in case of a previous failure.
detail
Reports the installed products and other details. You cannot use this option with the all option.
group_by_date
Instructs OPatch to group all installed patches by the date they were installed in the Oracle home.
invPtrLoc
Locates the oraInst.loc file. You need this option if you used the invPtrLoc option during installation. Oracle recommends the use of the default Central Inventory for a platform.
jre
Specifies the location of a particular JRE (Java) for OPatch to use instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
patch
Lists the patch IDs installed in the Oracle home in ascending (asc) or descending (desc) order, which is the default, based on installed time.
property_file
Indicates the user-defined property file that OPatch should use. The path to the property should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the property file that OPatch supplies.
retry
Specifies how many times OPatch should retry when there is an inventory lock failure.

Query Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command queries a specific patch for specific details. It provides information about the patch and the system being patched.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch query  [-all] [-jre <LOC> ] [-oh <LOC> ]              [-get_component] [-get_os] [-get_date]              [-get_base_bug] [-is_portal_patch]              [-is_rolling_patch] [-is_online_patch]              [-has_sql] [ <Patch Location> ]
Options
Table 7-6 lists the options available for the Query command.
Table 7-6 Query Options
Option
Description
all
Retrieves all information about a patch. This is equivalent to setting all available options.
get_base_bug
Retrieves bugs fixed by the patch.
get_component
Retrieves components the patch affects.
get_date
Retrieves the patch creation date and time.
has_sql
Indicates true if the patch has SQL-related actions. Otherwise, the option is false. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching,
is_online_patch
Indicates true if the patch is an online patch. Otherwise, the option is false.
is_portal_patch
Indicates true if the patch has portal actions. Otherwise, the option is false.
is_rolling_patch
Indicates true if the patch is a rolling patch. Otherwise, the option is false.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.

Rollback Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command removes an existing one-off patch from the appropriate Oracle home directory indicated by the reference ID.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch rollback -id <ID> [-ph <Patch Location>]  [-delay <value>]
              [-invPtrLoc <Path to oraInst.loc> ]
              [-jre <LOC> ] [-local]  [-oh <ORACLE_HOME>]
              [-retry <value>]  [-silent]  [-verbose]
              [-no_relink] [-pre <parameters for the pre
              script in escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]
              [-post <parameters for the post script in escaped
              double quotes>[ -opatch_post_end] ] [-no_sysmod]
              [-property_file <path to property file>]
              [-local_node <Local node name>]
              [-remote_nodes <List of remote nodes (node1,node2)>]
              [-connectString  <List of connect strings>]
              [-ptlSchema <portal schema>] [-ptlPassword <portal password>]
              [-ptlConnect <portal connect string>]
              [-runSql] [-sqlScript <path of the sql file>]
              [-init <parameters for the init script in escaped double
              quotes> [-opatch_init_end] ] [-report]
Options
Table 7-7 lists the options available for the Rollback command.
Table 7-7 Rollback Options for OUI Patches
Option
Description
all_nodes
Rolls back the patch using the all-nodes mode.
connectString
Specifies the list of database instances on which the patch needs to be applied. Specify the value for this option using the following syntax:
SID:User:Passwd:Node
Example:
oracle:dba:dba:mymachine,oracle1:::
The SID is required, but you can disregard the other parameters if desired, because OPatch provides default values for them.
Note: If the system is not part of a RAC setup and you want to patch just the local node, provide the node name as an empty string.
delay
If you use the retry option with the rollback command, specifies how many seconds OPatch should wait before attempting to lock the inventory again if a previous failure occurs.
id
Indicates the patch to be rolled back. Use the lsinventory option to display all patch identifiers. Each one-off patch is indicated by its ID. To successfully roll back a patch, you must provide the patch identifier.
init
Passes parameters to the init script, which executes before prerequisite checks are run. The values for this option must be enclosed in double-quotes.
invPtrLoc
Specifies the location of the oraInst.loc file. You need to use this option if you used the invPtrLoc option during installation. Oracle recommends the use of the default Central Inventory for a platform.
jre
Specifies the location of a particular JRE (Java) for OPatch to use instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
local
Specifies that OPatch roll back the local node, then update the inventory of the local node. It does not propagate the patch or inventory update to other nodes.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments and non-clustered environments. If an entire cluster is shut down before patching, you can use this option for non-rolling patches.
local_node
Specifies to OPatch that this is the local node for the cluster to be used for rollback.
You can use this option for Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch need not update the files in the system, only the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operation in the patch. You can use this option during multiple patch removals and to perform the compilation step only once.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
opatch_init_end
Marks the end of the init options. Use this option with the init option. If you do not use this option, everything after init until the end of the command is passed into init.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post options. Use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. Use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
ph
Specifies the valid patch directory area. Rollback uses the command types found in the patch directory to identify which commands are used for the current operating system.
post
Specifies the parameters to be passed inside the post script. This script executes after the patch is removed. You must enclose the value of this option in double-quotes.
pre
Specifies the parameters to be passed inside the pre script. This script executes before the patch is removed. You must enclose the value of this option in double-quotes.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
ptlConnect
Specifies the connection string credentials of the portal schema.
ptlSchema
Specifies the schema of the portal repository.
ptlPassword
Specifies the password of the portal schema.
remote_nodes
Specifies to OPatch the list of remote nodes to be used for rollback of the patch. The node names must be separated with commas, but without spaces.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
report
Prints the actions to the screen without executing them.
retry
Instructs OPatch how many times it should retry when there is an inventory lock failure.
runSql
Instructs OPatch to run the SQL script and SQL procedures if they exist in the given patch. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching, 
sqlScript
Specifies the custom SQL script that OPatch should run after patching completes. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching,
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any yes|no questions to "yes". A Real Application Clusters setup does not support this option.
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Nrollback Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command rolls back interim patches from several Oracle homes at the same time.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch nrollback -id <comma-separated list of patch IDs>                      [-delay <value>] [-invPtrLoc <Path to oraInst.loc> ]                      [-jdk <LOC> ] [-jre <LOC> ] [-local]                       [-minimize_downtime] [-no_relink] [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ]                      [-retry <value>]  [-silent]  [-verbose]                      [-pre <parameters for the pre script in                       escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]                      [-post <parameters for the post script in                       escaped double quotes>[ -opatch_post_end] ]                      [-no_sysmod] [-property_file <Path to property file>]                      [-local_node <Local node name>]                      [-remote_nodes <List of remote nodes (node1,node2)>]                      [ -all_nodes ] [-report]
Example
The following example rolls back patches 1, 2, and 3 that have been installed in the Oracle home:
opatch nrollback -id 1,2,3
Options
Table 7-8 lists the options available for this command.
Table 7-8 Nrollback Options for OUI Patches
Option
Description
all_nodes
Rolls back the patch using the all-nodes mode.
delay
If you use the retry option with the rollback command, specifies how many seconds OPatch should wait before attempting to lock the inventory again if a previous failure occurs.
id
Indicates the patch to be rolled back. Use the lsinventory option to display all patch identifiers. Each one-off patch is indicated by its ID. To successfully roll back a patch, you must provide the patch identifier.
invPtrLoc
Specifies the location of the oraInst.loc file. You need to use this option if you used the invPtrLoc option during installation. Oracle recommends the use of the default Central Inventory for a platform.
jdk
Instructs OPatch to use JDK (jar) from the specified location instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory. If you do not specify the jre option, JVM is executed from the jdk location.
jre
Specifies the location of a particular JRE (Java) for OPatch to use instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
local
Specifies that OPatch roll back the local node, then update the inventory of the local node. It does not propagate the patch or inventory update to other nodes.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments and non-clustered environments. If an entire cluster is shut down before patching, you can use this option for non-rolling patches.
local_node
Specifies to OPatch that this is the local node for the cluster to be used for rollback.
You can use this option for Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
minimize_downtime
Specifies the order of nodes that OPatch should patch.
This option only applies to Oracle Real Application Clusters environments. You cannot use it with the -localoption with a rolling patch.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch need not update the files in the system, only the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operation in the patch. You can use this option during multiple patch removals and to perform the compilation step only once.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post options. Use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. Use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
remote_nodes
Specifies to OPatch the list of remote nodes to be used for rollback of the patch. The node names must be separated with commas, but without spaces.
You can use this option on Oracle Real Application Clusters environments.
report
Prints the actions to the screen without executing them.
retry
Instructs OPatch how many times it should retry when there is an inventory lock failure.
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any yes|no questions to "yes". A Real Application Clusters setup does not support this option.
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Version Command for OUI-based Oracle Homes

