When you patch your Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c (GI) using the out-of-place method, you should also remove the old GI homes.

I recommend that you keep the old GI home for a while. At least until you are convinced that a rollback is not needed. Once you are comfortable with the new GI home, you can safely get rid of it.

How to Remove an Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Home

1. I set the path to my old GI home as an environment variable:

   export REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid
   

2. Optionally, I take a backup of the GI home for safekeeping:

   export GOLDIMAGEDIR=/u01/app/grid/goldimages
   mkdir -p $GOLDIMAGEDIR
   $REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME/gridSetup.sh -createGoldImage \
      -destinationLocation $GOLDIMAGEDIR \
      -silent
   

3. I verify that the GI home, is not the active one. This command returns the active GI home. It must not return the path of the GI home, which I want to delete. As grid:

   $REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME/srvm/admin/getcrshome
   

4. I double-check that the GI home to remove is not the active one. The XML tag returned must not contain an CRS=“true” attribute. As grid:

   export ORA_INVENTORY_XML=/u01/app/oraInventory/ContentsXML/inventory.xml
   grep "$REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME" $ORA_INVENTORY_XML
   
   #This is good
   #   <HOME NAME="OraGrid190" LOC="/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid" TYPE="O" IDX="1"/>
   #This is bad
   #.  <HOME NAME="OraGrid190" LOC="/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid" TYPE="O" IDX="1" CRS="true"/>      
   

5. I run the deinstall tool. I switch to my home directory to ensure I am not interfering with the de-installation. As grid:

   cd ~
   $REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME/deinstall/deinstall
   

   The script:
   • Detects the nodes in my cluster.
   • Prints a summary and prompts for confirmation.
   • Deinstalls the GI home on all nodes.
   • Instructs me to run a script as root on all nodes.
   • Prints a summary including any manual tasks in the end.
6. I verify that the GI home is marked as deleted in the inventory. The XML tag should have a Removed=“T” attribute. As grid:

   export ORA_INVENTORY_XML=/u01/app/oraInventory/ContentsXML/inventory.xml
   grep "$REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME" $ORA_INVENTORY_XML
   
   #This is good
   #   <HOME NAME="OraGrid190" LOC="/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid" TYPE="O" IDX="1" Removed="T"/>
   

7. Often the deinstall tool can’t remove some files because of missing permissions. I remove the GI home manually. As root on all nodes:

   export REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/19.0.0.0/grid
   rm -rf $REMOVE_ORACLE_HOME
   

Silent Mode

There is also a silent mode if you want to script the removal. Check the -checkonly and -silent parameters in the documentation.

You can also find a sample response file in the documentation.

Appendix

Further Reading

• How to Deinstall Old Clusterware Home Once Upgrade to Newer Version is Complete (Doc ID 1346305.1)

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
• How to Clone Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home Using Golden Images
• How to Roll Back Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Using SwitchGridHome
• How to Remove an Old Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19c Home
• 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