Applying PSU 12.1.1.0.4 to WebLogic 12c…and patch conflicts!

Following on from my recent WebLogic 12.1.1.0 installation on Linux, the first thing I then did was look for the latest PSU (Patch Set Update) to cover off the latest bug fixes and security vulnerabilities, that PSU being…

PSU No: 12.1.1.0.4 (April 2013)
Patch ID: YJCB
Patch No: 16083652

To find the relevant patch number, I did the following:

1. Checked the Critical Patch Updates, Security Alerts and Third Party Bulletin
2. Clicked on Critical Patch Update – April 2013
3. Looked for “Oracle WebLogic Server” and clicked on Fusion Middleware next to the product
4. This then took me to the Patch Set Update and Critical Patch Update April 2013 Availability Document where I searched for “WebLogic Server 12.1.1.0”.

Then you can download the patch from MOS (no OPatch utility required).

Set your environment:

. ~/set_wls12.env
echo $MW_HOME
/u01/app/oracle/middleware
echo $WLS_HOME
/u01/app/oracle/middleware/wls_12.1.1

Unzip the patch to the cache_dir directory:

cd $MW_HOME/utils/bsu/cache_dir
cp /u01/app/oracle/software/p16083652_12110_Generic.zip $MW_HOME/utils/bsu/cache_dir
unzip p16083652_12110_Generic.zip

Install the patch using the Smart Update command utility:

cd $MW_HOME/utils/bsu
./bsu.sh -install -patch_download_dir=$MW_HOME/utils/bsu/cache_dir -patchlist=YJCB -prod_dir=$WLS_HOME

…at this point, conflicts were detected 🙁

Checking for conflicts..
Conflict(s) detected - resolve conflict condition and execute patch installation again
Conflict condition details follow:
Patch YJCB is mutually exclusive and cannot coexist with patch(es): B33B,NST7,97L5,B84Y,1U7B,4331,WC8G,RCMZ,53JP,8PE3

This means that the new PSU patch is conflicting with the other patches listed above, so I have 3 options here:

1. Forget about the latest PSU patch and leave as is – not recommended.
2. Request an “overlay” patch from Oracle Support which effectively merges all of the patches (if some patches listed above aren’t included in the new PSU).
3. If the new PSU contains all of the above patches, remove them first, then apply the new PSU.

Using the following MOS note, I checked each of the patches listed against the list of patches fixed by the PSU, and all apart from one were included in the PSU:

Oracle WebLogic Server Patch Set Update 12.1.1.0.4 Fixed Bugs List [ID 1544310.1]

The bug numbers were obtained by running a report against the current installation, looking for the patch IDs, and then checking the JAR file names:

cd $MW_HOME/utils/bsu
./bsu.sh -report

Patch ID 53JP for example, matches up with bug 13603813:

Patch ID.................. 53JP
 CR(s).....................
 Description............... MERGE LABEL REQUEST ON TOP OF 12.1.1 FOR CDI BUGS
MERGE LABEL REQUEST ON TOP OF 12.1.1 FOR CDI BUGS
 Classpath
 Classpath type............ SYSTEM
 Classpath control jar..... weblogic_patch.jar
 Jar....................... BUG13603813_1211.jar

So, in summary…

Patch ID    Bug No.
B33B              13536596
NST7             13421471
97L5               13657792
B84Y              13391585
1U7B              13641115
4331               13361720
WC8G            13516712
RCMZ            13424251
53JP               13603813 (not included in PSU)
8PE3              13019800

I decided to go for option 3 and keep the latest PSU patch.  I would forfeit patch ID 53JP in doing so, but I could live without that one for now 🙂

So I removed all of the conflicting patches reported earlier on:

./bsu.sh -prod_dir=$WLS_HOME -patchlist=B33B,NST7,97L5,B84Y,1U7B,4331,WC8G,RCMZ,53JP,8PE3 -verbose -remove

… and then reapplied the latest PSU (which was successful this time!):

./bsu.sh -install -patch_download_dir=$MW_HOME/utils/bsu/cache_dir -patchlist=YJCB -prod_dir=$WLS_HOME

Restart any WebLogic servers that are running to pick up the PSU changes.

Check the PSU version:

. $WLS_HOME/server/bin/setWLSEnv.sh
java weblogic.version|grep PSU
WebLogic Server 12.1.1.0.4 PSU Patch for BUG16083652 Mon Apr 01 11:49:03 IST 2013

That’s it, WebLogic is installed and patched up-to-date.

For more details on dealing with WebLogic PSU conflicts, there are a couple of good MOS notes here:

Announcing Oracle WebLogic Server PSUs (Patch Set Updates) [ID 1306505.1]
Replacement Patches for WebLogic Server PSU Conflict Resolution [ID 1471192.1]