1. Steps in Applying a Patch
a) login as applmgr and set the environment. For the Windows environment also, you have to test that CLASSPATH contains %JAVA_TOP%, %JAVA_TOP%\loadjava.zip
b) create a PATCH_TOP directory in the Base Directory (at the same level as APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP, etc: this is just a recommandation) for the patches which will be downloaded. If this directory exists, this step can be skipped. An OS environment variable could be created for this directory. This will be done only one time, when the first patch will be applied.
c) download the patch you want to apply in PATCH_TOP directory and unzip the patch.
d) understand the README.txt file and complete the prerequisite or manual steps. Here, if there are any patched to apply as pre-requisite, in general, is created a document with all the steps involving in the patching process and the pre-requisite patches will be applied before the initial patch.
e) assure that the PLATFORM variable environment (under UNIX, Linux, Solaris) is set
f) Shut down APPS services. The database services and the listener must be up and running.
g) Enable Maintenance Mode.
h) Start AutoPatch in interactive mode. this task must be done from the directory where the patch driver is/was unzipped. Also, respond to the adpatch prompts. If there are more drivers to apply (there is no unified drive: there could be a database (d), copy (c) or generate (g) drive) restart the adpatch and apply the other patches.
i) Review the log files. By default, the location is $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>/log and the file is adpatch.log.
j) Review the customizations (if any). If a customization was modified by this patch, the customization must be applied again.
For the customizations please look into the $APPL_TOP/admin/applcust.txt file.
k) Disable Maintenance Mode
l) Restart APPS services
m) Archive or delete the AutoPatch backup files.
2. How could I test the impact of the patch on the APPS environment ?
AutoPatch must be run in test mode (apply=no). The APPS services must be stopped and the Maintenance Mode must be enabled as well. To see which is the impact on the system, you can use Patch Impact Analysis in the Patch Wizard.
3. May I apply a patch if the APPS services are running and the Maintenance Mode is not enabled ?
If this is possible the README.txt will let you know. If the patch README.txt file will not state this explicitly, that means you have to stop the APPS processes and to enable the Maintenance Mode. The help files can always be applied without stopping the APPS services.
If a patch can be applied without stopping the APPS services we have to use the option hotpatch.
4. What is a non-standard patch ?
A non-standard patch is a regular patch (with a similar structure as a standard patch), but the naming is not standard (the naming of the driver file).
A standard patch is named u<patchnum>.drv, c<patchnum>.drv, d<patchnum>.drv or g<patchnum>.drv. The <patchnum> has 6-8 digits.
5. Which are the Oracle Applications Patch types ?
Patch Type
Description
Maintenance Pack
(referred to by a three-part number, such as 11.5.10)
This is a a consolidation, or bundling, of patches from all of the product areas within the E-Business Suite. Maintenance packs are always cumulative, and can be applied to any configured version of Oracle Applications Release 11i.
Maintenance Packs are typically quite large (around 800 MB). In addition to being downloadable from OracleMetaLink, Maintenance Packs CDs are bundled into Applications CD Packs on the Oracle store.
Family Pack
(Family Packs are denoted with a letter: AD.I )
This is a consolidated set of patches specific to a product family, such as HRMS or Order Management. Family Packs are denoted with a letter, such as Order Management Family Pack G.
MiniPack or patchset
A minipack is a consolidated set of patches specific to a single product.
One-off
A "one-off" patch provides a single fix or enhancement. One-off patches are not always practical or even possible if the change affects multiple product areas.
Diagnostic Patch
A diagnostic patch is sent to a customer to assist Oracle Support Services and Oracle Development obtain diagnostic information. This is provided when a product issue cannot be reproduced in an OSS environment and/or customer specific data is required for fixing the issue.
Interoperability Patch
An interoperability patch enables Oracle Applications to work with a new technology.
Translated Patch
A translated patch contains patch components in languages other than American English. A translated patch contains only those components that require translation.
