Every Oracle home contains an Oracle Clusterware (OCW) component. It’s used to interact with Grid Infrastructure when you are using Oracle Restart or Oracle RAC. But even when you don’t use those, the component is still part of your Oracle home.

The Database Release Update doesn’t update the OCW component in your Oracle home. You must use the Grid Infrastructure Release Update for that.

In AutoUpgrade, it is easy to update the OCW component. Let’s see how it works.

How To Also Patch The OCW Component

• My database hasn’t been patched for a while:

  $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lspatches
  
  35648110;OJVM RELEASE UPDATE: 19.21.0.0.231017 (35648110)
  35787077;DATAPUMP BUNDLE PATCH 19.21.0.0.0
  35643107;Database Release Update : 19.21.0.0.231017 (35643107)
  29585399;OCW RELEASE UPDATE 19.3.0.0.0 (29585399)
  

  • I’ve never updated the OCW component, so it’s still on the patch level of the base release, 19.3.0.0.0.

• I use the latest version of AutoUpgrade:

  wget https://download.oracle.com/otn-pub/otn_software/autoupgrade.jar
  

• I create an AutoUpgrade config file, FTEX.cfg:

  global.global_log_dir=/home/oracle/autoupgrade-patching/log
  global.keystore=/home/oracle/autoupgrade-patching/keystore
  patch1.source_home=/u01/app/oracle/product/19
  patch1.target_home=/u01/app/oracle/product/19_27
  patch1.sid=FTEX
  patch1.folder=/home/oracle/patch-repo
  patch1.patch=OPATCH,RU,OCW,DPBP,OJVM
  

  • By adding OCW to the patch parameter, AutoUpgrade also downloads the GI Release Update and updates the OCW component.

• I patch the database:

  java -jar autoupgrade.jar -config FTEX.cfg -patch -mode deploy
  

• When AutoUpgrade completes, I check the new patch level:

  $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lspatches
  
  37499406;OJVM RELEASE UPDATE: 19.27.0.0.250415 (37499406)
  37654975;OCW RELEASE UPDATE 19.27.0.0.0 (37654975)
  37777295;DATAPUMP BUNDLE PATCH 19.27.0.0.0
  37642901;Database Release Update : 19.27.0.0.250415 (37642901)
  

  • Notice how the OCW Release Update is now 19.27.0.0.0.

Some Details

• When AutoUpgrade downloads patches, because I specified OCW, it will also download the GI Release Update:

   --------------------------------------------
   Downloading files to /home/oracle/patch-repo
   --------------------------------------------
   DATABASE RELEASE UPDATE 19.27.0.0.0
       File: p37642901_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip - LOCATED
   
   DATAPUMP BUNDLE PATCH 19.27.0.0.0
       File: p37777295_1927000DBRU_Generic.zip - LOCATED
   
   GI RELEASE UPDATE 19.27.0.0.0
       File: p37641958_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip / 83%
  

• Including OCW is a smart way of downloading the GI Release Update. You can use it to patch your Grid Infrastructure.

• In Oracle Database 23ai, you can download fully updated gold images. Besides having the latest Release Update, they also come with fully updated OCW components.

Is It Needed?

Should you update the OCW component when you patch your Oracle Database? Is it needed if you don’t use Oracle Restart, Oracle RAC, or Oracle ASM?

It is optional, but even if no GI Stack (ASM, Clusterware or RAC) is used inside the server, it is recommended not to ignore the security patches of the installed components. And apply the most recent OCW Patch.

How to apply OCW Release Update patches on db_home non-RAC / non-ASM (Doc ID 2970542.1)

Mike Dietrich has a good point as well:

As I neither use RHP/FPP or any of the HA components nor EM in my tiny little lab environments, I’m pretty certain that I won’t need the OCW bundle. But this may be different in your environments. And it doesn’t harm to apply it of course.

Adding the Oracle 19.14.0 OCW / GI bundle patch to my database home

Further, I know many customers who never patch the OCW component and haven’t run into related problems.

My recommendation: Update the OCW component when you patch your Oracle Database. Using AutoUpgrade it is so easy, that there’s no reason not to.

Happy patching!