Exadata Patch – Part 1/5: Patching GI & RDBMS Homes

Author: Sami A | Category: Exadata Patching | Tags: Oracle Exadata, OPatch, GI, RDBMS

Introduction

This article is the first part of a five-step Exadata patching series. In this step, we will patch the Grid Infrastructure (GI) and Oracle RDBMS homes. The patching strategy uses a 2-by-2 node approach: patch two servers (target_nodes) while the other two remain online. The patch will be triggered from one online node (source_node).

Always review the official patch README files before proceeding, as some patches require special handling.

Target Patches

• GI & RDBMS Home Patch: p37641958_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip
• OJVM Patch (if required): p37499406_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip
• Recommended DB Patches:
  • p34774667_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip
  • p34672698_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip

Step 1: Configure SSH Equivalence

Ensure passwordless SSH between nodes. From the source_node (VM_1):

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -k -s '-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no'
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root hostname

Step 2: Prepare and Copy Patches

Create required directories and assign permissions, from the source_node (VM_1)

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root mkdir -p /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/ 

Copy patch zip files to all nodes:

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -f /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p37641958_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -f /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p37499406_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -f /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p34774667_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -f /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p34672698_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root chmod -R 666 /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/ 

Unzip patches:

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l grid "unzip -oq /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p37641958_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/"
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l oracle "unzip -oq /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p37499406_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/"
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l oracle "unzip -oq /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p34774667_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/"
dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l oracle "unzip -oq /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/p34672698_1927000DBRU_Linux-x86-64.zip -d /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/" 

Step 3: Pre-Checks

Check patch conflicts and required space, from the source_node (VM_1):

Below checking patch conflicts:

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l grid /u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid/OPatch/opatch prereq CheckConflictAgainstOHWithDetail -phBaseDir /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/37642901 

Then we have to check required space for the patch,

Create file which has patch location and copy it to all servers

#
cat /tmp/patch_list_gihome.txt
/u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/37642901
/u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/37654975
/u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/37643161
/u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/37762426
/u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958/36758186
 

 dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root -f /tmp/patch_list_gihome.txt -d /tmp/
 dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l root chown grid:oinstall /tmp/patch_list_gihome.txt 

Check required space for the patches:

dcli -g /u01/stage/target_Nodes -l grid /tmp/patch_list_gihome.txt prereq CheckSystemSpace -phBaseFile /tmp/patch_list_gihome.txt 

Step 4: Stop Oracle Homes

We will stop the Oracle background processess on out target servers (Target_Node_1 & Target_Node_2 only):

$ srvctl stop home -oraclehome /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1 -statefile /tmp/orahome1 -node Target_Node_1 -stopoption immediate
$ srvctl stop home -oraclehome /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1 -statefile /tmp/orahome2 -node Target_Node_2 -stopoption immediate
 

Step 5: Apply the Patches

Login to Target_Node_1 & Target_Node_2 from sperated terminals , then Apply GI_HOME and Oracle Home patches in parallel:

# As root, Apply GI Home Patch
    

/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958 -oh /u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid 

# As root, apply RDBMS Home patch

/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/opatchauto apply /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37641958 -oh /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1 

Step 6: Verify Applied Patches

su – grid 

 
$ /u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -oh /u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid | grep “applied on” 

su – oracle 

 
$ /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -oh /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1 | grep “applied” 

Step 7: Apply OJVM Patch (Optional)

If OJVM is installed and required:

su – oracle 

 
$ cd /u01/stage/GI_DB_OJVM_19c/37499406
$ /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1/OPatch/opatch apply
 

Step 8: Post-Patch Activities

Open all the DBs and all the pluggable DBs

su – oracle 

sqlplus / as sysdba 

SQL> startup
SQL> alter pluggable database all open;

Run datapatch

su – oracle 

 export ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1
 cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
./datapatch -sanity_checks
./datapatch -verbose 

Check data dictionary

su – oracle 

sqlplus / as sysdba 

SQL> select PATCH_ID,ACTION,STATUS,ACTION_TIME,TARGET_VERSION from dba_registry_sqlpatch;

🔖 Next: Part 1/5 – Oracle Exadata Patching (Oracle Homes)

🔖 Next: Part 2/5 – Oracle Exadata Patching (RoCE Switches)

🔖 Next: Part 3/5 – Oracle Exadata Patching (Cell Storage)

🔖 Next: Part 4/5 – Oracle Exadata Patching (KVM Host)

🔖 Next: Part 5/5 – Oracle Exadata Patching (KVM Guest)