Rollup Patch (RUP): An aggregation of patches that may be at the functional level, or at a specific product/family release level. For example, a Flexfields rollup patch contains all the latest patches related to Flexfields at the time the patch was created. A Marketing Family 11.5.10 rollup patch contains all the latest Marketing patches released since, and applicable to 11.5.10
Family Pack: An aggregation of patches at the product family level. Family product codes always end in "_PF" and family packs are given alphabetical sequence such as 11i.HR_PF.B, 11i.HR_PF.C, and 11i.HR_PF.D. Family packs are cumulative. In other words, Discrete Manufacturing Family Pack G (11i.DMF_PF.G) contains everything in 11i.DMF_PF.F, which contains everything in 11i.DMF_PF.E, and so on.
Consolidated patches will come into pictures after upgrades from one
version of applications to another, all post upgrade patches will a consolidated
and given as consolidated patch.
Interoperability Patch: Allows Oracle Applications to function properly with a newer version of the technology stack. Interoperability patches are typically required with new versions of the database or Applications technology stack.
Q1) What are the table u r ad patch will create and when?
Ans: Ad patch will create FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES and
AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table when it will apply d, g and u drivers
Q2) What is the significance of FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES and AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table?
Ans: FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES table will store the worker information like
what job is assigned to which worker and its status. AD_DEFERRED_JOBS will
come into picture when some worker is failed, it will be moved to
AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table, from where again adpatch will take that job and try
to resign, after doing this 3 times if still that worker is failing, then adpatch will stop patching and throw the error that particular worker has failed. We need to trouble shoot and restart the worker.
*Speed Patch Application / Reduce Downtime
· You can merge multiple patches.
· You can create a response file for non-interactive patching.
· Consider using more number of workers. I recommended 2*the number of CPU threads on the server.
· Use a Shared Application Tier File System
· You can apply patches with options (nocompiledb, nomaintainmrc, nocompilejsp) and run these once after applying all the patches.
a) login as applmgr and set the environment. For the Windows environment also, you have to test that CLASSPATH contains %JAVA_TOP%, %JAVA_TOP%\loadjava.zip
b) create a PATCH_TOP directory in the Base Directory (at the same level as APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP, etc: this is just a recommandation) for the patches which will be downloaded. If this directory exists, this step can be skipped. An OS environment variable could be created for this directory. This will be done only one time, when the first patch will be applied.
c) download the patch you want to apply in PATCH_TOP directory and unzip the patch.
d) understand the README.txt file and complete the prerequisite or manual steps. Here, if there are any patched to apply as pre-requisite, in general, is created a document with all the steps involving in the patching process and the pre-requisite patches will be applied before the initial patch.
e) assure that the PLATFORM variable environment (under UNIX, Linux, Solaris) is set
f) Shut down APPS services. The database services and the listener must be up and running.
g) Enable Maintenance Mode.
h) Start AutoPatch in interactive mode. this task must be done from the directory where the patch driver is/was unzipped. Also, respond to the adpatch prompts. If there are more drivers to apply (there is no unified drive: there could be a database (d), copy (c) or generate (g) drive) restart the adpatch and apply the other patches.
i) Review the log files. By default, the location is $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>/log and the file is adpatch.log.
j) Review the customizations (if any). If a customization was modified by this patch, the customization must be applied again.
For the customizations please look into the $APPL_TOP/admin/applcust.txt file.
k) Disable Maintenance Mode
l) Restart APPS services
m) Archive or delete the AutoPatch backup files.
2. How could I test the impact of the patch on the APPS environment ?
AutoPatch must be run in test mode (apply=no). The APPS services must be stopped and the Maintenance Mode must be enabled as well. To see which is the impact on the system, you can use Patch Impact Analysis in the Patch Wizard.
3. May I apply a patch if the APPS services are running and the Maintenance Mode is not enabled ?
If this is possible the README.txt will let you know. If the patch README.txt file will not state this explicitly, that means you have to stop the APPS processes and to enable the Maintenance Mode. The help files can always be applied without stopping the APPS services.
