Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) Patching

Be forewarned - patching OEM has changed!

I assume you are reading this because it has become necessary to patch your installation of the product now known as "Cloud Control".  Past iterations of this product were called:

Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM)
Oracle Monitoring System (OMS)
Oracle Grid Control (GC)

In fact, many of the commands in the software stack for this product still have these legacy names, and many of the documents associated with installation, administration, maintenance and use of OEM still use these names/acronyms. 

If you are about to patch, keep in mind, very similar to standard Oracle database software, that a utility named "opatch" will be used.  It comes with the software stack (still called "oms"), and is located in the standard location: $ORACLE_HOME/Opatch (which indicates the home directory for the product + the location of the "opatch" utility.  However, there is another patching utility, specifically for the OMS, called OMSPatcher, which is used as well. 

As of this writing, the proper document to be followed for applying the April 2020 OMS "PSU" patch are at the Oracle Support site (support.oracle.com).  It is also assumed you have access to support and a valid product license.  Please reference:

Patch 31058360: enterprise manager for oms plugins 13.3.1.0.200331

If your OMSPatcher software is out of date, you will have to update it by following procedures documented for patch 19999993 OMSPatcher v13.9.3.

This patch is applied the traditional way.   Move the patch bundle zip to $ORACLE_HOME/OMSpatch and then unzip it into the same directory (after backing up first).   Patching Opatch (when required) is where it gets interesting!  THE OMS MUST NOW BE DOWN TO PATCH OPATCH! We may no longer use the standard method.  You must now unzip the patch, and then invoke java (assuring the correct version is in your path, or calling the version imbedded in your Oracle home):

- If needed, install the software with custom inventory via:

java -jar /6880880/opatch_generic.jar -silent oracle_home=$ORACLE_HOME -invPtrLoc $YOUR_INVENTORY where inventory pointer location is the absolute path to the oraInst.loc file  In my next post, I will detail patching specifics, including the necessary steps  of backing up the OMS software and running a "prechceck".