The document discusses staged patching, a method designed to reduce downtime during the patching of large Oracle EBS applications, highlighting its process, benefits, and best practices. It emphasizes the importance of preparing a staging environment, applying patches, and executing a production cutover while documenting steps for success. The future of staged patching in Oracle R12.2 is also mentioned, including its integration of online patching with dual filesystem support.

1. Staged Patching Approach
Session 12125
Vasu Balla
The Pythian Group

2. About Me
Oracle Apps DBA with 10+ Years of
Experience
Oracle Apps ATG Customer Advisory Board
Member
Oracle EBS Cluster Technical Lead at Pythian
@vasuballa

3. About Pythian
• Recognized Leader:
Global industry-leader in remote database administration services and consulting
for Oracle, Oracle Applications, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server
Work with over 250 multinational companies such as Forbes.com, Fox Sports,
Nordion and Western Union to help manage their complex IT deployments
• Expertise:
Pythian’s data experts are the elite in their field. We have the highest concentration
of Oracle ACEs on staff - 10 including 3 ACE Directors—and 2 Microsoft MVPs.
Pythian holds 7 Specializations under Oracle Platinum Partner program, including
Oracle Exadata, Oracle GoldenGate & Oracle RAC
• Global Reach & Scalability:
Around the clock global remote support for DBA and consulting, systems
administration, special projects or emergency response

4. Agenda
• What is Staged Patching For?
• How Staged Patching works?
• Best Practices
• Future of Staged Patching in R12.2

5. What is Staged Patching for?

6. Reasons
• Cut downtime for patching
• Exhausted all other options like
distributed AD, merging patches etc
• Best fit for large patches like
Maintenance Packs

7. Adpatch stages
• Copy Portion
- Copies files from patch to appltop
- Relinks Executables
- Compiles JSPs
- Generates jar files

8. Adpatch stages
• DB portion
- Updates PLSQL pkgs, Table & Index
definitions
- Loads or Updates Data & Compiles
Invalids
• Generate portion
- Generates forms & reports

9. Where it saves time ?
Copy Portion
DB Portion
Generate Portion

10. How Staged Patching works?

11. First Step - Clone
• Clone Production to Stage instance
• Need to make sure that architecture is
same
• Set appltop name same as production
• Freeze all production changes during
stage instance patching

12. Apply Patches to Stage
• A typical EBS patch updates both
middle tier files and DB objects
• Apply All the required patches on Stage
• Make sure to document all fixes for any
failed patch jobs

13. Prepare for production
• Merge all AD/FND patches into one
bundle and rest of the patches into
another bundle
• Document any required manual post
patching steps

14. Production Cutover
• Shutdown PROD Apps Services
• Point STAGE instance appltop
tnsnames to PROD
• Apply patch bundle with nocopyportion
and nogenerateportion options from
STAGE instance

15. Production Cutover Contd…
• When adpatch is running, Start copy of
STAGE apps_st and tech_st to PROD
• You should not copy INST_TOP which
contains the report logs and other
configuration files
• Use utilities like rsync for the copy

16. Finish Cutover
• After patch completes from STAGE env,
remove the PROD tnsentry
• Complete any documented manual
steps
• Start Production Services and release

17. Migrate Patch History
• Export patch history from stage env
• Copy generated adpsv*txt and
javaupdates*txt to $APPL_TOP/ admin/
$TWO_TASK on PROD
• Run adpatch in PROD and abort when it
prompts for driver file, to upload history

18. 3
1
2

19. Best practices

20. It’s Better
• Keep SID of STAGE env different from
PROD
• Keep apps Passwords different
• Run Maintain current view snapshot in
PROD before STAGE clone
• Leverage SAN/NAS features for Copy

21. R12 upgrades
• Not supported to use 12.1.3 staged
appltop for upgrade from 11i
• Need to first upgrade to 12.1.1 using
staged appltop and then upgrade to
12.1.3 using another staged appltop
• Staged appltop is best suited for point
release upgrades 11.5.9 to 11.5.10.2
and 12.0.6 to 12.1.3

22. Future of Staged Patching

23. Future of Staged Patching
• In R12.2 Staged patching is already
built in
• We have 2 apps file systems
• Two copies of DB objects using Edition
Based Redefinition
• Its called Online Patching

24. R12.2 Dual filesystem

25. R12.2 FS layout

26. Online Patching Cycle

27. Questions?
Comments?

28. THANK YOU
Vasu Balla
balla@pythian.com
@vasuballa #C13TCH #C13DEN
www.pythian.com/blog