Which Method Should I Choose When Patching Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c

Grid Infrastructure 3 Minutes

I have shown you a few ways to patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c (GI). Which one should you choose? Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of each method.

Just Grid Infrastructure Or Also The Database

You can patch:

  • Just GI and later on the database
  • Or GI and the database at the same time

If possible, I recommend patching GI and database in a separate maintenance operation. Proceed with the database when you are confident the new GI runs fine. If you do it a week apart, you should have enough time to kick the tires on the new GI.

I like to keep things separate. If there is a problem, I can quickly identify whether the GI or database patches are causing problems. The more patches you put in simultaneously, the more changes come in, and the harder it is to keep things apart.

The downside is that you now have two maintenance operations; one for GI and one for the database. But if your draining strategy works and/or you are using Application Continuity, you can complete hide the outage from your end users.

If you have a legacy application or draining is a nightmare for you, then it does make sense to consider patching GI and database at the same time.

In-place vs. Out-of-place

In-place OPatchAuto Out-of-place OPatchAuto Out-of-place SwitchGridHome Out-of-place ZDOGIP
Space usage Just for the new patches A new GI home and the new patches A new GI home and the new patches A new GI home and the new patches
Additional system resources No No No Yes
Node downtime Significant Short Short None (1)
Install multiple patches in one go Yes Yes Yes Yes
Grid Home change                      No                                                                                                   Yes. New Grid Home location. Scripts and profiles must be updated. New Grid Home to maintain and monitor Yes. New Grid Home location. Scripts and profiles must be updated. New Grid Home to maintain and monitor Yes. New Grid Home location. Scripts and profiles must be updated. New Grid Home to maintain and monitor
Grid Home origin N/A Existing Grid Home is cloned Fresh Grid Home from base release Fresh Grid Home from base release
Rollback complexity Significant Simple Simple Simple
Rollback node outage Significant Short Short None (1)

Notes:

  1. If you are using ACFS or ASM Filter Driver, you must restart the GI stack at one point in time. The node is down for a short period.

I recommend out-of-place patching. There are multiple ways of doing that. Choose the one that suits you best. My personal favorite is the SwitchGridHome method.

Happy Patching

There are even more methods than I have shown in this blog post series. I have demonstrated the methods that most people would consider. Evaluate the pros and cons yourself and choose what works best for you.

What’s your favorite? Why did you choose a specific method? Leave a comment and let me know.

Appendix

Further Reading

OPatchAuto Out-of-place

If you decide to patch GI and database at the same time, be aware of the following. The database instance will need to restart two times. First, each instance goes does to switch to the new GI. The second time is when you switch on the last node. Then all database instances are brought down again in a rolling manner and restarted in the new Oracle Home. If you want to control draining yourself, don’t use this method. The second database restarts happens completely automated one after the other. Without any possibility for you to intervene to control draining.

Other Blog Posts in This Series

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