2. About Me
Working around Oracle since 1999
Background in systems, network,
database
6 years at Enkitec
Working on Exadata for 2+ years
3. Exadata Patching Survey
How many people patch themselves?
How many have had problems patching?
How many never patch?
4. A Quick Disclaimer
Patching was very rough in the beginning
It’s much better now!
5. Do I have to patch every
month?
Oracle will patch my Exadata
for me*
If I don’t patch my Exadata,
Oracle won’t support me
Exadata patches are scary
9. Exadata Storage Server Patches
Exadata Storage Server
Single patch
Operating system
• Firmware
Single patch download
• SameDriversapplies to all hardware
patch
• Exadata software, OS, ILOM, firmware
Updates storage and compute nodes
• README and Support Note
Released quarterly (usually)
# imageinfo
Active image version: 11.2.2.3.2.110520
10. Exadata Storage Server Versions
11.2.3.1.1
DB Major Release Maintenance Release
DB Minor Release Feature Release
DB Patchset
11. Exadata Storage Server Versions
What version am I running?
[root@enkcel03 ~]# imageinfo
Kernel version: 2.6.18-274.18.1.0.1.el5 #1 SMP Thu Feb 9 19:07:16 EST 2012 x86_64
Cell version: OSS_11.2.3.1.1_LINUX.X64_120607
Cell rpm version: cell-11.2.3.1.1_LINUX.X64_120607-1
Active image version: 11.2.3.1.1.120607
Active image activated: 2012-06-28 21:45:30 -0500
Active image status: success
Active system partition on device: /dev/md6
Active software partition on device: /dev/md8
12. Exadata Storage Server Patches
Apply with patchmgr – included with the patch release
Run from compute node
Uses dcli and SSH keys to deploy patch across storage
grid
13. What Happens During Patching?
New OS image pushed to inactive partitions on each cell
Filesystem labels are switched to newly patched partitions
The cell reboots and firmware is patched – multiple reboots
are common
Post-install validation checks are run
USB recovery media is updated to match the new software
version
14. Rolling Storage Server Patching
offline
disks
No outage required online
cel01
disks
Single command ASM resync
Patch Staging
end-to-end offline
disks
online
cel02
Consider your disks
workload ASM resync
6 hours – ¼ rack offline
disks
online
celNN
disks
ASM resync
15. Non-Rolling Storage Server Patching
Full outage cel01
1.5 – 3 hours
Patch Staging
All cells in parallel
cel02
Shorter
maintenance
window
celNN
16. Patching Database Servers
Database servers updated with storage servers
Utilize yum for updates
Each version has a yum channel
exadata_dbserver_11.2_x86_64_latest
exadata_dbserver_11.2.3.1.0_x86_64_base
exadata_dbserver_11.2.3.1.0_x86_64_patch
17. Patching Database Servers
Database servers updated along with storage servers
Utilize yum for updates
Replaces old “minimal pack”
Each version has a yum channel
exadata_dbserver_11.2_x86_64_latest
exadata_dbserver_11.2.3.1.0_x86_64_base
exadata_dbserver_11.2.3.1.0_x86_64_patch
18. Patching Database Servers
Compute nodes must be running OEL 5.5
V2 Exadata owners – see MOS note #1284070.1
Several options for installation
Update directly from ULN
Configure local yum repository
Mount ISO file containing RPMs
19. Quarterly Database Patch for Exadata
Patches for RDBMS & Grid Infrastructure
Applied using OPatch
Each BP/QDPE contains 3 patches, applied together
RDBMS
CRS
Diskmon
Patches are cumulative
20. Quarterly Database Patch for Exadata
Originally called bundle patches
Release frequency
Current patchset (11.2.0.3) – quarterly recommended
patches, with monthly bundles
Previous patchset (11.2.0.2) - quarterly
Oracle recommends quarterly patching according to
CPU/PSU cycle
22. QDPE / BP Application
Always rolling patches
Applied one node at a time
Use opatch auto to apply
Requires root privileges
sudo is acceptable
Post-install database scripts
23. Patchset Upgrades
Check MOS #888828.1 for certification
Read upgrade-specific notes before
upgrading
11.2.0.2 – MOS #1315926.1
11.2.0.3 – MOS #1373255.1
GI upgrade always rolling
Database upgrade requires an outage*
24. Patchset Upgrades
Minimum cell version requirements
11.2.0.2 – cell version 11.2.2.1.1+
11.2.0.3 – cell version 11.2.2.4.0+
Install latest BP on current release
before upgrading GI/RDBMS
Apply BP/QDPE after installing
software, before running upgrade
scripts
25. Infiniband Patches
Released yearly
Infiniband switches run CentOS Linux
Patch method depends on version
Rolling patches – no outage required
Spine switch first, followed by leaf switches
26. What’s a QFSDP?
Quarterly Full Stack Download Patch
Released January, April, July, October
Contains latest patches for all stacks
Infrastructure
Database
OEM
Patches still installed individually
You may not need to apply all patches (Infiniband, PDU, etc)
27. Minimizing Patching Risk
Create a concise patching plan
Read all of the notes before
starting
Patch a non-production system
first
Patch the same way on all systems
28. Standby First Patch Apply
Apply patches to standby system
Perform testing with snapshot
standby or active data guard
Dataguard switchover
Patch previous production system
Switch back to production or leave as
is for next patch cycle
29. OPlan
Used with BP/QDPE deployment
Creates patch deployment report customized to your
environment
Includes steps for in place, out of place patch and rollback
MOS Note #1306814.1
Patch #11846294
Available for 11.2.0.2 and 11.2.0.3 bundle patches or QDPEs
30. A Quick Note on Platinum Services
Read the T’s and C’s before you
trust sales
Oracle will patch for free (to a
certain extent)
Monitoring is great
