My Exadata patches download cheat sheet

It has been a while since I wanted to share my Exadata patches download cheat sheet I use to download all the patches I need when patching Exadata from the storage up to the GI. Indeed, looking for the correct mix of patches sometimes looks like:

So let's try to clarify this and have a look at everything needed to patch an Exadata with some explanations; you will also find a short sumup at the end of this blog as well.

• A note about switches and cells patches:
From 19.3.0.0.0, the switches patch and the cells patch are delivered in two different patches, there was only one patch containing the switches and the cells patch before 19.3.0.0.0 (up to 19.2.22.0.0)


• Switches -- monthly:
Note 888828.1 will give you the link to the switches patches as example Patch 32957082: EXADATA 21.2.2.0.0 SWITCH PATCH; patchmgr for this patch (not the same as others) is included in this patch, the patch is for Infiniband and ROCE switches. You can find more info on how to patch the IB switches here and the ROCE switches here.


• Cells -- monthly:
Note 888828.1 will give you the link to the cells patch as example Patch 33120692: EXADATA RELEASE UPDATE 21.2.2.0.0 (MOS NOTE 2781458.1); patchmgr for this patch (not the same as others) is included in this patch. More info on the procedure to patch the cells here.


• Database nodes (physical and VM) -- monthly:
Note 888828.1 will provide you with this patch number. Note that the database nodes and the VMs share the same patch whether the hypervisor is XEN or KVM. From Exadata 19.3, you can have VM running with KVM as hypervisor; in this case, the same patch applies to the KVM hosts (hypervisor); example: Patch 32957083: EXADATA COMPUTE NODE 21.2.2.0.0 OL7 BASE REPO ISO; this is the zip of an ISO containing RPMs; do not unzip it, patchmgr will do it for you. This patch does NOT include patchmgr which has to be downloaded separately (see below). More info on how to patch the DB nodes here.


• dom0s -- monthly:
Note 888828.1 will provide you with this patch number. Note that xen dom0s require a dedicated patch like Patch 32957084: EXADATA COMPUTE NODE 21.2.2.0.0 DOM0 BASE REPO ISO; this is the zip of an ISO containing RPMs; do not unzip it, patchmgr will do ot for you. This patch does NOT include patchmgr which has to be downloaded separately (see below).


• patchmgr -- quite often but not regularly:
patchmgr for DB nodes, VM, KVM hosts and xen dom0s needs to be downloaded separately in Patch 21634633: DBSERVER.PATCH.ZIP ORCHESTRATOR PLUS DBNU - ARU PLACEHOLDER. It is the same patchmgr for xen dom0s and the DB nodes/VM even if they do not share the same patch :)


• ksplice -- quite often but not regularly:
If for any reason (the latest patch you apply does not include a patch you need), you may need to apply some extra ksplice patches, you'll find the documentation in Uptrack: HOWTO: Install ksplice kernel updates for Exadata Database Nodes (Doc ID 2207063.1); you'll need a user on https://linux.oracle.com (as far as I remember it is not the same as your MOS user . . .) and download the required ksplice patch.


• JDK -- monthly:
If you patch the JDK on the DB nodes, VMs, hypervisors and cells (Oracle always provides patches with old JDK so depending on your compliance requirements, the JDK from a brand new patch is already... not compliant :)), you'll find it in JDK: Supported Java SE Downloads on MOS (Doc ID 1439822.1), search for Oracle JDK 8 Update XXX


• Grid Infrastructure - quarterly:
You will find the link of the GI version you want to install in Note 888828.1 (example: Patch 32895426: GI RELEASE UPDATE 19.12.0.0.0). Be careful, Oracle maintains 3 GI versions at a time backporting some patches to two previous versions so you will end up with 3 different current versions each quarter with this kind of naming convention: X.Y.0, X.Y.1 and X.Y.2 so the ".2" is supposed to be the most mature and final version of the "X.Y" GI version except when a version is so buggy that they have to quickly release a ".1" version very quickly after a ".0" like GI 19.10 for example which now has a 19.10.3 version -- but it it supposed to be exceptional. To sum up, here is the GI versions you will have in July 2021:
• 19.12.0.0.210720
• 19.11.1.0.210720
• 19.10.3.0.210720
Once you got your GI, you are not done yet, indeed, this piece of software has many bugs and you have to closely study the below notes to find out which patches are included, which new critical issues are found, etc ...
• Oracle Database 19c Important Recommended One-off Patches (555.1)
This note is indeed about "Database" but Oracle took the bad habit to more or less include GI in DB . . . sometimes :)
• Grid Infrastructure 19 Release Updates and Revisions Bugs Fixed Lists (Doc ID 2523221.1)
• Oracle Database 19c Release Update & Release Update Revision July 2021 Known Issues (Doc ID 19202107.9)
There will be a new note for this every 3 months (for every GI release) and it can be updated with new critical issues / patches to apply at any time. For example, April's was Oracle Database 19c Release Update & Release Update Revision April 2021 Known Issues (Doc ID 19202104.9). More info on GI parching here.



• GI JDK -- quarterly:
If you need to ensure a certain compliance, as I was mentioning earlier, the JDK provided with the GI is kind of old for compliance point of view so you will need to patch it; you'll find it in JDK and PERL Patches for Oracle Database Home and Grid Home (Doc ID 2584628.1), paragraph 2.1 Latest JDK Patches for Database


• RPMs -- not regularly:
If you want to install some specific (non-default) RPM (I like to install screen for example), you can find them here:
• OL7: https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL7/latest/x86_64/index.html
• OL6: https://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL6/latest/x86_64/index.html
Mainly for the xen dom0s.

And this should be all !

To sumup, the notes numbers:

• Exadata software + GI: 888828.1
• GI patches / critical issues: 2523221.1 + 555.1 + 19202107.9 <= different every 3 months
• patchmgr: 21634633
• GIJDK: 2584628.1 => 2.1 Latest JDK Patches for Database
• JDK: 1439822.1 => Oracle JDK 8 Update XXX
• ksplice: 2207063.1
• RPMs: OL7 and OL6

Happy patching !