I have 3 Oracle 8i database instances (8.1.7.0) on a server, all using the same oracle home. I've been asked to patch Oracle to 8.1.7.4, but only for TWO of the databases (they want me to keep the other db on 8.1.7.0). Is there a way to do this? Previously I've always patched Oracle and then ran the upgrade script(s) on each database on the box. If I simply DON'T run the upgrade script on one of the databases, will that database continue to function correctly, or is it more complicated than that?
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Yeah, I kind of thought that is was all or none because they share the same Oracle home, and the binaries are changed. Can somebody explain this "multiple Oracle homes" thing and how it would work? I assume I'd need different listeners, but what else? In order to accomplish something like that, would I just shut down every instance and listener process, have the AIX admin copy the current Oracle home to another filesystem, and then have one instance looking at the other Oracle home via my environment variable?
pretty much.
obviously, the 1 instance will have nothing shared with the other 2, so it will require it's own listener (and port, but i'm sure it already has its own port?) and set of scripts to startup on reboot, if desired. you shouldn't have to shut it down to copy over the binaries, as they're not changing. but then, you'll need to shut down the one instance, and then adjust all the config files before you bring it back up on the other ORACLEHOME...
on solaris, there's also the /var/opt/oracle/oratab file, i would imagine something similar on aix?
@trojanguy1:--->Can somebody explain this "multiple Oracle homes" thing and how it would work?
You should say Mutiple Oracle home in Unix because it would make a heck lot difference in Unix and windows. In unix, you could, as you said, just copy over the Oracle_HOME to a new file system, and it's done. But in window, you have only to install another copy of oracle..
but You guys are NOT right about LISTENER process. in fact, One listener can Listen for multiple oracle_homes, especially they are in the same version.
remember Oracle is implemented as Processes, so LIstener process can listen at different ports for different oracle processes.
But in practice, It's recommended that you have a dedicated listener process for one oracle instance because sometimes, especially in a busy system, listener can get quite busy.....
good luck!
Yes, this is on UNIX (AIX, actually). There is an /etc/oratab file that has the environment variables on it (I believe that's used for the dbshut and dbstart binaries, right?). From what I gather I will need to make a copy of the first Oracle home before patching so that I have /oracle_home_8170 and /oracle_home_8174 (just an example of filesystem names for simplicity). I know I would have to change the /etc/oratab file for "instance 3" to point to the 8170 home, and the other 2 instances to point to the 8174 home. What other config files that I'd need to change are you speaking of?
The listener stuff also confuses me (unfortunately I never ever had a class on Oracle networking). Can you use one listener.ora file and have different ports, or do I need to have a different listener.ora file for each different port?
--->Can you use one listener.ora file and have different ports, or do I need to have a different listener.ora file for each different port?
I think I said that in the last post, it's the best practice that you have a different listener for each different port, therefore for each different oracle instance.
(of course, you can have one listener process listening for different ports)
---->What other config files that I'd need to change are you speaking of?
in order to make it work for new ORACLE_HOME, you should change the Client tnsnames.ora file too, nothing else as far as I remember..
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: fim32Posted on 2004-02-09 at 15:06:44ID: 10316045
um, i don't think it works like that...
specifically, there are possible cases where the patched oracle binaries may require references to items in the database that are created by the upgrade script.
i would just duplicate the oracle_home and leave the older database on its own (presuming unix build). i think on windows, you'd have to reinstall...