OPatch Friendly

OPatch utility now has just got a little fancier and more user friendly.

Download latest OPatch (Patch 6880880) for the Oracle software release (eg. 10.2, 11.1, 11.2) from My Oracle Support and extract to the appropriate Oracle software directory.

NOTE: The OPatch utility can be applied to Database, Grid Control (OMS and Agent), Grid Infrastructure (ASM and CRS) software home directories.

In the below example the database software release is 11.2 and runs on Linux 64 bit platform, so to update the OPatch utility, the patch file 6880880_112000_Linux-x86-64.zip was downloaded.

Below are just a few examples of what you can now do with the more recent versions of OPatch.

A. To download and install latest OPatch version

1. Verify the version of OPatch currently installed, simply run:

Syntax:

export ORACLE_SID=<ORACLE_SID>; . oraenv
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch version

Example:

[oracle@lnx01] export ORACLE_SID=112DB; . oraenv
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch version

2. Backup old OPatch utility:

[oracle@lnx01] mv $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch.orig

2. Extract and install latest OPatch to Oracle Home directory:

Syntax:

unzip p6880880_<RELEASE>_<OS_PLATFORM>.zip -d $ORACLE_HOME

Example:

[oracle@lnx01] unzip p6880880_112000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d $ORACLE_HOME

4. Re-run step 1 from this section to verify new version of OPatch.

B. List Detailed Information About a Patch Before Applying It

The OPatch utility can be used to verify details of a patch before proceeding to apply to the Oracle Home directory. Such information that can verified but not limited to are:
• Check if patch is a Rolling Patch
• Check if patch is a Patchset Update (PSU)
• Check if patch can be run with “opatch auto” option
• Check OS platform the patch can be applied on
• Actual actions and/or steps that patch contains without applying the patch. This include detailed information of files it touches, copies and relinks.

Syntax:

$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch query -all |more

Example 1:

[oracle@lnx01] cd /home/oracle/download/patches/12311357
[oracle@lnx01] $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch query -all |more

C. Looking for a Particular Patch Already Applied based on a Bug or Patch Description

To search for a patch based on search string, OPatch can list a detailed description of each patch applied to the Oracle home directory.
Syntax:

$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -bugs_fixed |grep –i "<string>"

This is particularly handy if you want to look for a Patchset Update (PSU) or Daylights Savings Time (DST) patch. 

Example 1: 

[oracle@lnx01] $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -bugs_fixed |grep –i “DATABASE PSU”

Example 2: 

[oracle@lnx01] $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory -bugs_fixed |grep –i “DST”

D. Cleanup Patch Storage to Reclaim Space

OPatch can now determine and cleanup files in the patch storage that are no longer required. To do so run the following:

Syntax:
[oracle@lnx01] $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch util cleanup

Cluster Resource Control Filters

In 11.2 RAC, to avoid listing all cluster resources (via CRSCTL), you can use the filter switch option “-w”. This can be useful if you only want to look at a specific status of a given resource.

A. List for All Databases Managed by Cluster 

In the example, shows the listing of status for all databases managed by the cluster.

[oracle@lnx01] export ORACLE_SID=GRID; . oraenv
[oracle@lnx01] crsctl stat res -t -w "TYPE = ora.database.type"

The output for the above example is as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME           TARGET  STATE        SERVER                   STATE_DETAILS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.salt.db
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01                 Open              
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx02                 Open              
ora.pepper.db
      1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01                 Open              
      2        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx02                 Open      
       


A list below are some type of resources that the filter can set for:

NOTE: The filter from the example can be change from “ora.database.type” to “ora.service.type”. For more options see listing below.

[oracle@lnx01] crsctl stat res |grep "TYPE=" |uniq

Sample output:

TYPE=ora.diskgroup.type
TYPE=ora.listener.type
TYPE=ora.scan_listener.type
TYPE=ora.diskgroup.type
TYPE=application
TYPE=ora.asm.type
TYPE=ora.cluster_vip_net1.type
TYPE=ora.cvu.type
TYPE=ora.database.type
TYPE=ora.service.type
TYPE=ora.database.type
TYPE=ora.service.type
TYPE=ora.gsd.type
TYPE=ora.network.type
TYPE=ora.oc4j.type
TYPE=ora.ons.type
TYPE=ora.scan_vip.type
TYPE=ora.database.type

B. Check Cluster Resources that are offline 

Example:

[oracle@lnx01] crsctl stat res -t -w "STATE = OFFLINE"

NOTE: If not using GSD, then it is ok for the following resource to be offline.

Sample Output:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME           TARGET  STATE        SERVER                   STATE_DETAILS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.gsd
OFFLINE OFFLINE      lnx01
OFFLINE OFFLINE      lxn02

C. Verifying local resources that are online

Example:
[oracle@lnx01] crsctl stat res -init -t -w "STATE = ONLINE"

NOTE: You can use “-init” to check Local Resources

Sample Output:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME           TARGET  STATE        SERVER                   STATE_DETAILS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cluster Resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ora.asm
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01                 Started
ora.cluster_interconnect.haip
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.crf
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.crsd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.cssd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.cssdmonitor
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.ctssd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01                 OBSERVER
ora.diskmon
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.drivers.acfs
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.evmd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.gipcd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.gpnpd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01
ora.mdnsd
1        ONLINE  ONLINE       lnx01

D. To check for resources that are Not Online

When I run the “crsctl stat res -t” and it print lines and lines that go on forever of all the resources for your cluster, I find that at times you can easily oversee resources that are in a pending or bad status that need special attention. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to know about all your resources. However, there is a better way that you can do a status check, and report only the pending or bad resources.

Note that the “crsctl stat res -t -w “((TARGET = OFFLINE) or (STATE = OFFLINE)” will only report resources with the OFFLINE target or state. It will not report other target or state information. 

Hence I will show you below in an example on how to capture resources with pending (starting, intermediate) or bad (offline, unknown etc…) status. Therefore I want to report all resources with the target or state that is not ONLINE.

In addition, I want to also exclude that annoying gsd (ora.gsd) resource from the check, as we are not hosting any oracle 9i RAC database on this cluster, therefore the target and state for this resource will always show as being OFFLINE.

Example: [oracle@lnx01] crsctl stat res -t -w "((TARGET != ONLINE) or (STATE != ONLINE) and TYPE != ora.gsd))"

NOTE: No output is shown if cluster resources are up and running.  Otherwise impacted resources will be displayed.