Oracle DB Patching: 10.1.0.1.

0 Major DB release number DBmaintenance release number Application Server release number Component specific release number(max was 5 for 10g)->Patch set. Platform specific release number. ============================ ->Oracle releases security patches for every quater. ->first month 2nd/3rd week btw 12 & 18 but before 20. ->Released according to PST. =============================== Patches are applied on 'ORACLE BINARIES' to fix bugs and be secure. 1. binary patching. 2. Dictonary Patching Types of Patches: 1. Patchset ->Using "run Installer" 2.CPU(Critical Patch Update)/PSU(Patch set update) patches ->opatch utility Selected patches from PSU can be applied or whole CPU. 3.One-off-Patches ->opatch utility For temporary solutions. opatch -> pearl based utility. Database needs outage(shutdown) for patching. =================================== Test the patch before applying: in the order of 1. developement db 2. test db (SIT db = standarad integration & testing) 3. uta db 4. Production db ============================ Check the following: 1. start/stop db 2. bring listener up/down 3. Perfor DML/DDL op 4. DB backup 5.2-3 scenories of backup/restore & recovires 6. Perform Export/Import 7. Gather Statistics. ===================================== Before Applying a Patch: 1. Take full backup of the database. 2.Backup spfile, listener.ora,tnsname.ora 3.Shutdown all the services running from this oracle home --- shutdown listner,O EM etc... 4.Download the patch and stage in a temporary location other than ORACLE_HOME. 5.unzip the patch. 6.invoke ./runinstaller (Patch Set installation) shutdown immediate; lsnrctl stop 6.