How To Patch Oracle 11g

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April 19th, 2012, 07:45 AM

CarlosinFL

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How To Patch Oracle 11g

I've been told by management this weekend I will be required to perform a complete patch of our Oracle 11g database.

Problem is I really have never installed / patched Oracle. I'm able to access pretty much any database here and interact with it from a SQL stand point so since I'm the only person in my entire office who knows SQL, they decided I can become their full blow DBA.

Currently the database is running a unpatched version:

Code:

Connected to:
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.2.0.1.0 - 64bit Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SQL>

Can anyone tell me once I download the latest patch (11.2.0.2.0) files from Oracle & perform a complete backup using RMAN:

Code:

RMAN> backup full as compressed backupset database plus archivelog;

How exactly does one properly patch / update Oracle 11g to the latest version?

April 19th, 2012, 08:35 AM

LKBrwn_DBA

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CarlosinFL

..., they decided I can become their full blow DBA.

Can anyone tell me once I download the latest patch (11.2.0.2.0) files from Oracle & perform a complete backup using RMAN:

How exactly does one properly patch / update Oracle 11g to the latest version?

What is your OS?
Download latest patch: 11.2.0.3
This patch is easy because it is a full installation, therefore you just install the software (with Oracle Universal Installer) in a new Oracle home, stop db, start db using new home and use dbua (upgrade assistant) to upgrade the db.
Good luck!

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April 19th, 2012, 09:06 AM

CarlosinFL

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Quote:

Originally Posted by LKBrwn_DBA

Our database is running on RHEL 5.8 64-bit. When you say the patch is easy to install because it's a full installation, does this mean I'm going to be basically just re-installing Oracle 11g on top of an existing installation?

A new Oracle home? Currently Oracle home is /oracle on my server. Does this mean when I upgrade, I have to generate a new directory for the patch so like /oraclenew? Can't I just keep Oracle in the same home directory that it's currently in /oracle?

April 19th, 2012, 04:22 PM

LKBrwn_DBA

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CarlosinFL

Yes, the installation has 7 zip files of which you may need only the first two (read the readme.txt file)
Once you unzip 1of7 and 2o7 files, it creates a directory called "database". From that directory, execute the runInstaller (OUI) program and follow the instructions.

Quote:

A new Oracle home? Currently Oracle home is /oracle on my server. Does this mean when I upgrade, I have to generate a new directory for the patch so like /oraclenew?

It's very unlikely that the actual oracle home is /oracle, perhaps that is the "oracle base". Look under that directory and study the sub-directories.

Execute this on the linux command line, it will list the names of the databases on that server and their Oracle home:

Code:

cat /etc/oratab

The OUI (installer) will create a new oracle home for you.

Quote:

Can't I just keep Oracle in the same home directory that it's currently in /oracle?

You could, but you should follow the instructions in the fine Oracle® Database Installation Guide about how to setup an Optimal Flexible Architecture.

April 23rd, 2012, 12:22 PM

CarlosinFL

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So I downloaded the latest first two zip files from Oracle 11g 11.2.0.3. My Oracle home currently is:

Code:

[oracle@cq ~]$ echo $ORACLE_HOME
/oracle/u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1

So since I would like to do a "out-of-place" upgrade on my server, I created a new directory called $ORACLE_HOME/db_2 & I extracted the two .ZIP files into the new db_2 directory. Now before I run the installed from $ORACLE_HOME/db_2/database/runInstaller, I have some concerns.

1. Since this is an "Out-of-place" upgrade into a different directory, that simply just means that I'm 'installing' Oracle from scratch into my newly created 'db_2' directory, correct?

2. Is it safe? If I'm correct in understanding that an "Out-of-place" upgrade is basically just installed Oracle into a new location on the disk, this can be pretty safe as far as upgrades go, correct? This is a production server and I do have backups taken from RMAN however the chances of borking up my current install is pretty minimal, correct?

3. Assuning I understand 1 & 2 above, then after I run the 'runInstaller.sh' script, how will all the data from my current installation in the 'db_1' path get moved over to the new installation in the 'db_2' folder path? Do I need to do some kind of schema migration or does Oracle installer magically migrate everything for me?

August 14th, 2012, 08:34 AM

TwistedVegas

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Oracle Upgrade

Where you successfull with upgrade. I will be doing a similiar upgrade this Friday? I had questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarlosinFL

So I downloaded the latest first two zip files from Oracle 11g 11.2.0.3. My Oracle home currently is:

Code:

[oracle@cq ~]$ echo $ORACLE_HOME
/oracle/u01/app/oracle/product/11.1.0/db_1

September 17th, 2012, 02:04 AM

ilesterg

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I heard our dba's always seek assistance from Oracle everytime they patch production servers. This might depend on the service level, not really sure, but you might want to ask Oracle.

How To Patch Oracle 11g

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