This command shows the current version number of the OPatch utility. Use the following syntax for this command:
<Path_to_OPatch>/opatch version

Standalone Patching

Standalone patching is available for Oracle homes that have not been installed using the Oracle Universal Installer. Standalone patching does not have Central Inventory registration, but still generates inventory files for the one-off inventory and future conflict checking. OPatch uses the presence of the OUI directory under ORACLE_HOME to determine whether it should operate in OUI-based or standalone mode.
The following sections discuss these standalone patching topics:
·         Unsupported services for standalone patching
·         Standalone patching requirements
·         OPatch commands for standalone patching
·         Use cases

Unsupported Services for Standalone Patching

Standalone patching provides most of the services that OUI-based patching provides. However, standalone patching does not provide the following services that OUI-based patching provides.
Looking up the component inventory
Standalone OPatch enables you to look up which patches have been applied to a standalone Oracle home, but it does not support looking up product components. For example, if you run opatch lsinventory on a JDeveloper Oracle Home, OPatch shows a list of patches applied on the home. It does not show which components the home has, however.
Looking up the Central Inventory
You cannot run opatch lsinventory –all to list all Oracle homes registered on the host (through the Central Inventory repository).
Migrating from standalone to OUI-based patching and vice versa
The assumption is that after you have installed a product as standalone without OUI, it remains standalone. For example, after having installed JDeveloper, you cannot put OUI (through copying or proper installation) onto the Oracle home and expect OPatch to treat the home as an OUI-based Oracle home.
Conversely, the assumption is that after you have installed a product with OUI, it remains OUI-based. For example, after you install Oracle RDBMS, you cannot remove OUI (either by removing or proper deinstallation) and expect OPatch to treat the home as a standalone Oracle home. OPatch will not work properly in this case and will corrupt the home.
Interoperating between standalone and OUI-based patches
Since you cannot migrate a home from standalone to OUI-based and vice versa, OPatch does not support interoperability between standalone and OUI-based Oracle homes.
Seamlessly working on a cloned standalone Oracle home
If you clone a standalone Oracle home S1 to another Oracle home OH2, Opatch will not function properly on the new cloned OH2.
Supporting RAC
OPatch relies on OUI to detect RAC and propagate files. Hence, standalone OPatch does not support RAC; it does not attempt to detect RAC, and its utility will not work. That is, OPatch always runs as opatch apply –local. OPatch does not support any patch propagation from one node to another node. Also, standalone OPatch does not support RAC-related utilities such as opatch util runRemoteMake (invokes relink on remote node).
Performing patch set operations
OPatch does not support patch set operations in either standalone or OUI modes. You need to use OUI for patch set operations.

