Installing Patches and Maintenance Packs

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Downloading and Installing Maintenance Packs

This section includes the following topics:

Overview

You can install maintenance packs using Smart Update, which allows you to retrieve code and media archives from BEA Customer Support. Media archives can be retrieved only for components currently installed in the target BEA Home directory.

For offline machines, you must acquire an Upgrade Installer from BEA Customer Support.

When installing a maintenance pack, Smart Update creates a backup file containing the state of the current installation and information about files that were added during the upgrade. This backup file is used to restore system state if any errors occur during installation, and when you uninstall or roll back a maintenance pack installation.

For a typical upgrade installation of WebLogic Products and AquaLogic Service Bus, a minimum of 430 MB of available disk space is required.

When installing a maintenance pack, note the following important information:

Using the Node Manager in a Clustered Environment

If you are using Node Manager to manage your servers in a clustered environment, you should back up the following directory and files on all machines that are running the Node Manager before upgrading your installations:

Windows:
WL_HOME\common\nodemanager
WL_HOME\server\bin\startNodeManager.cmd

UNIX:
WL_HOME/common/nodemanager
WL_HOME/server/bin/startNodeManager.sh

In these path names, WL_HOME is the root directory of the product installation, for example, c:\bea\wlserver_10.3.

Once the upgrade installation is complete, you should restore these files.

For more information about Node Manager, see Node Manager Administrator’s Guide.

Removing Pointers to Custom Patch Profiles

All patch profiles are specific to a maintenance pack level of a product installation. When you upgrade the maintenance pack level of a product installation in which you have been using custom patch profiles, you need to modify the appropriate domain or server start scripts so that they no longer point to those custom profiles.

Viewing Available Maintenance Packs

You can display the Maintenance Pack Update window periodically to check for available maintenance pack updates. When you log in to Smart Update, it checks the version numbers of the products associated with the current target installation, and then connects to BEA Customer Support to check for available maintenance packs. The Maintenance Pack Update window includes three panes:

Note: Smart Update checks for only those products that are associated with the current target installation. If you have multiple BEA Home directories on your system, you must run Smart Update once for each directory to make sure that available maintenance packs are installed for each one. For more information about BEA Home directories, see Choosing a Target Installation.

Applying the Selected Maintenance Pack

To install maintenance packs using the Maintenance Pack Update window, perform the following steps:

Note: Verify if the install directory entry for Workshop for WebLogic in registry.xml points to the correct location before upgrading. If not, correct it by manually editing registry.xml.
  1. Make backup copies of any files or applications that you have created in the product home directory; for example, in WL_HOME. (As part of the upgrade procedure, the installation program automatically overwrites any files, including applications, that you have created in this directory. Files that are outside of the product home directory—for example, in user_projects—are not affected.)
  2. Shut down any servers that are running. Hot installation of a maintenance pack is not supported.
  3. Start Smart Update, as described in Starting Smart Update.
  4. In the Smart Update main window, choose Maintenance Packs > Update... This displays the Maintenance Pack Update window.
  5. In the Installed Products pane of the Maintenance Pack Update window, select the release for the product you want to update.

    6. If any maintenance packs are available, they are displayed in the Upgrade Options section of the window.

  6. In the Upgrade Options pane, select the maintenance pack to be installed and click OK.

    7. The Login dialog box is displayed, in which you enter your BEA Support ID and password to access BEA Customer Support. For information about obtaining your BEA Support ID, see Obtaining a BEA Account and Accessing Your Contract Entitlement.

    Note: You must have a valid support contract to install a maintenance pack.
  7. The BEA Installation Program Welcome window is displayed, from which you can proceed with the installation. You may cancel the installation at any time by clicking Exit.

    8. After the installation is complete, the Maintenance Pack Update window is displayed, indicating the upgraded release level in the Installed Products pane. Choose Exit to close the Maintenance Pack Update window. The Smart Update main window reappears after quitting the Maintenance Pack Update window.

Upgrading Web Server Plug-Ins

If you are using a Web server with the product installation, it is important that you keep your Web server up to date to ensure you have all the latest security patches and support. Updated Web server plug-ins are included when you upgrade your WebLogic Server installation. Although it is not required, you may want to replace the Web server plug-ins installed with your Web server with the updated versions.

For details about installing the Web server plug-ins, see Using Web Server Plug-Ins with WebLogic Server.


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