Each quarter, Oracle releases new Critical Patch Updates and Patch Set Updates. This article will discuss how to apply these patches to Oracle E-Business Suite along with the Oracle MOS ID references.
In Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) R12.2 we have various tech stack components. It's important to apply the critical patch update (CPU) to all of these components. These components include:
First, it is better to apply the latest Quarterly patches to DB tier and then to the Apps/Middle Tier. For the DB tier, we strongly advise applying the Patch Set Update (PSU) instead of the Critical Patch Update (CPU). PSU contains many proactive and stabilization fixes for issues that you may have already encountered or will encounter in the near future. These fixes will have the information learned from issues that have been encountered by Oracle customers. PSU also includes Critical Patch Update (CPU) along with proactive stabilization fixes.
1 — Always try to apply the latest PSU patch available along with OJVM patch. Always latest.
2 — Run the EBS Technology Code Level Checker (ETCC). The ETCC script can be downloaded from Patch 17537119. Always run the latest one while running ETCC.
ETCC has two scripts:
Run the checkDBpatch.sh script against the database and identify the patches that need to be applied.
3 — If you are on Oracle Exadata or Superclusters, you need to apply the Proactive Bundle Patch(BP). You need to select the right release when downloading the patch. Consider the newly applied PSU patch release.
4 — Apply the overlay patches. Overlay patches are answers for conflict patches. Some patches don't co-exist with the latest PSU patches. In such scenarios, you need to consider patches which can co-exist with the latest PSU patch).
5 — Afterwards, apply the Standard patches. The standard patches are primarily one-off patches.
6 — Finally, run the DB tier ETCC script, check the missing patches, and act on the missing patches.
For EBS, Oracle is only releasing Critical Patch Update (CPU) and not PSU (unlike Database). This is important for every Apps DBA to remember if they try to apply quarterly release patches to EBS components.
Please refer to the MOS ID for the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 Critical Patch Update Knowledge Document (April 2018) (Doc ID 2369524.1).
It is important to apply the patches to all of the above tech stack components in EBS. During this phase, there are certain prerequisites that we need to apply in case the prerequisites do not exist in the system.
Apart from CPU patches to Oracle E-Business Suite, there are also certain proactive Stabilization fixes for all components. Apps DBAs should remember to apply all of these proactive fixes if they are considering applying the Critical Patch Update (CPU) to their environment. The above Oracle Note references this, but not in detail.
The MOS ID (below) outlines the steps for checking all proactive fixes for EBS components: Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2: Consolidated List of Patches and Technology Bug Fixes (Doc ID 1594274.1)
While checking the patches for each component, there is potential for some conflict patches. Sometimes, both can’t co-exist. If this occurs, try to get the combination patch. If you weren't able to resolve this from the Oracle support site, it is always better to raise an SR with Oracle to get the new patches. Most of the time, Oracle has already encountered this scenario with other customers and the solution might be available to you immediately.
One more thing, it's always better to run the EBS Technology Code Level Checker (ETCC) before and after the above exercise.
After applying the patches, if you find any suggestions from checkMTpatch.sh, please consider applying those missing patches as well. This is a type of checker for you to identify if you have missed any patches. This ETCC script primarily covers all of the proactive fixes but not the Critical Patch Update.
Both CPU and PSU are cumulative, so you don't have to worry if you're skipping one release and applying the latest one.
Check out our other Oracle EBS R12.2 blogs for more guides and case studies.