Standalone Patching Requirements

Standalone patching requires the following environment:
·         JRE version 1.4 or later
·         Oracle home without OUI
·         OPatch that supports standalone patching
All of the required files and directories must exist for OPatch to function correctly. If any of the files are missing, OPatch perceives that the patch has not been applied. You would then have to take corrective action, returning the standalone inventory to a stable state.

OPatch Utility for Standalone Homes

As with OUI-based patching, you can run the OPatch utility, located in the <Path_to_Oracle_Home>/OPatch directory, with various commands and options. The following string shows the syntax for the OPatch utility:
<Path_to_OPatch>/opatch [-help] [-r[eport]] [command] [-option]
where:
·         help — Displays the help message for the command.
·         report — Prints the actions without executing.
·         command — One of the OPatch commands.
·         option — One of the OPatch command options.
Table 7-9 lists the commands available for standalone patching.
Table 7-9 OPatch Standalone Commands
Command
Description
apply
Installs an interim patch.
lsinventory
Lists what is currently installed on the system.
query
Queries a given patch for specific details.
rollback
Removes an interim patch..
version
Prints the current version of the patch tool.

The following sections provide the syntax and options for each of these commands.

Apply Command for Standalone OPatch

The Apply command applies an interim patch to a standalone home from the current directory.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch apply  [ -force ] [-jre <LOC> ] [-no_bug_superset ] [-no_inventory ]              [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ][-silent ][-verbose ]                [-no_relink] [-pre <parameters for the              pre script in escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]              [-post <parameters for the post script in escaped              quotes> [-opatch_post_end] ] [-no_sysmod]              [-property_file <Path to property file>]               [-init <parameters for the init script in escaped double              quotes> [-opatch_init_end] ] [-report]              [<Patch Location>]
Options
Table 7-10 lists the options available for the Apply command.
Table 7-10 Apply Options for Standalone Patches
Option
Description
force
Removes conflicting patches from the system by enabling you to change the product and version number of the standalone Oracle home. OPatch removes all the conflicting patches before applying the current patch.
init
Passes parameters to the init script, which executes before prerequisite checks are run. The values for this option must be enclosed in double-quotes.
jre
Instructs OPatch to use JRE (Java) from the specified location instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
no_bug_superset
Specifies to error out if the current patch's bugs-to-fix is a superset (or same set) of an installed patch's bugs-fixed in the Oracle home directory.
no_inventory
Bypasses the inventory for reading and updates. You cannot use this option with the local option. This option places the installation into an unsupported state.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operations. You can use it during multiple patch applications and to perform the linking step only once. OPatch does not keep track of the make operations it did not perform. You need to make sure to execute OPatch without this option at the end for compilation.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch does not need to update the files in the system. It only updates the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default. This takes precedence over the environment variable ORACLE_HOME.
opatch_init_end
Marks the end of the init options. You use this option with the init option. If you do not use this option, everything after init until the end of the command is passed into init.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post option. You use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. You use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
post
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the post script. This script is executed after the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
pre
Specifies the parameters to be passed to the pre script. This script is executed before the patch is applied. You need to enclose the values for this option in double-quotes.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any answers to "yes."
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Lsinventory Command for Standalone OPatch

The Lsinventory command lists the inventory for a particular Oracle home, or displays all installations that can be found. This command does not have any required options.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch lsinventory [-all ]  [-detail ] [-jre <LOC> ]               [-oh <ORACLE_HOME> ] [-patch] [-oh]               [-property_file <path to property file>]
Options
Table 7-12 lists the options available for the Lsinventory command.
Table 7-11 Lsinventory Options for Standalone Patches
Option
Description
all
Reports the name and installation directory for each Oracle home directory found.
detail
Reports the installed products and other details. You cannot use this option with the all option.
jre
Specifies the location of a particular JRE (Java) for OPatch to use instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
patch
Specifies the patches installed in the Oracle home.
property_file
Indicates the user-defined property file that OPatch should use. The path to the property should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the property file that OPatch supplies.

Query Command for Standalone OPatch

This command queries a specific patch for specific details. It provides information about the patch and the system being patched.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch query  [-all] [-jre <LOC> ] [-oh <LOC> ]              [-get_component] [-get_os] [-get_date]              [-get_base_bug] [-is_portal_patch]              [-is_rolling_patch] [-is_online_patch]              [-has_sql] [ <Patch Location> ]
Options
Table 7-12 lists the options available for the Query command.
Table 7-12 Query Options
Option
Description
all
Retrieves all information about a patch. This is equivalent to setting all available options.
get_base_bug
Retrieves bugs fixed by the patch.
get_component
Retrieves components the patch affects.
get_date
Retrieves the patch creation date and time.
has_sql
Indicates true if the patch has SQL-related actions. Otherwise, the option is false. For information on SQL and PL/SQL patching, 
is_online_patch
Indicates true if the patch is an online patch. Otherwise, the option is false.
is_portal_patch
Indicates true if the patch has portal actions. Otherwise, the option is false.
is_rolling_patch
Indicates true if the patch is a rolling patch. Otherwise, the option is false.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.

