ADOP : Online Patching in Oracle Apps (E-Business Suite) R12 12.2 : Apps DBA’s Must Read
Last month I discussed about Oracle Application 12.2 Installation, from this version ADPATCH is being replaced by ADOP (AD Online Patching) to support Online Patching (Patching while End Users are accessing Applications). This post covers, key points about Online Patching introduced in Oracle Applications 12.2
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1. In Oracle Apps R 12.2 onwards all patching operations are online ( EBS system remains available to users during patching) unlike previous versions where system is unavailable during patching (Maintenance Mode)
2. Online Patching uses Edition Based Redefinition (EBR) at Database Layer and Multiple File System at Application Tier level
3. Edition Based Re-Definition provides two copies of Database object (schema) pre and post patch .
a) Run Edition of database objects : used by online users and is not changed by patching
b) Patch Edition of database objects : used by patching tool and do not affect the running application
Note: There is third edition (zero or more editions) called Old Edition – Patch Edition when prompted to Production i.e. new Run Edition, previous Run Edition is marked as Old Edition. Full Cleanup Operation (part of ADOP) removes Old Edition (More on Cleanup Operation later)
3. In Oracle Applications 12.2 there are two file system
a) FS1 : Production File System used by users
b) FS2 : Copy of production File System used by patching tools (adop : More on adop later)
Note: FS1 and FS2 can switch role i.e. FS2 will become production File system and FS1 will become File System for Patching at Cutover Phase of online patching (ADOP). More on various phases in AD Online Patching (adop) later.
Note: Third files system fs_ne stores data on filesystem like log, out, data import/export files
4. Patches are applied to copy of production environment (copy of code and NOT data) where as users access the original production environment (Patching applied is to file system and Patch Ediiton of database objects and not applicable to transactions tables/data in database)
5. Actual downtime during patching (ADOP) is to switch users from pre-patched copy to patched copy.
6. Online Patching Tool ADOP (AD Online Patching) now replaces adpatch in 12.2
7. Phases on ADOP (replacement of ADPATCH) are Prepare -> Apply -> Finalize -> Cutover -> Cleanup (more on these phases later)
8. Patching can be aborted any time before Cutover Phase (More on how to abort patching in ADOP later)
I highly recommend below two resources to understand AD Online Patching
- EBS R12.2 online patching post from Bill Sawyer (Presentation from Kevin Hudson)
- EBS 12.2 Maintenance Guide
Did you get a chance to download 6 Docs Every Apps DBA Must Read for EBS R12.2 ? If not, then get it now by clicking on link below.
If you need to learn more about Oracle Apps DBA (Architecture, Installation, WebLogic, Patching, Cloning and other maintenance tasks with the upgrade of Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.0 to 12.2.4 then have a look at our Oracle Apps DBA Training