How-to: Apply OBIEE 11g Bundle Patch Set (11.1.1.6.4)

If you've been following the patch set history for Oracle Business Intelligence 11g, you'll notice that Oracle releases various OBIEE patches on a fairly regular basis - anywhere from every quarter to every month.

Unfortunately Oracle doesn't announce a new patch set via oracle.com or through any type of mass mailing. So to stay up to date you'll need to review the Oracle Reference Document '[ID 1488475.1] OBIEE 11g Required and Recommended Patch Sets' on http://support.oracle.com .

Today we'll cover how to apply Oracle's newest bundle patch (I call them mega patches!) 11.1.1.6.4. The bundle patches are actually a set of cumulative patches for Oracle Business Intelligence. Meaning, if you apply the 11.1.1.6.4 patch set, you do not need to apply 11.1.1.6.2 as it is already included.

Step 1) Make sure you have the latest OPatch installed on your machine

Oracle uses the Opatch tool to apply patches to OBIEE 11g, and if you attempt to apply a patch with an outdated Opatch version, you get the following error:

 "The OUI version is not applicable for current OPatch Version":

You can download the latest version of Opatch by searching http://support.oracle.com for 'How To Download And Install The Latest OPatch Version [ID 274526.1]' or by clicking here

Step 1.1) Extract the opatch folder to your FMW_HOME/Oracle_BI1 folder. There is most likely an Opatch folder already in there - that is the old version. Archive it then remove it from the Oracle_BI1 folder and replace it with the Opatch folder you just downloaded.


Step 2) Back Up Critical Folders


Make sure to save the following folders in the event of a failure when applying the patch set:

• The ORACLE_HOME\bifoundation\server directory
• The ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis1\repository
• The ORACLE_BI_HOME\bifoundation\jee\mapviewer.ear\web.war\WEB_INF\conf\mapViewerConfig.xml, if you have modified it

 Step 3) Shutdown Admin Server, Node Manager, Managed Server and OPMN

The entire weblogic domain must be shut down prior to applying the patch set


Step 4) Confirm Key Environment Variables are Set

On Windows: If the Oracle BI Home directory is C:\prod_mwhome\Oracle_BI1, then set the environment variables by entering the following:

• set ORACLE_HOME=C:\prod_mwhome\Oracle_BI1
• set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
• set JAVA_HOME=%ORACLE_HOME%\jdk
• set PATH=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
• set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\OPatch;%PATH%

Step 5) Download 11.1.6.4 Patch Set

The quickest way to do this is by navigating to the 'Patches & Updates' tab on support.oracle.com and using the 'Product or Family (advanced)' search feature to download the patch set for your specific OS:

Make sure you check 'Include all products in a family'!

Step 6) Unzip the patch set into  your $FMW_HOME/Oracle_BI1 folder

There should be 7 folders - one for each patch:

Patch	Abstract
14538078	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (1 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Installer
14538128	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (2 of 7) Oracle Real Time Decisions
14285344	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (3 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
14538164	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (4 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence ADF Components
14415773	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (5 of 7) Enterprise Performance Management Components Installed from BI Installer 11.1.1.6.x
14405222	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (6 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence
14409674	Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (7 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Client Installers and MapViewer

Step 7) Remove Catalog Manager Cache Files (if they exist)

•  On Linux, AIX, or Solaris: If the Oracle BI Home directory is prod_mwhome/Oracle_BI1, then go to the following directory:prod_mwhome/Oracle_BI1/bifoundation/web/catalogmanager/configuration/
• On Windows: If the Oracle Home directory is C:\prod_mwhome\Oracle_BI1, then go to the following directory: c:\prod_mwhome\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\catalogmanager\configuration\

and remove the following files:

org.eclipse.osgi
org.eclipse.equinox.app

Step 8) Apply the 7 patches in the 11.1.1.6.4 patch set

It is important that you apply the patches in the following order:

• 14538078
• 14538128
• 14285344
• 14538164
• 14415773
• 14405222
• 14409674

Navigate into each folder and run the following command : opatch apply  . The command should execute without error as shown below:

Step 9) Download the JDeveloper Patch

The  Oracle Reference Document '[ID 1488475.1] OBIEE 11g Required and Recommended Patch Sets' on http://support.oracle.com indicates that for 11.1.1.6.4 patch set you need to download and apply JDeveloper patch 13952743 which is not included in the core 7 patches.  Make sure to download 13952743 and unzip it to your $FMW_HOME/Oracle_BI1 folder as well.

Step 10) Update Environment Variables for the JDeveloper Patch

You'll need to change your environment variables for this patch as follows:

$ORACLE_HOME = FMW_HOME/oracle_common

Step 11) Apply the JDeveloper Patch

Using the same opatch apply command. Make sure you navigate to the 13952743 folder first!

Step 12) Validate all patches have been applied

Execute the following command: opatch lsinventory . All 8 patches should be listed.

Step 13) Validate Version in Answers

After starting your Admin Server, Node Manager, Managed Server and OPMN services. Navigate to your Administration tab in Answers to view the new version:

Potential Issue: Conflict with previous patches

In my earlier post I outlined how to apply an individual patch to resolve bug 1467168.1 (multiple pie charts error) by applying patch 14003822 .
If you've applied any individual patch and then later try to apply a bundle patch you'll get the following error:

 

 

indicating there is a conflict between the original patch and the 11.1.1.6.4 bundle patch. Go ahead and override the original patch with the new 11.1.1.6.4 patch set. This new patch set also includes any one off patches you've applied so it's safe to override.


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