Rollback Command for Standalone OPatch

The Rollback command removes an existing one-off patch from the appropriate Oracle home directory indicated by the reference ID.
Syntax
Use the following syntax for this command:
opatch rollback -id <ID> [-ph <Patch Location>]
              [-jre <LOC> ] [-oh <ORACLE_HOME>]
              [-silent]  [-verbose] [-no_relink] 
              [-pre <parameters for the pre
              script in escaped double quotes> [-opatch_pre_end] ]
              [-post <parameters for the post script in escaped
              double quotes>[ -opatch_post_end] ] [-no_sysmod]
              [-property_file <path to property file>]
              [-init <parameters for the init script in escaped double
              quotes> [-opatch_init_end] ] [-report]
Options
Table 7-13 lists the options available for the Rollback command.
Table 7-13 Rollback Options for Standalone Patches
Option
Description
id
Indicates the patch to be rolled back. Use the lsinventory option to display all patch identifiers. Each one-off patch is indicated by its ID. To successfully roll back a patch, you must provide the patch identifier.
init
Passes parameters to the init script, which executes before prerequisite checks are run. The values for this option must be enclosed in double-quotes.
jre
Specifies the location of a particular JRE (Java) for OPatch to use instead of the default location under the Oracle home directory.
no_sysmod
Specifies that OPatch need not update the files in the system, only the inventory. It also does not execute the pre and post scripts.
no_relink
This option does not perform any make operation in the patch. You can use this option during multiple patch removals and to perform the compilation step only once.
oh
Specifies the Oracle home directory to use instead of the default directory. This takes precedence over theORACLE_HOME environment variable.
opatch_init_end
Marks the end of the init options. Use this option with the init option. If you do not use this option, everything after init until the end of the command is passed into init.
opatch_post_end
Marks the end of the post options. Use this option with the post option. If you do not use this option, everything after post until the end of the command is passed into post.
opatch_pre_end
Marks the end of the pre options. Use this option with the pre option. If you do not use this option, everything after pre until the end of the command is passed into pre.
Patch Location
Indicates the path to the patch location. If you do not specify the location, OPatch assumes the current directory is the patch location.
ph
Specifies the valid patch directory area. Rollback uses the command types found in the patch directory to identify which commands are used for the current operating system.
post
Specifies the parameters to be passed inside the post script. This script executes after the patch is removed. You must enclose the value of this option in double-quotes.
pre
Specifies the parameters to be passed inside the pre script. This script executes before the patch is removed. You must enclose the value of this option in double-quotes.
property_file
Specifies the user-defined property file for OPatch to use. The path to the property file should be absolute. This property file takes precedence over the one that OPatch supplies.
report
Prints the actions to the screen without executing them.
silent
Suppresses user interaction, and defaults any yes|no questions to "yes". A Real Application Clusters setup does not support this option.
verbose
Prints additional OPatch output to the screen as well as to the log file.

Version Command for Standalone OPatch

This command shows the current version number of the OPatch utility. Use the following syntax for this command:
<Path_to_OPatch>/opatch version

Use Cases

The following sections provide scenarios that administrators can encounter when implementing standalone patching for the following types of operations:
·         Inventory
·         Patching
·         Utility

Inventory Operations

The following tables explain the purpose of the use case along with preconditions and the process that occurs during the patching process.
Table 7-14 Getting Patch Information
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Show a list of interim patches installed on a standalone Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using the standalone OPatch.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch lsinventory
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects that this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch looks for the standalone inventory file.
3.      OPatch prints out a list of installed interim patches.

Table 7-15 Getting Detailed Patch Information
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Show a detailed list of interim patches installed on a standalone Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using the standalone OPatch.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch lsinventory -detail
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects that this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch looks for the standalone inventory file.
3.      OPatch prints out a list of installed interim patches as well as files affected by each interim patch.

Patching Operations

The following tables explain the purpose of the use case along with preconditions and the process that occurs during the patching process.
Table 7-16 Applying an Interim Patch - Case 1
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Apply an interim patch on a standalone Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using the standalone OPatch. The patch has been downloaded.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch apply/patch_loc/123451
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects that this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch looks for the standalone inventory file and checks for conflicts.
3.      OPatch performs an automatic rollback if there are conflicting patches.
4.      OPatch applies a new patch to the home.
5.      OPatch updates its standalone inventory.

Table 7-17 Applying an Interim Patch - Case 2
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Apply an interim patch on a standalone Oracle home that exists within another OUI-based Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using a new OPatch. The patch has been downloaded.
The standalone Oracle home has a different directory patch than the OUI-based Oracle home. For example, the OUI-based Oracle home path is /path, whereas the standalone Oracle home is /path/dev.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch apply/patch_loc/123451
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects that this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch looks for the standalone inventory file and checks for conflicts.
3.      OPatch performs an automatic rollback if there are conflicting patches.
4.      OPatch applies a new patch to the home.
5.      OPatch updates its standalone inventory.

Table 7-18 Applying an Interim Patch - Case 3
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Apply an interim patch on a standalone Oracle. It seems to be a standalone Oracle home, but OPatch detects it as OUI-based.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using a new OPatch. The patch has been downloaded.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch apply/patch_loc/123451
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects ORACLE_HOME/oui and believes it is an OUI-based Oracle home.
2.      OPatch attempts to apply the patch as OUI-based Oracle home patching (if the patch is compatible with the home).

Table 7-19 Rolling Back an Applied Interim Patch
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Roll back an interim patch applied earlier on a standalone Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set and the Oracle home has been patched using a standalone OPatch.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch rollback -id 123451
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch examines the standalone inventory file to determine if patch 123451 was applied.
3.      OPatch rolls back patch 123451.
4.      OPatch updates its standalone directory.

Utility Operations

The following tables explain the purpose of the use case along with preconditions and the process that occurs during the patching process.
Table 7-20 Loading an Arbitrary XML File
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Load an XML file, making sure it is XML-parsable.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch util loadXML
Note that the loadXML utility is often used as a debugging and troubleshooting tool.
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch prompts for the complete path to the XML file that you want to load.
3.      OPatch opens the file and uses the XML parser to parse it.
4.      OPatch reports that the file is XML-parsable.

