Tag Archives: Zero-Downtime

21c, Zero-Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching – Silent Mode

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Recently I made two posts about the process for patch/upgrading your 21 Grid Infrastructure (GI) while the databases continue to be running. The first post shows how to do this using the GUI interface, and the second one show more details about the process for AFD/ACFS Kernel Driver Update. But here in this post, I will show how to do the Zero-Downtime Patch (zeroDowntimeGIPatching – ZDGIP) in silent mode.

This way to do the patch is important because allows you to automatize it. You can create your own script and call it (using Ansible, Puppet, Chief, etc.) to upgrade your servers (or farms) remotely.

Current Environment

The current environment is the same of the first post:

  • OEL 8.4 Kernel 5.4.17-2102.201.3.el8uek.x86_64.
  • Oracle GI 21c, version 21.3 with no one-off or patches installed.
  • Oracle Database 21c, RU 21.5 (with OCW 21.5).
  • TFA version is 21.4 (last available in March 2022).
  • Nodes are not using Transparent HugePages.
  • Is a RAC installation, with two nodes.

You can see the output for the info above in this txt file.

And I will apply the same RU 21.5 (21.5.0.0.220118) for GI which is patch 33531909.

Patch Process

The patch process is almost the same as the first post, the main change is the response file and the way to call the gridSetup.sh. So, for this reason, I recommend for you read the first (and second) post. Below you will see a quick review of previous steps and a focus on the new 

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21c, updateosfiles after Grid Infrastructure Patch

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Recently I made one post about how to use the new feature -zeroDowntimeGIPatching when patching the Grid Infrastructure for 21c. It is a new feature/option that allows your database continues to be running while the grid is patched. You can see my post here. But during that post I talked about the usage of -updateosfiles when calling the rootcrs.sh and want to clarify some details and provide better examples.

Current environment

For this post, my environment is:

  • OEL 8.4 Kernel 5.4.17-2102.201.3.el8uek.x86_64.
  • Oracle GI 21c, version 21.5.
  • Is a RAC installation, with two nodes.

The GI was upgraded from 21.3 to 21.5 as demonstrated in my post.

Compatibility Matrix

Before you think about upgrading the ACFS/AFD drivers you need to check if they are compatible with the version or kernel that you are running. The only place to check this is the MOS note ACFS Support On OS Platforms (Certification Matrix). (Doc ID 1369107.1). On that note, you will see tables for each major version (18c, 19c, 21c), and you can see the versions of Linux Version and Kernel versions that are compatible. Below is marked for OEL 8:

And you can see that my version of Linux Kernel is compatible. If your version is not compatible, not update the ACFS/AFD kernel drivers.

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21c, Zero-Downtime Oracle Grid Infrastructure Patching

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Oracle 21c delivered a lot of new features and for Grid infrastructure one of the most interesting is the zero-downtime patch (zeroDowntimeGIPatching). This basically allows your database continues to be running while you patch/upgrade your GI. The official doc can be seen here. Let’s say that is an evolution of the Out of Place (OOP) patch for GI.

In this post I will show how to do that, but some details before starting:

  • This post shows how to do the zero-downtime patch using GUI mode.
  • I will do another post showing how to do in silent mode the same procedure. So, it can be automatized.
  • In a third post, I will detail how the zero-downtime works behind the scenes and will discuss some logs.

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