<Insert Picture Here>

Oracle Database Patching for SAP –

Simple and Online
Jens Schmidt
Principal Member Technical Staff
Oracle/SAP Development, St. Leon-Rot
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 Terms and Definitions

• Oracle Patch • Patch Conflict

• One-Off • Online Patch

SAP Bundle Patches

• Interim Patch • Combo Patch
• Merge Patch • Optimizer Merge Patch
• n-apply Patch • Generic Patch
• Minipatch • OPatch
• MOPatch • Oracle Universal Installer
• Offline Patch • SAP Bundle Patch
• Patchset Update • Patch Superset
•
•
•
Oracle Patchset
RAC Bundle Patch
MOPatch
Critical Patch Update •
•
•
Patch Subset
Hot Patch
File or Bug Conflict
• Merge Patch • Overlay Patch
• Database Software • Patch Molecule
• Patch Inventory • Prerequisite Patch
• Datebase Recommended Bundle • CRS Bundle Patch
 SAP Bundle Patches
Facts (1/2)

• provides all SAP recommended patches in one bundle

• comprises latest Patchset Update released for SAP
• released on SMP every patch day (10th of every month)
• potentially less often for stable releases
• urgent single patches (hot news) released on demand
• first release on 11.2.0.1.0: 04/2010, 10.2.0.4.0: 05/2010
• requires latest MOPatch and OPatch on SMP
• named as follows:
SAP_<psuversion>_<YYYYMM>_<pltf>.zip
for example:
SAP_102044_201005_LINUX.zip
 SAP Bundle Patches
Facts (2/2)

• contains placeholder bug 9458152 with SAP Bundle

Patch (SBP) readme and bug history
• installs the following directory structure in the
Oracle Home:
$OH/sapbundle
$OH/sapbundle/version.txt
$OH/sapbundle/SAP_102044_201005
$OH/sapbundle/SAP_102044_201005/contents.txt
$OH/sapbundle/SAP_102044_201005/rollback*.lst
• currently released on Unix platforms only
• to be installed with MOPatch only:
mopatch.sh -v [-d] -s SAP_102044_201005_LINUX.zip
SAP Bundle Patches
SAP Service Marketplace
 SAP Bundle Patches
Advantages

• provides a convenient way to handle SAP

recommended patches ("all in one")
• provides one readme tailored to SAP installations
• no more "if you have installed componenty xyz ..."
• no more screening of single patch readmes
• provides a single version timestamp in the Oracle
Home
• SAP verification tools to pick up new SBP structure soon
• installation tested on all Unix platforms to be conflict-
and error-free
• tested fresh install, upgrade from previous SBP
 SAP Bundle Patches
Future Plans

• provide "catsap.sql" collecting all SQL post-

installation instructions
• release latest OPatch, MOPatch, and (probably) JDK
in SAP Bundle Patch
• separate installation of these components no longer required
• provide easy roll back to previous SAP Bundle Patch
• extend to Windows platforms
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 MOPatch 2.1
Overview

• simplifies the installation of multiple Oracle patches

• automates the process of unpacking and applying the
patches and eliminates the need for user interaction
• provides "black-box-experience" to the user
• MOPatch features may be grouped into
• functional features
• SAP-specific features
• user-interface features
• SAP Note 1027012 - MOPatch - Install Multiple
Oracle Patches in One Run
 MOPatch 2.1
New Features (1/5)

• provides more structured handling of patch metadata

• implements "n+m-apply" of bundle patches and
regular patches:
mopatch.sh -s <patch file> -s <patch directory>
• provides automatic, rule-based conflict resolution per
patch
• "prefer PSUs in case of conflicts"
• "prefer newer patches in case of conflicts"
mopatch.sh -f psu,new
 MOPatch 2.1
New Features (2/5)

• may be safely interrupted by the user

• stops patch installation at a point where the Oracle Home is in
a consistent state
• implemented in utility mpkill.sh:
bash$ mopatch.sh -v
... MOPatch working ...
^Z
Stopped mopatch.sh
bash$ mkpill.sh
Killed MOPatch process 123 with signal "USR1"
Please wait for the MOPatch process and its
child processes to complete.
bash$ fg
... MOPatch securily terminating ...
 MOPatch 2.1
New Features (3/5)

• provides work-around for bugs 8732507 and 9414790

• OPATCH DOES NOT HANDLE HP-UX READ-ONLY LIBS
• OPATCH UNDERESTIMATES REQUIRED SPACE IN PREREQ
CHECKSYSTEMSPACE
• reads commandline options from a per-user
environment variable
setenv MOPATCHRC="-f old -F !apply_cpu"
or a per-Oracle-Home configuration file
bash$ cat $ORACLE_HOME/.mopatchrc
# MOPatch configuration file
-f old
-F !apply_cpu
 MOPatch 2.1
New Features (4/5)

• detects and reports post-installation instructions of

PSUs, CPUs, and SQL patches:
The following patches (may) require special post
installation steps.