Table 7-21 Verifying that the Patch is Applied
Use Case Category
Description
Purpose
Ensure that the patch was applied to the Oracle home.
Preconditions
$ORACLE_HOME is set, and the Oracle home has been patched using the standalone OPatch.
User Input
Enter the following command:
opatch util verify -ph/patch_loc/123451
Note that patch verification is automatically invoked when OPatch applies a patch to an Oracle home. You do not need to rerun verify after applying a patch.
OPatch Response
1.      OPatch detects this is a standalone Oracle home.
2.      OPatch examines /patch_loc/123451 to make sure it is a valid patch area.
3.      OPatch examines the files in /patch_loc/123451 to make sure the Oracle home was patched with the same bits.
4.      OPatch reports that both the patch inventory and patch binary are in the Oracle home.

Schema Patching

There are two types of schema patches:
·         SQL patch — This patches the Oracle database with updated procedures and schema changes.
·         PL/SQL patch — This also patches the Oracle database with updated procedures and schema changes, as for the SQL patch. However, a PL/SQL patch also mentions the procedure names in its patch metadata so that these procedures can be backed up for rollback.
The following sections discuss these topics:
·         Schema patching options
·         Standalone SQL execution

Schema Patching Options

Table 7-22 shows the schema patching options that OPatch supports for Apply and Rollback:
Table 7-22 Schema Patching Options
Option
Description
-runSql
Instructs OPatch to read the SQL script from the patch and run it on the specified SIDs. You must specify this option for the patchmd.xml SQL script specification and custom SQL script.
-sqlScript
Specifies OPatch to run this custom SQL script. This is an optional parameter.
-connectString
Provides a list of database instance SIDs, user, and password to be patched. Each entry is separated by a comma ( , ). The value for this option has the following format:
SID1:USER1:PASSWORD1:NODE1, SID2:USER2:PASSWORD2:NODE2

Standalone SQL Execution

OPatch provides a utility to run only the SQL scripts to patch specified database instances. Use this utility only when you cannot apply or roll back SQL procedure actions using normal Apply or Rollback sessions.
The syntax for Apply is as follows:
opatch util applySql –id <patchIDs> -connectString <SID1:USER1:PASSWORD1:NODE1>
The syntax for Rollback is as follows:
opatch util rollbackSql –ph <patchLocation> (or) –phBaseFile <filename> (or) –phBaseDir
         <dirname> -connectString <SID1:USER1:PASSWORD1:NODE1>

Online Patching

Regular patches typically contain .o (object) files and/or .a (archive) libraries, and therefore require a relink of the RDBMS binary. Online patches, however, contain .so files, which are dynamic/shared libraries, and do not require a relink of the RDBMS binary. Consequently, since a relink is not needed, you can apply or roll back online patches while the RDBMS instance is running. This simplifies administration, because no downtime is needed, and also results in a much quicker turnaround time for installing or de-installing Online Patches.
A regular RDBMS patch can require many minutes to install, since it requires instance shutdown, a relink, and instance startup. On the other hand, you can install an online patch in just a few seconds.
Online patches are only applicable for Oracle RDBMS and not any other products. Online patches are currently not supported in Windows, and only supported on the following UNIX platforms for version 11.1.0.7.0 and later:
·         Linux x86
·         Linux x86_64
·         HP-UX Itanium (HP-UX 11.31 and later)
·         Solaris SPARC 64-bit (Solaris 10 and later)

Real Application Clusters Patching

A Real Application Clusters environment enables active instances to concurrently execute transactions on a shared database. Patching in a Real Application Clusters environment is slightly different compared to patching a single node.
Interim Patching using OPatch follows a similar approach as that performed by Oracle Universal Installer to detect Oracle home and nodes of a cluster. OPatch interacts with the Oracle Universal Installer inventory through the Oracle Universal Installer Java SDK. If OPatch detects a cluster, it queries the inventory through Oracle Universal Installer to find the local node name and node list. If your node list is not updated, you can update it by using the -updateNodeListflag of Oracle Universal Installer. You can bypass remote actions using the -local flag, as shown below:
$ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin/<runInstaller or setup.exe> -updateNodeList  ORACLE_ HOME=<oracle home location>
"CLUSTER_NODES={node1,node2,node3}"
-noClusterEnabled
-local
If you want to specify the local node or remote nodes of a Real Application Clusters setup to OPatch, you can use the LOCAL_NODE or REMOTE_NODES session variable and specify the node name(s), as shown below:
$ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin/<runInstaller or setup.exe> ORACLE_HOME=<oracle home location>
"REMOTE_NODES={node1,node2,node3}"  LOCAL_NODE=<nodelist
for example:node1>
If OPatch does not automatically detect Real Application Clusters or its nodes, you need to investigate the contents of the inventory and ensure that it is complete.
You can patch Real Application Clusters in three different ways:
·         All Node Patching
·         Rolling Patching
·         Minimum Downtime Patching
The following sections provide detailed information for these types of Real Application Clusters patching.

All Node Patching

Figure 7–1 shows a basic example of All Node Patching.
Figure 7-1 All Node Patching


Systems A, B, and C are nodes in this cluster. When you perform All Node Patching in this cluster, you bring down systems A, B, and C, apply patches to all these nodes, then bring systems A, B, and C back up again.

Rolling Patching

In Rolling Patching, you shut down each node, apply the patch, then bring up each node again. You do this separately for each node until you patch all nodes in the cluster. This is the most efficient method of applying an interim patch to a Real Application Clusters setup, because there is absolutely no downtime during the application of patches, as only one system is brought down at any given time. Only some patches can be applied in this mode. The type is generally specified in the patch metadata.
Figure 7–2 shows a basic example of Rolling Patching.
Figure 7-2 Rolling Patching



When you perform Rolling Patching in this cluster, the patches are applied in a rolling fashion. You initially bring down system A, apply a patch to it, then bring it back up. You do the same thing for systems B and C.

