Tuesday, May 8, 2018

R12. Release 2

R12.2

1.) Difference in R12.1 and R12.2
 1)In R12.2 we have two kind of filesystems fs1(run filesystem) and fs2(patch filesystem) where as In R12.1.3 we only deal with one application filesystem.

2)In R12.2 we have the Application servers replaced by Weblogic server to manage the technology statck.
The 10.1.3 Home is replaced by FMW  (Fusion Middleware Home) i.e $FMW_HOME
The major change in R12.2 is involvement of Weblogic server to manage all the forms,oacore servers
where as in R12.1.3 we had the Application server 10.1.3 to manage the web home or Java Home

fusion middlewire -- weblogic plus http server

web services ,java servicse ,form services. excpet apachve (OHS service)


3) Online Patching support via 11gR2 Edition-Based Redefinition .The  adpatch(patching) in R 12.1.3 is replaced by adop(online patching) in R 12.2.4 .


Patching 


1. What is Online Patching?
Ans: Online patching is a new patching mechanism that is available with R12.2 that allows the application of patches while the system is up and running, and the users are working as normal.

2. Which Oracle E-Business Suite releases Online Patching feature is available?
Ans: Online patching is used with Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 and higher.

3. What types of patch are applied online?
Ans: All Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 patches are applied online. This includes one-off patches, patch rollups, consolidated updates and security patches.

4. What is the Online Patching cycle?
Ans: The Online Patching cycle is a sequence of inter-related steps (phases) used to apply patches to an Oracle E-Business Suite system.

5. What tool is used to apply online patches?
Ans: The AD Online Patching (adop) command-line utility is used to manage the Online Patching cycle.adop invokes adpatch is the background only

6: Is there any downtime in Online Patching?
Ans: There is a short period of downtime when the application tier services are shut down and restarted. The database remains open all the time.

7 Once I upgrade to Release 12.2, can I still apply patches in the traditional way?
Ans: No. All patches for Release 12.2 will be online patches. The traditional, pre-12.2 method of applying patches will not work.There are option like downtime and hotpatch which works more like traditional way but they are used for patches directed by Oracle

8. What is the Online Patching infrastructure?
Ans:This infrastructure includes database objects edition and patch/run file system components.

9. Does Online Patching require the 11gR2 Oracle Database Edition Based Redefinition (EBR) feature?
An: Yes. Online patching depends on the Edition Based Redefinition (EBR) feature that was introduced in the Oracle 11gR2 Database. Most notably, EBR allows editioning of code objects in the database. To do this, it provides new object types such as editions, editioning views, and cross-edition triggers, all of which are part of the Online Patching infrastructure.

10. What are the phases that make up the Online Patching cycle?
Ans: The Online Patching cycle consists of the following phases:
1.Prepare a virtual copy (patch edition) of the running application (run edition).
2.Apply patches to the patch edition of the application.
3.Finalize the system in readiness for the cutover phase.
4.Cutover to the patch edition and make it the new run edition.
5.Cleanup obsolete definitions or data to recover space.

11.What downtime is required during an Online Patching cycle? or as the name spells     online,there is not downtime in the whole process?
Ans: The cutover phase requires a short period of downtime (typically a few minutes) for transition tasks such as a restart of the application tier services.

12. Is any downtime required for the database tier?
Ans: No. In fact, the database needs to be up and running during each phase of the Online Patching cycle. Suite database.

13. How does Online Patching work on the application tier?
Ans: During Release 12.2 installation, Rapid Install will lay down two copies of the application tier file system. One of the copies will be labeled as the run file system, and the other as the patch file system. Subsequently, when a patch is applied, adop will:
1).Synchronize the contents of the run file system to the patch file system. This happens during the prepare phase.
2).Perform patching actions on the patch file system. This happens during the apply phase.
3).Finally, during the cutover phase, the adop utility restarts the application tier services. The patch file system is then promoted to be the new run file system, and the old run file system becomes the patch file system for the next patching cycle.
Note that a third file system, the non-editioned file system (fs_ne), is created to store files containing data that is needed across all file systems,such as log files.

14. How do I apply Oracle Fusion Middle-ware patches in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2?
Ans: During the apply phase of an Online Patching cycle, you apply Oracle Fusion Middle-ware patches to the Oracle homes of the patch edition file system. Then, after the cut over phase is complete, you synchronize the file systems by performing an fs_clone operation. (Also see My Oracle Support Knowledge Document 1355068.1, as listed in Appendix A.)

