Managing patch packages for Oracle quarterly packages

This section details how to prepare and apply BMC Database Automation patch packages for Oracle quarterly patches.

Before you begin

1. Ensure that you have downloaded the latest version of OPatch and have set up OPatch media on the Manager.
2. Ensure that a response file exists under /app/clarity/oracle_media/ on the Manager. If not, generate one.

To prepare and apply quarterly patch packages

The following table describes the files you must download to prepare and apply BDA patch packages and Oracle quarterly patches and where you must place the contents.

1. Download the quarterly BMC Database Automation patch package wrappers. 

   Notes

   • To obtain access to the package wrappers, contact BMC Customer Support.
   • The actual Oracle patch media is not included in patch package wrappers.
   • Patch package wrappers named ‘GIPSU-DBMS’ are applicable only if you are running a version of BDA earlier than 8.5 (beginning with version 8.5, the ‘GIPSU-DBMS’ wrapper type is no longer necessary).
   • If Oracle releases additional OJVM patches, they can be applied (using a separate job) after applying the GIPSU. The BDA OJVM patch package wrappers are available here.

2. Download the quarterly patch media from Oracle.

   Tip

   On the Oracle support site, perform a search of the patch ID or OPatch ID to locate the files more quickly. When you download the Oracle patch media, the latest OPatch utility is also downloaded with it.

3. Import the patch package wrapper (downloaded in Step 1) into the Patch Repository.

   1. From the Management Console, select Patching > Patch Repository in the Context Frame.

   2. In the Patch Repository page, click Import Package.

   3. Click Browse to select a patch package file.

   4. Complete the Import Package page and click Import Package.

4. Replace the imported zero-length placeholder file contained in the patch package with the actual Oracle media.

   1. From the Management Console, select Patching > Patch Repository in the Context Frame.

   2. In the Patch Repository page, select the imported patch package and select Edit from the list box for that row.
      
      

   3. In the Package Configuration page, click Remove in the Patch File row to remove the zero-length placeholder file.
      
      
   4. In the Package Configuration page, click Browse in the Patch File row and select the Oracle patch media downloaded from Step 2.
   5. In the Package Settings page, do the following:
      1. Verify that the Package Name is displayed.
      2. (Optional) Update the Container and Available To settings.
      3. Click Skip Ahead and complete the wizard.
         

The following patch management options are available for each patch package in the Patch Repository Listing page.

The Patch Repository Listing page also contains the following buttons:

• Create New Package: Use to create an Oracle patch package, where you can also granularly control the application and rollback of the patches.
• Import Package: Use to import a patch package that was created on another Manager. Before importing packages into the patch repository, ensure that all the appropriate targets for the intended package are specified under Patching > Packaging Configuration.

Bypassing patch validation

The quarterly BMC Database Automation patch package wrappers provided by BMC include a checksum to validate that the actual Oracle patch media that you uploaded into the patch package wrapper (see Step 4 in the preceding section) is the exact Oracle patch media that was tested by BMC.

To disable (ignore) the checksum, use a patching .xml template and add the following custom field:

<custom_fields>
  <field>
	<name>Validate_Patch</name> 
	<value>Yes</value>
	<value>No</value>
	<default>Yes</default>
	<required>false</required>
	<hidden>false</hidden>
	<password>false</password>
  </field>
</custom_fields>

Then, when initiating an Apply Patch job, select the template, and select No from the Validate Patch custom field in the Custom Fields page of the wizard:

For more information about working with templates and custom fields, see Adding custom fields to a template.