STEPS - PATCH DOWNLOAD & APPLY

Patch Download
==============
If you are using latest support.oracle.com then after login to metalink Dashboard
- Click on Patches and Updates tab
- On the left sidebar under "Oracle Server/Tools" click on "Latest Patchsets".
- A new window will appear.
- Just mouseover on your product in the "Latest Oracle Server/Tools Patchsets" page.
- Corresponding oracle platform version will appear. Then simply choose the patchset version and click on that.
- You will go the download page. From the download page you can also change your platform and patchset version.

REFERENCES:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11857_01/em.111/e12255/e_oui_appendix.htm
Oracle® Universal Installer and OPatch User's Guide
11g Release 2 (11.2) for Windows and UNIX
Part Number E12255-11

Patch Applying
==============
1. You MUST read the Readme.txt file included in opatch file, look for any prereq. steps/ post installation steps or and DB related changes. Also, make sure that you have the correct opatch version required by this patch.
2.Make sure you have a good backup of database.
3. Make a note of all Invalid objects in the database prior to the patch.
4. Shutdown All the Oracle Processes running from that Oracle Home , including the Listener and Database instance, Management agent etc.
5. You MUST Backup your oracle Home and Inventory
tar -cvf $ORACLE_HOME $ORACLE_HOME/oraInventory | gzip > Backup_Software_Version.tar.gz
6. Unzip the patch in $ORACLE_HOME/patches
7. cd to the patch direcory and do opatch -apply to apply the patch.
8. Read the output/log file to make sure there were no errors.

Patching Oracle Software with OPatch
opatch napply <patch_location> -skip_subset -skip_duplicate
OPatch skips duplicate patches and subset patches (patches under <patch_location> that are subsets of patches installed in the Oracle home).

STEPS - OPATCH Utility

OPATCH Utility (Oracle RDBMS Patching)

1. Download the required Patch from Metalink based on OS Bit Version and DB Version.
2. Need to down the database before applying patch.
3. Unzip and Apply the Patch using ”opatch apply” command.On successfully applied of patch you will see successful message “OPatch succeeded.“, Crosscheck your patch is applied by using “opatch lsinventory” command .
4. Each patch has a unique ID, the command to rollback a patch is “opatch rollback -id  <patch no.>” command.On successfully applied of patch you will see successful message “OPatch succeeded.“, Crosscheck your patch is applied by using “opatch lsinventory” command .
5. Patch file format will be like, “p<patch no.>_<db version>_<os>.zip”
6. We can check the opatch version using “opatch -version” command.
7. Generally, takes 2 minutes to apply a patch.
8. To get latest Opatch version download “patch 6880880 - latest opatch tool”, it contains OPatch directory.
9. Contents of downloaded patches will be like “etc,files directories and a README file”
10. Log file for Opatch utility can be found at $ORACLE_HOME/cfgtoollogs/opatch
11. 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.
12. Starting with the 11.2.0.2 patch set, Oracle Database patch sets are full installations of the Oracle Database software. This means that you do not need to install Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1) before installing Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.2).
13. Direct upgrade to Oracle 10g is only supported if your database is running one of the following releases: 8.0.6, 8.1.7, 9.0.1, or 9.2.0. If not, you will have to upgrade the database to one of these releases or use a different upgrade option (like export/ import).
14.Direct upgrades to 11g are possible from existing databases with versions 9.2.0.4+, 10.1.0.2+ or 10.2.0.1+. Upgrades from other versions are supported only via intermediate upgrades to a supported upgrade version.

REFERENCES:
OPATCH Utility (Oracle RDBMS Patching)
http://avdeo.com/2008/08/19/opatch-utility-oracle-rdbms-patching/

How to apply Database Patches
http://rafioracledba.blogspot.in/search/label/Database%20Patches

Critical Patch Updates, Security Alerts and Third Party Bulletin
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alerts-086861.html

Oracle: Quick Guide to Opatch - (Oracle Database Patching utility)
http://www.dbalifeline.com/content/oracle-quick-guide-opatch-oracle-database-patching-utility

How to Design an Effective Patch Management Process
http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/how-to-design-an-effective-patch-management-process/744.html

Oracle Database 11.2.0.2 Patch Set (English)
http://www.dbacomp.com.br/blog/?p=69

Apply Oracle CPUApr2010 – 9352191 for Oracle10.2.0.4 in Aix5L
http://hendrydasan.com/2010/05/21/apply-oracle-cpuapr2010-9352191-for-oracle10-2-0-4-in-aix5l/

AutoPatch is verifying your username/password....Unable to connect.

Adpatch Issue:

Even though giving correct 'apps' password, adpatch again and again prompts for 'apps' password saying unable to connect.

Error:


Enter the ORACLE password of Application Object Library [APPS] :

AutoPatch is verifying your username/password....Unable to connect.

Error: The given ORACLE password is not the correct password.
Please re-enter the ORACLE username and password.

Enter the ORACLE password of Application Object Library [APPS] :

Fix:

Issue could be 'applsys' account got locked. Check for it.

SQL> select username,ACCOUNT_STATUS, LOCK_DATE from dba_users where USERNAME in ('APPS','APPLSYS','SYSTEM');

USERNAME                       ACCOUNT_STATUS                   LOCK_DATE

------------------------------ -------------------------------- ---------------

SYSTEM                         OPEN

APPLSYS                        LOCKED(TIMED)                    29-MAY-12

APPS                           OPEN

SQL> alter user APPLSYS account unlock;

User altered.

UR's Key Run ;-) 

Upgrade Patch Driver from $AU_TOP/patch/115/driver

Significance of  running Upgrade Patch driver using adpatch with options nocopyportion, nogenerateportion ???

Upgrade patch driver will be located under $AU_TOP/patch/115/driver
After installing base software code tree ( eg 11.5.10.2 / 12.0.4/ 12.1.1 ) in upgrade mode, we need to run upgrade driver with adpatch options=nocopyportion, nogenerateportion so that it bring your database code and objects from base previous level to current MP level.

UR's Key Run ;-)