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| Monday, April 6, 2009 |
| Patching |
Patching
One of the most important and time-consuming aspects of an Oracle Applications DBA’s job is applying patches to the E-Business Suite. Patches may be required to resolve problems with the application code, to fix production issues, to install new features, or to upgrade components of the technology stack. Patching is not a simple one-step process, but rather requires careful research in order to determine all of the prerequisite steps, patching steps, and post-patching steps required.
Oracle E-Business Suite patching can be divided into two categories:
• Oracle Applications patching: This includes all patching that changes
the underlying Oracle Applications code.
• Technology stack components patching: This includes all upgrades and fixes for the Oracle Database software, JDK, Oracle Developer 6i (Oracle Forms and Reports), Developer 6i Client library files, Oracle Discoverer, JDBC, Oracle Java Server Page (OJSP), Oracle Application Server (iAS),and iAS Client library files (Required Support Files or RSF).
The focus of this chapter will be on Oracle Applications patching, and a brief overview of Oracle Database software patching will also be provided. Patching the Applications Technology Stack will not be covered, as this type of patching effort has numerous operating system dependencies.
Applications Patching
There are several steps involved in patching Oracle Applications. In this section
we’ll discuss each of these stages:
• Preparing to patch: Before patching, it is important to document the requirements and determine what steps and patches are needed. This section will explain how to document and manage the overall process of applying patches, and discuss patch reporting, where you investigate which version, if any, of a patch is currently installed.
• Applying patches: Applying a patch involves several steps, such as unbundling the patch, enabling maintenance mode, applying the patch with adpatch, and implementing manual steps. This section will discuss each of the steps involved.
• Monitoring and resolving patching issues: Sometimes there are problems applying patches. This section will explain how to review log files and use the AD Control utility to monitor patch worker processes.
• Post-patching steps and cleaning up: There are often steps that should be performed after the patching is complete. This section will explain how you can efficiently perform post-patching steps and clean up files no longer required after patching.
Types of Application Patches
There are several different types of Oracle Applications patches. These are
the more common patches:
• One-off patch: This is the simplest type of patch. It is created to resolve a
specific bug.
• Minipack patch: This is a collection of one-off patches and enhancements related to a particular module. Alphabetic characters denote the Minipack version for the module; for example, the product code for the Application DBA utilities is AD, and version Minipack I of this product would be called AD.I.
• Family Pack patch: This is a collection of Minipack patches for a particular family group of application modules. Alphabetic characters denote the Family Pack version; for example, the J version of the Human Resources Suite Product Family would be HR_PF.J.
• Maintenance Pack patch: This is a collection of Family Packs that serves as a point-level release upgrade; Oracle Applications Release 11.5.10 is an example of a Maintenance Pack.
There are also other special types of patches:
• Consolidated patch: This is a collection of one-off fixes for a Family Pack
or Maintenance Pack; Oracle Applications 11.5.10 Consolidated Update
2 (CU2) is an example of a consolidated patch.
• Interoperability patch: This is a patch that is required for Oracle Applications
to function with a newer version of a technology stack component; for example, you would apply an interoperability patch when upgrading the database to version 10g.
• NLS patch: This is a patch that updates language-specific information
for multi-language installations.
• Rollup patch: This is a collection of one-off patches that update code
levels for particular products.
• Legislative patch: This is a special patch for HR Payroll customers; it
contains legislative data for multiple countries.
As the patch group size increases from one-off patches to Maintenance Packs, the complexity of the patch application process also increases. More research is required for Family Packs than is required for a Minipack. Due to the increased complexity, there is more planning required for Maintenance Packs and Family Packs than other patches.
Preparing to Patch
Before applying a patch, carefully examine the readme file provided with the
patch. This document will list all steps required by the patch.
■Oracle Application DBA Portal Tip: Before applying a patch, make certain that the readme file has been carefully reviewed.
The readme file will contain prerequisites, installation steps, postinstallation
steps, and other information vital to the successful installation of the patch. The prerequisites may consist of other patches or manual steps.
Here is an example of the readme file contents:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
README CONTENTS:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Prerequisites
B. Best Practices
C. Installation Steps
D. Post-Installation Steps
E. HRGLOBAL - SPECIAL NOTES AND CHANGE HISTORY
F. Other Information Sources
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A. PREREQUISITES:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Apply this patch if you have HR (Product code PER) fully installed.
