Overview – Patching in E-Business Suite

Overview

adpatch is one of AD utilities which can be used for Applying patches to the Oracle Applications and Oracle database (also you can add new languages and products as a patch).
--AD Utilities (abbreviation from Applications DBA) are programs which perform a variety of tasks, including generating files, updating your system, merging and applying patches, installing off-cycle products.  These AD Utilities are executable files in $AD_TOP/bin

Applying a patch updates your existing system in various ways, from adding a new feature or product to improving system performance.
patches are applied for a number of reasons, including:

■ Fixing an existing issue■ Adding a new feature or functionality■ Updating to a higher maintenance level■ Applying the latest product enhancements■ Providing interoperability to new technology stacks■ Determining the source of an issue■ Applying online help

Depending on the type of patch, it may update the file system, or the database, or both.

Unified Driver File

The unified driver, named u.drv, contains the commands necessary to change files and database objects, and to generate new objects. It contains copy,database, and generate portions and performs the copy, database, and generate actions in the stated order. You typically run the unified driver on all APPL_TOPs. AutoPatch
runs only the actions that are required for the current APPL_TOP.

C,D and G Driver File
C – copy driver
D – database driver
G – forms and reports generation driver

Apps patches may take a name like p111111_R12_Unix.zip where p menas patch next few digit are patch number Unix is platform or OS on which this patch can be applied.
When you unzip a patch you will see some files types like:

1. readme.txt - This file contain steps to spply patches, List of Prerequisite patch should be there on apps Instance (If not apply that patch )
2. cXXXXXXX.drv c stand for copy driver file , this copies patch content to respective patch location , driver is like bus driver which provides instruction on work adpatch need to perform.
3. dXXXXXXX.drv d stand for Database driver & contain content related to database like creating packages, tables, adding column….
4. gXXXXXXX.drv This contain files related to forms , reports, graphis or messages
5. uXXXXXXX.drv Sometime these three types of files are bundled together into single driver file called Unified driver file

Hence as a system admin or as a DBA you have to be aware of which type of driver file to apply and where ? (its common sense if this is d driver you just need to apply once on concurrent manager tier and c & g on all tiers as database is single & if you run it once its enough . If you applied it again by mistake its no harm & will not cause any issues .Similary c & g you need to apply from all tiers , because c will copy your content & g will generate message files).
If you are not sure where to apply what just apply it on all tiers & depending on your context file in APPL_TOP/admin/SID_hostname.xml it will apply where to install what by checking xml tag TIER_ADFORMS , TIER_ADWEB , TIER_ADADMIN open your xml file & see these parameters are there or not ( For xml file your system should be Autoconfig enabled ) all system after 11.5.8 by default are autoconfig enabled .

Common Patch Terminology:

Standalone/Oneoffpatches : This is used to define patch created to fix single/particular problem.
Mini Pack : This is group of oneoff patches for a particular product like INV, GL, AP and named like 11i.GL.E ( means this group of patches contain fix for 11i GL product (General Ledger till time E is released ) This is cummutative which means it will include 11i.GL.A, 11i.GL.B ….11iGL.D till 11i.GL.E earlier in 10.7 it used to called as patchset.
Family Pack : Group of mini packs in one family buldeled together is called as family pack. they are usually named as 11i_PF. Few example of falilies are SCM ( 11i.SCM_PF.G ), ATG ( 11i.ATG_PF.H ) _PF indicate Product Family Pack
Maintenance Pack : Group of family pack together is called as maintenance pack. So if you say your Verison is 11.5.10 then its maintenance pack 10 ( 3rd digit is maintenance pack )

Hence, few one off patch make mini pack , few mini pack related to same family bundeled together as family pack & all family pack fixed till that time are bundeled in Maintenance pack

NLS Patch

 When you have more than one language , like English & French or Arabic) then apart from normal patch you have to apply patch for specific language Installed in your system called as NLS patch

Benifits of Oracle Recommended patches:

Oracle Recommended Patches provide the following benefits:

• They fix a set of critical issues commonly encountered in targeted environments and configurations.
• They stabilize production environments because the patches address known critical issues.
• They help save time and cost by eliminating rediscovery of known issues.
• They are tested as a single combined unit, resulting in increased quality and eliminating the risk of combining patches that are only independently tested.
• They make it easier to identify patches applicable for a targeted environment/configuration.