+ p6705635_10204_Generic.zip
+ p6862987_10204_Generic.zip
+ p9118845_10204_Linux-x86.zip
* p9119226_10204_Linux-x86.zip!9119226!9119226

Patches marked with a "*" are Critical Patch Updates. To

complete their installation or roll-back, run SQL script
"catcpu" or "catcpu_rollback", respecitively.
Patches marked with a "+" update SQL scripts in the Oracle
Home and most likely require extra post installation
steps.
 MOPatch 2.1
New Features (5/5)

• recognizes new README templates and strips patch

READMEs more reliably
• detects and flags non-standard READMEs
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 Online Patching
Overview

• regular (offline) patch:

• shutdown database
• install patch
• link database
• startup database
• online patch:
• install patch
• online patches may be installed when the database
is up and running
• database downtime is not required
 Online Patching
Features

• online patches are delivered together with the

corresponding offline patches ("combo patches")
• online patches are installed and maintained with
OPatch and MOPatch exactly as offline patches
• conflict recognition works as usual
• online patches are persistent and their installation
status does not change with database shutdown
• online patches must be installed and deinstalled
when the database is up and running
• online patches are supported on all platforms except
HP-PA RISC and AIX 5l
 Online Patching
Command Overview

• unpack patch and change to online subdirectory:

bash$ unzip -q p8898589_112010_LINUX.zip
bash$ cd 8898589/online
• call OPatch:
bash$ opatch apply -connectString <orasid>
 Online Patching
Comparing Offline and Online Patches

• an offline patch consists of

• metadata
• one ore more object files (.o)
• an online patch consists of
• metadata
• a patch shared library (.so)
 Online Patching
Implementation

Oracle Binary Patch Shared Library 1. Load and install

shared library
JUMP 2. Modify binary to
jump to patched fct
3. Resolve references
Original from patched fct to
Patched
Function static vars and fcts
Function
in binary

RETURN RETURN
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 Patchset Updates
Facts

• provides a self-contained, well-tested set of

"important" patches based on a certain patchset
• released by Oracle every quarter in parallel with CPU
• comprises all security patches released in CPU
• increments the last digit of the Oracle RDBMS version
• 10.2.0.4.4: increment logically only
• 11.2.0.1.1: increment in inventory as well
• needs to be certified by Oracle/SAP support
• technically, a Patchset Update (PSU) is a large,
monolithic merge patch
• CPUs are n-apply paches consisting of multiple "molecules"
 Patchset Updates
Overlay Patches

• merges with a PSU are not released as a complete

merge, but rather as patch overlays

abc.o xyz.o def.o xyz.o

Patchset Update Patch 123

• overlay patch 123 is installable on base PSU only

• PSU cannot be de-installed without previously de-
installing patch 123
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 MOPatch 2.x
Future Plans

• "Install ALL patches":

• OPatch, MOPatch itself, possibly JDK
• allows for self-contained SAP Bundle Patches
• support online patches
• from the available patches, install all online or all offline
patches
• better and more predictable handling conflicts
• detect conflicts in report mode with database up and running
• add more rules, for example "prefer SAP-recommended
patches"
 Oracle DB Patching for SAP
Agenda

• SAP Bundle Patches <Insert Picture Here>

• MOPatch 2.1
• Online Patching
• Patchset Updates
• MOPatch 2.x
• Relevant Notes
 Relevant Notes

• 839182 Patch Installation with OPatch

• 1027012 MOPatch - Install Multiple Oracle Patches
in One Run
• 839187 Oracle 10.2.0: Applying Patch Set,
Patches, Patch Collections
• 841728 Oracle 10.2: Solutions for Installation and
Upgrade Problems
• 1431795 Oracle 11.2.0: Patches/Patchcollections
for 11.2.0.1
• 1431796 Oracle 11.2.0: Troubleshooting the
Software Installation