Minimum Downtime Patching

In Minimum Downtime Patching, the nodes are divided into sets. Initially, you shut down the first set and apply a patch to it. After this, you shut down the second set. You then bring up the first set and apply a patch to the second set. You now bring up the second set. All the nodes in the cluster are now patched. This method leads to less downtime for the Real Application Clusters when both sets are brought down. This mode is executed by using -minimize_downtimecommand line option. You can also activate this option from the response file.
Figure 7–3 shows a basic example of Minimum Downtime Patching.
Figure 7-3 Minimum Downtime Patching



Systems A, B, and C are nodes in this cluster. It is divided into two sets: Set 1 contains systems A and B, and Set 2 contains system C. When you perform Minimum Downtime Patching in this cluster, you shut down Set 1 and apply a patch to it. You now shut down Set 2. Then, you bring up Set 1 and apply a patch to Set 2. After you apply the patch, you bring up Set 2 again. Now both Sets 1 and 2 are patched.

About Patch Conflicts

All patches may not be compatible with one another. For example, if you apply a patch, all the bugs the patch fixes could reappear after you apply another patch. This is called a conflict situation. OPatch detects such situations and raises an error when it detects a conflict.

Types of Conflicts

OPatch can detect the following types of conflicts.

Superset

If all the bugs fixed by a patch in the system are also fixed by the patch to be applied, this patch (the patch to be applied) is considered a superset of the patch already applied. If a bug superset condition is detected, it is not considered an error situation. All the subset patches are removed from the system and the new patch is applied.
Example
Consider the following scenario:
·         Patch A, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 1, 2, and 3.
·         Patch B, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 10, 11, and 12.
·         Patch C, to be installed, fixes bugs 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Patch C is considered a superset of Patch A.
Using the -no_bug_superset Flag
If you want OPatch to error out if the current patch bugs-to-fix is a superset or the same as an installed patch bugs-fixed in the Oracle home directory, you can use the -no_bug_superset flag:
$ OPatch/opatch apply -no_bug_superset <Path_To_Patch>
The following example output shows the message you would see when you use the -no_bug_superset flag:
Oracle interim Patch Installer version 11.1.0.6.6
Copyright (c) 2009, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved..
Oracle Home       : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1
Central Inventory : /home/OUIHome_Opatch
from           : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI version       : 11.1.0.6.6
OUI location      : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1/oui
Log file location : /home/oracle_TEST/product/11.1.0/db
_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_May_25_14-03-33-IST_Wed.log
ApplySession applying interim patch '111000' to OH '/home/oracle
_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1'
Apply Session failed: ApplySession failed to prepare the system. Interim patch
 111000 is a superset of the patch(es) [ 111000 ] in OH /home/oracle
_TEST/product/11.1.0/db_1
System intact, OPatch will not attempt to restore the system
OPatch failed with error code 73

Subset

Patches to be applied can be subsets of other patches installed in the Oracle home.
Example
Consider the following scenario:
·         Patch A, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 1, 2, and 3.
·         Patch B, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 10, 11, and 12.
·         Patch D, to be installed, fixes bugs 1 and 2.
Patch D is a subset of Patch A.
Using the skip_subset Option
When you want to skip patches formerly applied in the Oracle home that are now subsets of other patches you want to apply now, you can use theskip_subset option of napply. For example, if you used napply yesterday for patch A that fixed bugs 1 and 2, then you use napply today with theskip_subset option for patch B that fixes bug 1 and patch C that fixes bugs 1, 2, and 3, then subset patch A is skipped, and patch C then becomes a superset of patch A.
Example 7-1 applies all patches under the <patch_location> directory. OPatch skips duplicate patches and subset patches (patches under<patch_location> that are subsets of patches installed in the Oracle home).
Example 7-1
opatch napply <patch_location> -skip_subset -skip_duplicate
Example 7-2 applies patches 1, 2, and 3 that are under the <patch_location> directory. OPatch skips duplicate patches and subset patches (patches under<patch_location> that are subsets of patches installed in the Oracle home).
Example 7-2
opatch napply <patch_location> -id 1,2,3 -skip_subset -skip_duplicate
See the description for the skip_subset option in Table 7-3 for more information.

Duplicate

A duplicate patch fixes the same set of bugs fixed by another patch. For example, if you applied Patch A that fixed bugs 1, 2 and 3, and now apply Patch B that also fixes bugs 1, 2 and 3, then Patch B is a duplicate of Patch A. A patch is always a duplicate of itself.
Using the skip_duplicate Option
If you specify this option, OPatch removes duplicate patches from the list of patches to be applied. For example, if you used napply yesterday for Patch A discussed above, then use napply today with the -skip_duplicate option for Patch A and other patches, duplicate Patch A is skipped.

Bug Conflict

A bug conflict occurs if a set of bugs to be fixed by the current interim patch intersects with some bugs already fixed by one or more previously installed interim patches. You must remove the bug conflict before you proceed with the patching by using the apply command with the -force flag, which rolls back the conflicting patches before applying the new one.
Example
Consider the following scenario:
·         Patch A, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 1, 2, and 3.
·         Patch B, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 10, 11, and 12.
·         Patch E, to be installed, fixes bugs 3 and 4.
Patch E conflicts with Patch A.