15. Can I use the patch edition for testing and development purposes?
Ans: As a specialized component of the Online Patching infrastructure, the patch edition is not supported for use as a test environment. You should continue to employ a separate, dedicated test environment.
16.Can Online Patching be used with database technologies such as Active Dataguard and Flashback?
Ans:Yes. Online patching can be used alongside Active Dataguard and Flashback. In fact we can use flashback to rollback the changes after the final cutover

17. What are the key differences between the DBA_OBJECTS, DBA_OBJECTS_AE, and AD_OBJECTS tables?
Ans: DBA_OBJECTS shows object information for the current edition, but the STATUS column in this view may show the object as VALID even if the object actually needs to be compiled before use.
DBA_OBJECTS_AE is similar to DBA_OBJECTS, but shows object information across all editions. This has the drawback of showing objects in old editions that are no longer accessible to the application.
AD_OBJECTS is the Oracle E-Business Suite workaround to the unreliable STATUS column in DBA_OBJECTS. AD_OBJECTS shows the correct status for each object visible in the current edition. It also shows whether the object is “actual” (a real object) in the current edition, or a “stub” object (the object definition was inherited from a previous edition). You can query AD_OBJECTS to locate objects that need to be recompiled before use:
SQL>select owner, object_name, object_type from ad_objects where status = ‘INVALID’
order by 1,2,3
/
The same logic can be applied by running the script:
SQL>sqlplus apps/apps @$AD_TOP/sql/ADZDSHOWINVALID

18. Does Online Patching increase the network port requirements on an Oracle E-Business Suite instance?
Ans: Yes. Online patching requires an additional set of network ports for the Oracle WebLogic Server managed servers on the second file system. During the cutover phase, the managed servers run simultaneously on the patch file system and run file system for a brief period, in a rolling transition process.

19. Is it possible to abort an Online Patching session?
Ans:Yes. Up to cutover, you can run the abort phase to undo the changes made so far in the patching cycle. It is not possible to back out patches once cutover is complete.

20. Is the shared APPL_TOP configuration supported with Online Patching?
Ans: Yes. A shared APPL_TOP configuration is supported and recommended for multi-node application tier implementations in Release 12.2.

21. How does adop work in a multi-node environment?
Ans: The adop Online Patching tool uses remote APIs and ssh login to execute patching operations on remote nodes in a multi-node environment. The node that launches adop becomes the ‘master’ node, and the remote nodes are referred to as ‘slaves’.

22. How do I determine the status of my Online Patching session?
Ans: You can run the adop -status command. This will display information that includes phases completed and the time taken. If you want additional details of operations performed, you can run the adop -status -detail command.

23. What is downtime mode and when can it be used?
Ans: To optimize the process of upgrading to E-Business Suite Release 12.2, the AD Delta 5 Release Update Pack introduced downtime mode, which is used as follows:
$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch_number> apply_mode=downtime
Downtime mode does not use an online patching cycle. The process of applying a patch in downtime mode completes more quickly than in online mode, but at the cost of increased system downtime.
When applying Oracle E-Business Suite patches in this mode, adop will first confirm that the application tier services are down, and will then proceed to apply the patch to the run edition of the Oracle E-Business Suite database and file system.
Downtime mode is supported for:
-All patching (including post-upgrade patching) that forms part of the Release 12.2 upgrade process and is completed before the system is scaled up, the application tier services are started, and users log in to the upgraded system.
-Single-node development or test environments, where production support and high availability are not required.
Downtime mode allows the 12.2 upgrade process to be completed as quickly as possible. Once the upgrade is complete and users are online, all subsequent patching on a production system should use online mode, not downtime mode, unless the patch readme states otherwise.
Several restrictions apply to the use of downtime mode:
-You cannot validate successful patch application before cutover to the updated code takes place.
-There is no capability to abort a failed patch and return to the existing run edition.
-Release 12.2 patches are not normally tested in downtime mode.
-Use of downtime mode in a multi-node application tier environment is not tested or supported.

24. What can I do to reduce the time required for cutover?
Ans: It is important to distinguish between the time needed for the whole cutover phase, and the downtime period within the phase. The actual downtime (during which users cannot log in) is significantly shorter than the whole phase. To help reduce the overall time taken by cutover, you can do three things:
-Run the finalize phase explicitly, to obviate the need for cut over to do so.
-Shut down the concurrent managers before running cut over, to avoid having to wait for concurrent requests to complete. Alternatively, ensure no long-running concurrent jobs are submitted while a patching cycle is in progress.
-Ensure you are using the maximum number of parallel workers your system will support.

25. What is fs_clone and how is it used?
Ans: The command adop phase=fs_clone is a special command that is used to copy the run file system to the patch file system. Also see previous question.

26. Will AutoConfig and adadmin maintenance tasks such as adrelink,forms compilation,report compilation be performed online?
Ans: Yes, these maintenance tasks will be performed online. The relevant operations will be targeted to the patch file system, and should be performed during a patching cycle. They will not have any impact on the run file system.

27. Does Online Patching change the way data fix patches are applied to Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2?
Ans: Yes. Data fix patches (used to fix transactional data) require special handling. The patch readme will give full instructions.

28. How do I apply or patch my customizations in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2?
Ans: You should apply your customizations to the patch edition during the apply phase of the Online Patching cycle. Because this happens prior to the cutover phase, your changes will be propagated to the new run edition (along with all the fixes in the patches applied during the patching cycle).




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