Can we patch subset of exadata nodes

satya -Oracle

Hi Experts,

We have a 12 node  exadata machine in which every 2 nodes have  a separate DB

i.e.on   node1 and 2  DB1 is running (2 node RAC)

     on  node 3 and 4  DB2 is running (2 node RAC)

     on  node 5 and 6  DB3 is running (2 node RAC)

     on  node 7 and 8  DB4 is running (2 node RAC)

similarly  on node 11 and 12  DB 6 is running.(2 node RAC)

Now there is an application upgrade which requires DB4 running on 07/08 to have certain DB patch. .

Can the patch be applied on nodes 7 and 8 excluding all other nodes.The reason why i am asking this question is path of ORACLE_HOME is same across the cluster as it should be (but not shared)..

Thanks in ADV

dvohra21

Depends which patch it is. Some patches may be applied selectively on specific nodes while others are applied to all nodes.

satya -Oracle

Thanks for the reply.

It is DBBP patch..Is it OK to apply DBBP on the nodes 07/08 excluding the other.

Khalid Kizhakkethil

Hi,

First thing GI should the same or higher version of RDBMS patch set.

With respect to RDBMS if it is one-off patch you can simply apply the patch on desired nodes by using

opatch apply -local (run this command on all the nodes which you want to patch).

With respect to RDBMS patch set for example quarterly patches in general you can apply it on certain nodes. Because it supports rolling patching.

Always recommended to check below doc to understand supported features and inter-operatbility issues and compatibility matrix.

Exadata Database Machine and Exadata Storage Server Supported Versions (Doc ID 888828.1)

Regards,

Khalid

satya -Oracle

Thanks.

One of an experienced guy(internal) told that we can do patching on selected nodes(with DBBP) but ASAP we need to patch the other nodes to the same level.

Because, If we want to upgrade GRID later it does not allow us due to the diff patch levels on nodes.

Jonathan Lewis

satya -Oracle wrote:Thanks.One of an experienced guy(internal) told that we can do patching on selected nodes(with DBBP) but ASAP we need to patch the other nodes to the same level.Because, If we want to upgrade GRID later it does not allow us due to the diff patch levels on nodes.

That's an interesting observation; after all, you can install multiple versions of the Oracle database software on a single Exadata system (provided no version is higher than the installed version of Grid Infrastructure). Why should a couple of nodes at a different patch level for the same version be a problem ?

Maybe it's something to do with Oracle Homes - maybe you could bypass the "ASAP" requirement by installing the same version of Oracle in a different Oracle Home on the nodes that needs the patch, and running the database on those nodes from the new Oracle home.

WARNING - Exadata infrastructure is not my speciality, this is just thinking aloud; others may point out the flaws in my thinking.

Regards

Jonathan Lewis