File Conflict

A file conflict occurs if a set of files to be patched by the current interim patch includes files already patched by one or more previously installed interim patches, and it is not a bug superset.
Example
Consider the following scenario:
·         Patch A, installed in the Oracle home, fixed bugs 1, 2, and 3, which modified files a, b, and c.
·         Patch F, to be installed, fixes bugs 1, 2, 3 and 4, and modifies files a, d, and f.
Patch F conflicts with Patch A.

Patch Conflict Behavior for Apply and Napply

The expected behavior for the Apply and Napply commands is listed in Table 7-23.
Table 7-23 Expected Behavior for Apply and Napply Commands
Command
Superset
Subset
Duplicate
File Conflict or Bug Conflict Patch
Apply
OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then an apply.
After the merge request, OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then performs an apply.
OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then performs a reapply.
OPatch reports the conflict. After the merge request, OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then an apply.
Napply
OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then an apply.
OPatch reports the subset and skips the subset patch. It then continues and applies the other patches.
OPatch performs an automatic rollback, then a reapply.
OPatch reports the conflict, then asks you to run again without applying a bug conflict patch.
You can use the -force option to instruct OPatch to automatically roll back the conflicting patch, then apply the new patch.

Patch Conflict Detection and Resolution

OPatch detects and reports any conflicts encountered when applying an Interim patch with a previously applied patch. The patch application fails in case of conflicts. You can use the -force option of OPatch to override this failure. If you use this option, the installer first rolls back any conflicting patches and then proceeds with the installation of the desired interim patch.
You may encounter a bug conflict and might want to remove the conflicting patch. This process is known as patch rollback. During patch installation, OPatch saves copies of all the files the new patch replaced before the new versions of these files are loaded and stores them in $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage. These saved files are called Rollback files and are the key to making patch rollback possible. When you roll back a patch, these Rollback files are restored to the system. You should only override the default behavior by using the -force flag if you completely understand the patch Rollback process. To roll back a patch, execute the following command:
$ OPatch/opatch rollback -id <Patch_ID>

Problem Resolution

The following sections provide information and instructions on the following tasks to resolve problems:
·         Using logs and traces
·         Recovering from a failed patching session
·         Resolving OPatch application errors

Logging and Tracing

Logging and tracing is a common aid for debugging. OPatch maintains logs for all Apply, Rollback, and Lsinventory operations. Each time you execute OPatch, a new log file is created. The log files are located in the <ORACLE_HOME>/cfgtoollogs/opatch directory. Each log file is tagged with the timestamp of the operation. Log files are named as opatch_<date mm-dd-yyyy>_<time hh-mm-ss>.log.
For example, if a log file is created on May 17th, 2008 at 11.55 PM, it will be named as follows:
opatch_05-17-2008_23-55-00.log
Note:
You can set OPatch to debug mode by setting the environment variable OPATCH_DEBUG to TRUE.

Command Index

OPatch also maintains an index of the commands executed with OPatch and the log files associated with it in the history.txt file located in the<ORACLE_HOME>/cfgtoollogs/opatch directory. An example of the history.txt file is as follows:
Date & Time : Tue Apr 26 23:00:55 PDT 2008
Oracle Home : /private/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/
OPatch Ver. : 11.1.0.6.6
Current Dir : /scratch/oui/OPatch
Command     : lsinventory
Log File    : 
/private/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2008_Apr_26_23-00-55-PDT_Tue.log

Levels of Logging

OPatch follows the Oracle Diagnostic Logging (ODL) guidelines. You can set the log level by using the -logLevel <level> option available. This controls the amount of logging OPatch performs, according to the ODL guidelines.
OPatch supports the following log levels:
·         SEVERE
·         WARNING
·         INFO
·         CONFIG
·         FINE
·         FINER
·         FINEST

Recovering from a Failed Patching Session

During patching, updates can occur in two phases:
·         System Update — In this phase, the files are replaced in the Oracle home.
·         Inventory Update — In this phase, the details of the patch applied is recorded in the inventory.
The following scenarios for single instance setups and Real Application Clusters setups explain how you can recover from a failed patching session.

Single Instance Setup

When you apply or roll back a patch, an interim inventory update exception occurs.
Cause: This occurs when the files on the system are patched, but the inventory update has failed. A corrupted inventory may cause this problem.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command.
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt

When you apply or roll back a patch, an OiiOneoffException occurs.

Cause: This occurs when the files on the system are patched, but the inventory update has failed. This may occur because the base component of the interim patch may not be present in the inventory.
Action: OPatch tries to restore the Oracle home automatically and displays a message for the same. If OPatch does not display a message stating that it has restored the Oracle home, perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command.
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
 
When you apply a patch and execute opatch lsinventory, it returns nothing.

Cause: This may occur because all the patches applied before the application of the current patch are lost, or the patches might not have been updated in the inventory.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
2.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
3.     If the files are properly patched, but the information is not updated in the inventory, execute the following command:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -no_sysmod <Path_To_Patch>
Ensure that the patch has been applied and recorded properly in the inventory by executing the following command:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -detail
4.     If the files are still not patched properly, but you are able to see the patch in the lsinventory flag, you need to reapply the patch using theno_inventory flag:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -no_inventory <Path_To_Patch>
When you apply a patch and execute opatch lsinventory, it does not return the details of the patch applied.

Cause: OPatch may not have recorded the details of this patch in the inventory.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
2.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
3.     If the files are properly patched, but the information is not updated in the inventory, execute the following command:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -no_sysmod <Path_To_Patch>
Ensure that the patch has been applied and recorded properly in the inventory by executing the following command:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -detail

When you press Ctrl + C during the application or roll back of a patch and execute opatch lsinventory, it does not return the details of the patch applied or rolled back.

Cause: This may be because OPatch might have stopped the application or rollback of the patch on pressing Ctrl+c.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command if it is available.
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt

When you apply a patch, you quit when OPatch failed to relink and prompted to continue.

