adpatch - Oracle Applications r12

Part 1: Basics: This post will guide you about the patching  for oracle Applications.

1. Patch File Structure

Patches generally consist of a top-level directory that may contain several files, and one or more subdirectories. The top-level directory is named , where is the number of the patch. The most important files in the top-level directory are: README.txt, README.html and the unified driver file (named u.drv).

2.  Patch Formats

3. Adpatch will do the following

Use AutoPatch to apply patches to the Oracle Applications file system or database. It
gathers necessary information about your system through a series of prompts. When
you have completed the prompts, AutoPatch performs all the tasks required to apply
the patch, including the following:

■ Reads patch metadata to determine patch dependencies and requirements.
■ Uploads patch information from a prior patch session to the database (if needed).
■ Reads and validates the patch driver file and reads the product driver files.
■ Compares version numbers of object modules from the product libraries and
version numbers of the existing files against the patch files.
■ Backs up all existing files that will be changed by the patch.
■ Copies files.
■ Archives files in libraries.
■ Relinks executables.
■ Generates forms, reports, message, graphics, and Java archive (JAR) files.
■ Compiles JSP files and invalid database objects.
■ Updates database objects.
■ Runs AutoConfig to update configuration files, if any template files are introduced
or updated by the patch.
■ Saves patch information to the database.

AutoPatch takes no action if a patch contains no new updates to files or database
objects in your system. If AutoPatch detects that there is a previously failed AutoPatch
session, it will attempt to recover that session


4. Enable Maintenance Mode


Before you initiate an AutoPatch session, you must
a)Enable maintainance mode (Use adpatch options=hotpatch if you want to avoid turning on the maintainance mode)

 The Oracle Applications Manager (OAM) Maintenance Mode page allows
you to schedule system downtime and send alert messages to notify users of the
downtime schedule

5. Use adpatch utility to apply the patch.

6. Log Files


In addition to the main log file (adpatch.log), AutoPatch also creates several other log
files for specific purposes, for example, to record all the actions associated with
parallel workers. The log files are written to $APPL_TOP/admin//log (UNIX),
where is the value of your ORACLE_SID or TWO_TASK variable, or
in %APPL_TOP%\admin \\log (Windows), where is the value of
ORACLE_SID or LOCAL. Review these files when the AutoPatch session is complete