Here’s a collection of good tips and tricks I found while writing this series of blog posts.
Pro Tip #1: How Do You Determine Grid Infrastructure Patch Level?
To determine the GI patch level:
[grid@copenhagen1]$ $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lspatches | grep "OCW"
34444834;OCW RELEASE UPDATE 19.17.0.0.0 (34444834)
The inventory registers the GI Release Updates as OCW RELEASE UPDATE. In this example, GI is running on 19.17.0.
Sometimes critical one-off patches are delivered as merge patches with the GI Release Update. It can mess up the patch description. This example is from a Base Database Service in OCI:
[grid@copenhagen1]$ $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lspatches | grep "OCW"
34122773;OCW Interim patch for 34122773
The patch description no longer contains the name of the Release Update. In this case, you can trawl through MOS to find the individual patches in the merge patch to identify which Release Update it contains. Or, you can often look at the ACFS patch instead:
[grid@copenhagen1]$ $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lspatches | grep "ACFS"
34139601;ACFS RELEASE UPDATE 19.16.0.0.0 (34139601)
Pro Tip #2: Where Can You Find the Log Files?
Logging happens in different places depending on which method you use. Here are a few locations to browse when there are problems:
$GRID_HOME/install$GRID_HOME/cfgtoollogs$GRID_BASE/crsdata/<node>/crsconfig/u01/app/oraInventory/logs
Pro Tip #3: Where Can You Find Information On Troubleshooting?
A few good MOS notes:
- Solving Out-Of-Place GI Patching Issues When Executing ‘root.sh’ (Doc ID 2863842.1)
- Troubleshooting opatchauto Issues in Grid Infrastructure Environment (Doc ID 2467266.1)
OPatchAuto enables you to control the logging granularity. If you run into problems, increase the logging level to get more information:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto ... -logLevel FINEST
In addition, OPatchAuto can resume a broken session. Fix the issue and restart OPatchAuto. It will pick up from where it left off:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto resume
Pro Tip #4: How Can I Install Patches Manually?
If you don’t want to use the automation tools (like OPatchAuto), you can install the patches manually using OPatch.
The details are in Supplemental Readme – Grid Infrastructure Release Update 12.2.0.1.x / 18c /19c (Doc ID 2246888.1).
The GI patch bundle contains several sub patches that must be installed in the correct order using opatch apply.
Pro Tip #5: How Do You Roll Back A Patch?
In-place OPatchAuto
You can find patch rollback (or deinstallation) instructions in the patch readme file. In short, you execute the following command:
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto \
rollback <unzipped_patch_location>/<patch_dir>
Note you might need to reboot the server.
Out-of-place OPatchAuto
You find rollback instructions in MOS note Grid Infrastructure Out of Place ( OOP ) Patching using opatchauto (Doc ID 2419319.1). In short, you execute the following command:
$NEW_ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto \
rollback \
-switch-clone
Out-of-place SwitchGridHome
The procedure is the same as Zero Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching (see below).
Zero Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching
You find rollback instructions in MOS note Step by Step Zero Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching in Silent Mode (Doc ID 2865083.1). You need to execute a few commands. Check the MOS note for details.
Pro Tip #6: The FAQ
On My Oracle Support there is an extensive FAQ. Bookmark it: RAC: Frequently Asked Questions (RAC FAQ) (Doc ID 220970.1)
Appendix
Other Blog Posts in This Series
- Introduction
- How to Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Using In-Place OPatchAuto
- How to Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Using Out-Of-Place OPatchAuto
- How to Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Using Out-Of-Place SwitchGridHome
- How to Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c and Oracle Data Guard Using Standby-First
- How to Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Using Zero Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching
- Which Method Should I Choose When Patching Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c
- How to Avoid Interruptions When You Patch Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c
- Patching Oracle Grid Infrastructure And Oracle Data Guard
- Use Cluster Verification Utility (cluvfy) and Avoid Surprises
- A Word about Zero Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching
- Why You Need to Use Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning
- My Best Advice on Patching Oracle Grid Infrastructure
- Pro Tips
Databases Are Fun 