Cause: This may occur because of a relink failure.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command.
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     Resolve the relink failure issue by ensuring that you are able to invoke make manually on a UNIX shell. After this, apply the patch again.

Real Application Clusters Setup

When I apply a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup and execute 'opatch lsinventory' on the local node, the patch is not listed.

Cause: This may occur if OPatch failed to update the inventory.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly in all the nodes of the cluster.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory of each node in the cluster and execute the Restore command as follows:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) in each node of the cluster as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
4.     Apply the patch in each node in the cluster using the local flag:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -local <Path_To_Patch>
Note:
Ensure that all the nodes use the same OPatch version.
When I apply a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup and execute 'opatch lsinventory' on the local node, it returns nothing.
Cause: You might have lost all the patches applied earlier.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly in each node in the cluster.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command in each node in the cluster.
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) in each node as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
4.     Apply the patch in each node using the local flag:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch apply -local <Path_To_Patch>
Note:
Ensure that all the nodes use the same OPatch version.
When I roll back a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup, and execute 'opatch lsinventory' on the local node, it shows that the patch was not removed.
Cause: This may occur if OPatch failed to update the inventory.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly in each node in the cluster.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory in each node in the cluster and execute the restore command as follows:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) in each node in the cluster as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
4.     Roll back the patch in all the nodes in the cluster using the local flag:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch rollback -local -id <Patch_ID>


Note:
Ensure that all the nodes use the same OPatch version.
When I roll back a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup and execute 'opatch lsinventory' on the local node, it returns nothing.
Cause: You might have lost all the patches applied earlier.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly in each node in the cluster.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command in each node in the cluster:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt file (if available) as follows:
/bin/sh make.txt
4.     Roll back the patch in the local node using the local flag:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch rollback -local -id <Patch_ID>
5.     Roll back the patch on the other nodes also using the local flag.
Note:
Ensure that all the nodes use the same OPatch version.
When I apply a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup, the patching in one node is fine (both the files and the inventory are fine), but I am not sure about the other nodes.
Cause: This may occur because of a failed system or inventory update.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Copy the Oracle home from the node that is fine to the other nodes.
2.     After copying the Oracle home, make sure that the ORACLE_HOME/inventory/ContentsXML/comps.xml file has the latest timestamp.
Note:
On Unix, use touch to change the timestamp.
3.     Update the nodes of the cluster. For more information on updating the nodes of the cluster,
4.     Ensure that all the prerequisite checks pass that are listed in the section
When I apply a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup, the patching in one node is fine, but when I execute 'opatch lsinventory' on the other nodes, the patch is not listed.

Cause: This may occur because of a failed system or inventory update.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Copy the ORACLE_HOME /inventory directory from the node that is fine to the other nodes.
2.     After copying the ORACLE_HOME /inventory directory, make sure that the ORACLE_HOME/inventory/ContentsXML/comps.xml file has the latest timestamp.
Note:
On Unix, use touch to change the timestamp.
3.     Update the nodes of the cluster. 
4.     Ensure that all the prerequisite checks pass that are listed in the section.

When I apply or roll back a patch on a Real Application Clusters setup, I am not able to apply or roll back the patch on all nodes.

Cause: This may occur if the nodes are not properly updated.
Action: Perform any one or more of the following:
·         Ensure that all the nodes in the cluster are up-to-date. If they are not, update the nodes of the cluster.
·         Execute the appropriate command on all nodes of the cluster as follows:

·                      opatch apply -local [patch_location]
·                       
·                      opatch rollback -local [patch_location]
Execute the appropriate command on the local node of the cluster as follows:
·                      opatch apply [-local_node (node_name)] [-remote_nodes (comma separated node_names)]
·                       
·                      opatch rollback [-local_node (node_name)] [-remote_nodes (comma separated node_names)]

Resolving OPatch Application Errors

This section provides solutions to the following errors that may occur during patch application:
·         Not a valid patch area
·         Opatch cannot find system commands like fuser, make
·         Unable to remove a partially-installed interim patch

Not a valid patch area

Cause: The directory that the OPatch utility is using to do the patch does not match the template for what it is checking. This can also occur when you run the utility from an invalid shiphome directory.
Action: When starting the OPatch utility, the directory needs the following:
·         /etc directory that has the metadata files.
·         /files directory that has the payload files.
·         /etc/config/inventory file and the actions file under the same directory.
If you did not start the OPatch utility from the patch_id directory, you can use the following command:
opatch apply /<Patch_Shiphome>

OPatch cannot find system commands like fuser, make

Cause: The OPatch utility uses fuser on UNIX systems to check for active Oracle instances. On certain hp-ux systems, only a super-user can runfuser.
Action: Perform these steps to resolve this problem:
1.     Set /tmp in your PATH.

2.     Create an empty file named fuser.
3.     Shut down the Oracle instances.
4.     Run the OPatch utility.
Caution:
Another way to resolve this problem is to give executable permission to other users for fuser. However, this exposes a potential security issue in the system, and is not recommended.
Unable to remove a partially-installed interim patch

Cause: Interruption in the patching process potentially causes this problem. This may occur if you press Ctrl+c during the patching process. If the error is the one that OPatch detects, it automatically resolves it.
Action: Perform the following steps:
1.     Ensure that the environment variable ORACLE_HOME is set properly.
2.     Navigate to the $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp> directory and execute the Restore command as follows:
For UNIX:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.sh
 
For Windows:
$ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/restore.bat
3.     On UNIX, source
 $ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage/<patch-id_timestamp>/make.txt 

File (if available) as follows:

/bin/sh make.txt



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