 

How to troubleshoot a Patch Failure - adpatch

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To Note that Workers are controlled by adctrl. Based on the error in the log , fix the problem ; Use adctrl ; select option restart failed worked & then give worker number you want to restart to confirm if problem is fixed.

Please check the following file types / errors causing job failures :

a) odf files : (Object Definition Files) -odf files are there to create tables ,indexes and view etc.
b) pls scripts : -If the failed pls scripts are for creating stored procedure or packages
c) sql Scripts: -Failure on the SQL Script
d) WFLOAD and FNDLOAD failure- Look for the error message in the log file of the worker that fails.

In order to resolve the error, you may consider the following action plan

1) Try to execute the failing sql / pls manually and see the results
2) Check the Alert Log  and If any of the workers failed due to insufficient tablespace, then add the space , restart the failed worker.
3) Check the database session waits - There could be enquires.
Check the locks and locked objects to ensure that the session applying the patch is now waiting on a lock. If so need to diagnose, kill the session holding the lock.
(Scripts for database Diagnosis provoded in the database Scripts Section)
4) -For WFLOAD and FNDLOAD, you need to look at the log file generated by the above command. The worker’s logfile should point you to the location of the log file.
5) If adpatch fails to generate reports or forms. it is ok to skip these failure as you can always regenerate them after patching.
6) If it fails for a Pre-req patch and a lot of downtime has already lapsed :

If Adpatch Fails due to pre-requisite Patch or for some other reason and a lot of time has already been spent since the patch started running then , instead of applying this patch from begining you need to do the following steps in order to save the time you spend while applying the patch.

1. Using the adctrl utility, shutdown the workers.

a. adctrl
b. Select option 3 “Tell worker to shutdown/quit”

2. Backup the FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES table which is owned by the APPLSYS schema

a. sqlplusapplsys/<password>
b. create table fnd_Install_processes_back
as select * from fnd_Install_processes;
c. The 2 tables should have the same number of records.
select count(*) from fnd_Install_processes_back;
select count(*) from fnd_Install_processes;

3. Backup the AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table.

a. sqlplusapplsys/<password>
b. create table AD_DEFERRED_JOBS_back
as select * from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS;
c. The 2 tables should have the same number of records.
select count(*) from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS_back;
select count(*) from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS;

4. Backup the .rf9 files located in $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>/restart directory.

At this point, the adpatch session should have ended and the cursor should
be back at the Unix prompt.
a. cd $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>
b. mv restart restart_back
c. mkdir restart

5. Drop the FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES table and the AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table.

a. sqlplusapplsys/<password>
b. drop table FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES;
c. drop table AD_DEFERRED_JOBS;

6. Apply the new patch ( say pre-req patch).

Once this Pre-req Patch is applied successfully.

7. Restore the .rf9 files located in $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>/restart_back directory.

a. cd $APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>
b. mv restart restart_<patchnumber>
c. mv restart_back restart

8. Restore the FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES table which is owned by the APPLSYS schema.

a. sqlplusapplsys/<password>
b. create table fnd_Install_processes
as select * from fnd_Install_processes_back;
c. The 2 tables should have the same number of records.
select count(*) from fnd_Install_processes;
select count(*) from fnd_Install_processes_back;

9. Restore the AD_DEFERRED_JOBS table.

a. sqlplusapplsys/<password>
b. create table AD_DEFERRED_JOBS
as select * from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS_back;
c. The 2 tables should have the same number of records.
select count(*) from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS_back;
select count(*) from AD_DEFERRED_JOBS;

10. Re-create synonyms

a. sqlplus apps/apps
b. create synonym AD_DEFERRED_JOBS for APPLSYS.AD_DEFERRED_JOBS;
c. create synonym FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES FOR APPLSYS.FND_INSTALL_PROCESSES;

11. Start adpatch, it will resume where it stopped previously.

If you want to skip a worker , this option is not visible & do it using adctrl option 8 . It is not a good idea to skip the failed worker without consulting from oracle.

adpatch Options

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Type "adpatch help=y" on unix prompt to display all the options. You can execute adpatch by logging in as the applications OS user and sourcing the appropriate environment file.

