Patch and OS Combinations | Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the Front Lines

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Usually a patch will be available for widespread use on all OSs, unless a problem is found that is OS specific (this occurs occasionally with a Windows environment, less often with others). Sometimes a patch is released for different combinations only as needed by the particular combination.

A good example of this is a database patch that is released for OS database release number combinations only as needed. In this case, the patch could not be ported immediately to every conceivable combination of these two components at exactly the same time. Sometimes a problem presents itself sporadically depending on how everything is configured and Oracle Support only ports the patch to those combinations under which the problem is reported.

For example, a problem with depreciating fixed assets may appear after an upgrade of the database to Release 9.2. It will only appear if a company is using the Financial modules. It may end up being a database problem for which you have to make minor modifications to the binaries on the database server via a patch. But the database releases are supported on many different OSs and the problem appears under both 9.2.0.1 and 9.2.0.2. Oracle would have to simultaneously release 2 patch sets per OS for 20 different OS versions only to later come to realize that probably not even half of the patch sets were ever used. Instead, Oracle usually releases the most common combinations and waits to backport a patch to a different database/OS combination when the client company requests it. A backport is a fix that is made to an earlier release that was originally created in a later (or different) release. It is often referred to as backporting or simply porting a patch.

To request a backport is simple. You log an iTAR and explain what the problem is and that you cannot find a suitable combination in the set of patches that are currently available.

It is not a foregone conclusion that just because you have requested Oracle port the patch to another combination that it actually will. There is every chance that it will, but Oracle may also turn you down and tell you that you have to upgrade to the next patch of the database (for example bringing 9.2.0.2 to 9.2.0.3). You will have to be aware that it is always a possibility that Oracle will say no and give you an alternative option.

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