Database Patches

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Database patches are applied to the database to fix problems and bridge gaps in its operations. Database patches are far fewer than Apps Layer and are released less frequently than other types of patches. The numbering scheme is currently dependent primarily on the major release of the database you are dealing with. This is mostly due to the addition of significant new functionality that comes with the installation of Release 9.2 of the database. What follows is a brief description and comparison of the two major database releases most typically used in new and migrated Oracle E-Business Suite implementations.

For 9.2.0.3.0 or 8.1.7.3:

• 9 is the major release number. This is the broadest and most general identifier (the 9 in 9i) representing a new version of the RDBMS software that contains new functionality. In Version 8 databases, it is the version number.

• 2 is the database maintenance release number. It represents some new functionality in Version 9, but primarily it simply represents maintenance features and bug fixes. In Version 8, it is the new features release number and brings with it significant new features and some bug fixes.

• 0 is the Applications Server release number. In Version 8, it is the maintenance release number. This is the biggest divergence in the 8 and 9 conventions other than primarily a naming change. In Version 8, it was the maintenance release that brings a few new features, simpler maintenance, and bug fixes. In Version 9, it now indicates the release of the 9iAS portion of the database.

• 3 is the component-specific release number. In Version 8, it is a generic patch set number. In Version 8, this indicated that it was a patch release that had been ported to all supported platforms. In Version 9, it represents the release level that is specific to any particular component in the database set. With the new configuration and default installed components of the RDBMS, different components within the major release can be at different component releases depending on what component patches have been applied and what interim releases are brought out by Oracle.

• 0 is the platform-specific release number in both Versions 8 and 9. Typically, this is released as a patch set for a particular platform. If the same patch set is released for more than one platform or OS, all platform-specific release numbers for that patch set for all platforms will have the same release number in this position.

If you want to determine what exact version of the database server is currently installed, as well as determine all release levels of all components you currently have configured on your system, you can run the following query:

 SELECT * FROM product_component_version; 

For readability, you may have to predefine the column width of the Product, Version, and Status columns in the product_ component_version table, as there may be differences in the definition of the table column size between different releases of the database. Alternatively, you can query the V$VERSION view to retrieve information on the individual component level.

Database patches are applied in whatever manner the README instructs. These patches usually ship with their own application utility, use the ./runInstaller method, or come with instructions to download whatever utility the DBA needs to enable the installation.

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