If a patch can be applied without stopping the APPS services we have to use the option hotpatch.
4. What is a non-standard patch ?
A non-standard patch is a regular patch (with a similar structure as a standard patch), but the naming is not standard (the naming of the driver file).
A standard patch is named u<patchnum>.drv, c<patchnum>.drv, d<patchnum>.drv or g<patchnum>.drv. The <patchnum> has 6-8 digits.
5. Which are the Oracle Applications Patch types ?
Patch Type
Description
Maintenance Pack
(referred to by a three-part number, such as 11.5.10)
This is a a consolidation, or bundling, of patches from all of the product areas within the E-Business Suite. Maintenance packs are always cumulative, and can be applied to any configured version of Oracle Applications Release 11i.
Maintenance Packs are typically quite large (around 800 MB). In addition to being downloadable from OracleMetaLink, Maintenance Packs CDs are bundled into Applications CD Packs on the Oracle store.
Family Pack
(Family Packs are denoted with a letter: AD.I )
This is a consolidated set of patches specific to a product family, such as HRMS or Order Management. Family Packs are denoted with a letter, such as Order Management Family Pack G.
MiniPack or patchset
A minipack is a consolidated set of patches specific to a single product.
One-off
A "one-off" patch provides a single fix or enhancement. One-off patches are not always practical or even possible if the change affects multiple product areas.
Diagnostic Patch
A diagnostic patch is sent to a customer to assist Oracle Support Services and Oracle Development obtain diagnostic information. This is provided when a product issue cannot be reproduced in an OSS environment and/or customer specific data is required for fixing the issue.
Interoperability Patch
An interoperability patch enables Oracle Applications to work with a new technology.
Translated Patch
A translated patch contains patch components in languages other than American English. A translated patch contains only those components that require translation.
Rollup Patch (RUP): An aggregation of patches that may be at the functional level, or at a specific product/family release level. For example, a Flexfields rollup patch contains all the latest patches related to Flexfields at the time the patch was created. A Marketing Family 11.5.10 rollup patch contains all the latest Marketing patches released since, and applicable to 11.5.10
Family Pack: An aggregation of patches at the product family level. Family product codes always end in "_PF" and family packs are given alphabetical sequence such as 11i.HR_PF.B, 11i.HR_PF.C, and 11i.HR_PF.D. Family packs are cumulative. In other words, Discrete Manufacturing Family Pack G (11i.DMF_PF.G) contains everything in 11i.DMF_PF.F, which contains everything in 11i.DMF_PF.E, and so on.
Consolidated patches will come into pictures after upgrades from one
version of applications to another, all post upgrade patches will a consolidated
and given as consolidated patch.
Interoperability Patch: Allows Oracle Applications to function properly with a newer version of the technology stack. Interoperability patches are typically required with new versions of the database or Applications technology stack.
Q1) What are the table u r ad patch will create and when?
Ans: Ad patch will create FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES and
AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table when it will apply d, g and u drivers
Q2) What is the significance of FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES and AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table?
Ans: FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES table will store the worker information like
what job is assigned to which worker and its status. AD_DEFERRED_JOBS will
come into picture when some worker is failed, it will be moved to
AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table, from where again adpatch will take that job and try
to resign, after doing this 3 times if still that worker is failing, then adpatch will stop patching and throw the error that particular worker has failed. We need to trouble shoot and restart the worker.
*Speed Patch Application / Reduce Downtime
· You can merge multiple patches.
· You can create a response file for non-interactive patching.
· Consider using more number of workers. I recommended 2*the number of CPU threads on the server.
· Use a Shared Application Tier File System
· You can apply patches with options (nocompiledb, nomaintainmrc, nocompilejsp) and run these once after applying all the patches.
2 comments:
thank you so much ranjith.
Thanks much for these kind words .
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