#su – applmgr
$. ./APPSORA.env
$adpatch

By default adpatch does not take any clause, but there are some clauses that you could use with adpatch

Running a patch in test mode

You can use the apply clause with adpatch to specify weather to run the patch in TEST mode or not, when you run the patch in  test mode it does not do any changes but runs generates a log fiule with all the actions it would have performed.

$adpatch apply=n|y
The default is apply=y

Pre-install Mode

You can run a patch in pre install mode, this would be done normally during an upgrade or consolidated update. When a patch is applied in a preinstall mode the all the AD utilities are updated before the upgrade or update.

$adpatch preinstall=y
The default is preinstall=n

Other Options with adpatch
You can use the options clause to specify some of the other options available with adpatch.

Autoconfig

You can use the options=noautoconfig top specify autopatch that you do not wish to run autoconfig as a part of the patch  application. This can be useful when applying a large number of patches when they are not merged. By default autoconfig is run  as a part of adpatch.

$adpatch options=noautoconfigCheckfile
The chekfile option of adpatch tells adpathc to check for already executed exec, SQL, and exectiercommands.You can use  options=nocheckfile skips this check, however this can cause performance overheds so should be used only when specified.

$adpatch options=nocheckfile

Compile Database

By defaultyautopatch compiles the invalid objects after the patch application, in case you wish not to do so you can specify  options=nocompiledb along with autopatch.
$adpatch options=nocompiledb

Compile JSP

By defaultyautopatch compiles the java server pages (jsp) after the patch application, in case you wish not to do so you can specify options=nocompilejsp along with autopatch.
$adpatch options=nocompilejsp

Copy Portion

If you wish adpatch not to execute the commands present in the copy driver portion of the patch you can use the  options=nocopyportion.
$adpatch options=nocopyportion

Database Portion

If you wish adpatch not to execute the commands present in the database driver portion of the patch you can use the options=nodatabaseportion.
$adpatch options=nodatabaseportion

Generate Portion

If you wish adpatch not to execute the commands present in the generate driver portion of the patch you can use the options=nogenerateportion
$adpatch options=nogenerateportion

Maintenance Mode

If you wish to apply a patch regardless of the system being in maintenance mode you can use options=hotpatch.
$adpatch options=hotpatch

Integrity Check

If you wish to check the integrity of the patch you can use the options=integrity. Since metalink patches are pre checked for  their integrity it is generally not required to do an explicit check and the default value is nointegrity.
$adpatch options=integrity

Maintain MRC

You can use the maintainmrc option to specify weather you wish adpatch to execute the Maintain MRC schema as a part of the patch application or not. By default maintain MRC is done for standard patches and is disbaled for tarnslation and documentation patches.
$adpatch options=nomaintainmrc

Pre requisite Patch Check

If you wish adpatch not to check for pre requisite patches before application of the main patch you can use options=noprereq.By default pre requsite checking is enabled.
$adpatch options=noprereq

Validate Schemas

If you wish adpatch to explicitly validate all the registedschems by making a connection you can use options=validate. By  default this validation is not performed.
$adpatch options=validate

Java Classes

If you wish adpatch not to copy new java classes from the patch you can use options=nojcopy.By default java classes are copied.
$adpatch options=nojcopy

Force Copy

By default adpatch copies the files without check the version of the existing files already present on the system.If you do  not wish the newer version of the file to be replaced by the older version contained in the patch use options=noforcecopy.
$adpatch options=noforcecopy

Relinking

If you wish adpatch not do perform relinking you can use options=nolink.
$adpatch options=nolink

Generate Forms

If you wish adpatch not to generate the forms files you can specify options=nogenform.
$adpatch options=nogenform

Generate Reports

If you wish adpatch not to generate the report files you can specify options=nogenrep.
$adpatch options=nogenrep

You could specify multiple options at the command line using the , delimiter.

$adpatch options=hotpatch,nojcopy

1. Check the patch log file : Log file for adpatch or apps patch will exist as specified while running adpatch The default location is $APPL_TOP/admin/SID/log with name adpatch.log.
2. See on which worker the Patch has failed.
3. Check the Worker log for the failed Worker at the same location ($APPL_TOP/admin/SID/log) by the name adwork<worker_number>.log.

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