Oracle 19c - Oracle Introduced Monthly Recommended Patches (MRPs) - FAQs and Overview
Overview:
Starting with Oracle Database 19c RU19.17 (mid-October 2022), MRPs will be delivered for each RU in the 6 months following each RU's release. These will include the fixes documented in "Oracle Database Important Recommended Patches" (Note 555.1), RU regression fixes plus the prior MRPs for the RU.
While RUs will continue to be available on all supported platforms, MRPs will only be offered on Linux X86-64 platforms. Customers can continue to request one-off patches on all supported platforms. If a particular month does not have new recommended fixes for an RU, then no MRP will be released, and an annotation will be added in the relevant MOS notes to avoid confusion. Merge patches will be provided if there are conflicts between one-off patches and the latest MRP for an RU.
The latest MRP for 19c can be downloaded from section 6.2 "Database 19" of MOS (Note 888.1).
MRPs - Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What will MRPs include?
A: MRPs will include the fixes documented in "Oracle Database Important Recommended Patches" (Note 555.1), critical fixes from the 19c Known issues MOS Note, plus the prior MRPs for the RU
Q2: Will the next/upcoming RU contain the fixes included in the prior released MRPs?
A: Fixes included in the first three MRPs for the prior RU will be included in the next planed Database RU.
Q3: What platforms will have MRPs?
A: MRPs will only be offered on Linux.x86-64 platforms
Q4: What platforms will have the quarterly RUs that I am used to?
A: RUs will continue to be available on all supported platforms
Q5: What can I do for patches in-between RUs if I am not on Linux.X86-64?
A: Customers can continue to request one-off patches on all supported platforms
Q6: What if there are no new recommended patches for a month?
A: If a particular month does not have any new recommended fixes for an RU, then no MRP will be released. Instead an annotation will be added in the relevant MOS notes to avoid confusion.
Q7: What if a patch that I already have installed on top of the latest RU conflicts with one of the patches within the latest MRP?
A: A conflict resolution patch should be requested via My Oracle Support or file an Service Request with Database support to obtain such a patch prior to installing the MRP. An MRP will detect conflicts prior to install and require that any conflicting patches be uninstalled to proceed with the MRP install. Later the conflict resolution patch can be applied to get back the prior conflicting patch.
Q8: Will DataPump Bundle Patch (MOS Note 2819284.1) be part of MRP?
A: The Datapump Bundle Patch is recommended via 555.1 MOS Note. However, as they are not RAC Rolling, they will not be in the MRP. The MRP needs to be RAC rolling.
Q9: Will MRPs contain security fixes? And will MRPs also contain monthly security fixes allowing customers to deploy them quicker than in the quarterly RU cycle?
A: MRPs may include critical 3rd Party Security vulnerabilities. The Quarterly Database Release Update (RU) will continue to be primary mechanism for delivery of Database Security vulnerabilities announced as part of the Quarterly Security CPU program
Q10: Will MRPs made available on ExaCS and ExaCC, and on other cloud deployments in OCI?
A: Cloud deployment options for MRPs are being worked on and will be communicated shortly.
Q11: Will Enterprise Manager recommend the MRPs in Fleet Maintenance as "recommended" for our environments?
A: The latest available MRP will be "Recommended" on the latest available Database RU.
Q12: Do we need to apply MRPs monthly now?
A: MRPs are a collection of one-off recommended fixes provided at monthly intervals via a single downloadable patch. Oracle Database does recommend that customers install these on a monthly basis so that their Database installations are protected from the issues addressed as part of the recommended fixes.
Q13: Do we need to recertify our application when we apply an MRP?
A: Customers should test their applications with an MRP at the same level as when they install one-off or merge patches. An MRP is just a collection of recommended One-off's packaged together for easy of download and install.
Q14: Does the MRP change the release number?
A: MRPs do not change the Database Release version number.
Q15: Will MRP be released in the same quarter as its RU or in the following month of RU's release?
A: In the following month.
Q16: Are MRPs only applicable for on- premises databases?
A: MRPs are applicable for both cloud databases, and on-premises databases.
Q17: When 19.21 DB RU is being applied , will opatch report a conflict if (19.20 DB RU + MRP 1 + MRP 2+MRP 3) are applied? What sort of conflict – Subset /Superset?
A: No. There will not be a conflict reported as the next RU will act as a superset of the prior 3 MRPs installed.
References:
Introducing Monthly Recommended Patches (MRPs) and FAQ (Doc ID 2898740.1)
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