Before applying this patch you must have each of these prerequisites:
1. Oracle Applications Server 11i
2. Oracle 11i.PER.G, patch 1988754, or later. . . .
If prerequisites have not been met, you must add these steps or patches to the overall process of applying the patch. Become familiar with all steps required before attempting to apply the patch.
■Caution Removing a patch from Oracle Applications after it has been applied is not
usually a feasible option; therefore, a full system backup should be taken before applying patches to an instance.
Documenting the Patching Process
It is recommended that you maintain a spreadsheet detailing all prerequisite
steps, patching steps, and post-installation steps required for patch application.
By creating such a document, you can eliminate operator error, such as missed steps or steps completed out of order.
The columns in the spreadsheet should be customized to match your needs. These columns can include information about the node being patched, details about the patch being applied, or the rationale for the patch. At a minimum, it is useful to have columns for patch number, description, and comments, but it is often also useful to include the actual time required to complete each step based upon trial runs in a sandbox instance. Tracking timings allows for an accurate prediction of production maintenance downtime.
shows an example of a spreadsheet for patches required by Project A that will require 6 hours and 25 minutes to apply.
Sample patch documentation spreadsheet
If timings are included for every step, the Applications DBA can generate a schedule for applying the patches to production by using time functions in the spreadsheet software. This corresponds to the Shift Start Time column in This process is highly recommended for extended patching efforts that will require multiple shifts. Otherwise, a simple summation of the time required for each step should provide an accurate schedule. The times required for applying patches is also tracked by adpatch and can be found in the $APPL_TOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME.out/adt*.lst files.
■Oracle Application DBA portal Tip: When documenting the patching process for multiple patches, post-installation
steps like recompiling invalid objects, regenerating JAR files, and running the autoconfig utility can be consolidated and executed at the end of the patching process. This helps to streamline the patch process and reduce downtime.
Patch Reporting
Patch reporting is used to determine whether or not a specific patch has already been applied to the instance, or what version of a Family Pack or Minipack is currently installed. The following sections will discuss four methods for determining patching levels:
• Using the adphrept.sql script
• Executing the patchsets.sh utility
• Querying the database
• Using Oracle Application Manager (OAM)
Using adphrept.sql
The $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql/adphrept.sql file is an Oracle-provided script for generating a patch report for an instance. This script provides an easily searchable list of all patches that have been applied to an environment. Keep in mind that the script can take a long time to execute. Additional details regarding adphrept.sql and a description of all parameters can be obtained by viewing MetaLink Note 162498.1.
Using patchsets.sh
The Oracle-provided patch-comparison utility, patchsets.sh, is a handy tool for reviewing patchset levels. Family Pack versions, fully installed products, and shared installed products, along with the latest version available, are displayed in the output. Information about the latest version of this utility can be reviewed in MetaLink Note 139684.1.
Querying the Database for Patches
In order to determine whether a specific patch has been applied, a query can be executed against the bug_number table. The following SQL will return results if the patches included in the IN clause have been applied to the
instance:
SELECT bug_number
FROM ad_bugs
WHERE bug_number IN ('patch_number', 'patch_number', . . .)
ORDER BY bug_number DESC;
Using OAM
Oracle Application Manager (OAM) may also be used to query the instance for applied patches.Labels: Patching |
posted by Srinivasan .R @ 3:22 AM  |
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| 8 Comments: |
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login page gives 500 Internal error. Is it an issue with Web or application . What modification should i do in the web / application end .
Bouncing Apache or running autoconfig on the DB tier and the apps Tier doesnt resolve the issue
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Hi,
Error: 500 internal error...
1)stop the appliction services
2)check the Apache log file.
3)take the backup of ....application node...and run the autoconfig on application node
4)start the application services
Metalink doc: Ref:
Oracle Application Server Diagnostic Tools and Log Files in Applications Release 12
Doc ID: 454178.1
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login page gives 500 Internal error. Is it an issue with Web or application . What modification should i do in the web / application end .
Bouncing Apache or running autoconfig on the DB tier and the apps Tier doesnt resolve the issue