Oracle Database Patching Strategies

Abstract

In this chapter, you’ll learn about patching. Sometimes you may think that everything is perfect from the application side, but your database is not working properly. It throws unnecessary warnings and errors or produces unexpected results. The issue could be at the database binary level or at the database level. This improper behavior is called a bug. It is a failure or fault in the program that makes it behave in unintended ways. A fix, called a patch, has to be applied to the bug. In other words, a patch is a piece of code that fixes a bug or improves the software. Patching is adding or modifying something at the binary or database level to apply bug fixes or to add required changes. Regular patching also helps the database software be strong enough to handle external vulnerabilities. Oracle releases security fixes four times per year, and applying these patches should be part of the database administrator’s routine.