Installing Patches and Maintenance Packs

Introduction

What’s New in Smart Update Version 3.1

Products Supported by Smart Update Version 3.1

Quick Reference Information

How Smart Update Simplifies Patch and Maintenance Pack Management

Features for Downloading and Applying Patches

Direct Connection to BEA Customer Support

Patch Validation and Conflict Checking

Command-Line Interface

Support for Distributed Patching

Support for Patching Machines that Cannot Connect to BEA Customer Support

Smart Update Client

Patches and the Patch Catalog

Maintenance Packs

Simplified Maintenance Rollback

Scoping a Patch to a Specific Applications, Domains, or Servers

Features for Installing Maintenance Pack Updates

Easy-to-Use Graphical Interface

Listing of Available Maintenance Packs

Downgrade Capability

Resources Available from BEA Customer Support

Overview of Applying Maintenance Patches

Providing Maintenance to Distributed Machines

Maintaining Machines that are not Connected to BEA Customer Support

Patching New Versions of Smart Update Manually

Ensuring Smart Update Matches the Latest Version Used on the Connected Machine

Overview of Installing Maintenance Pack Updates

Starting Smart Update

Before You Start

Designating the Patch Download Directory

Obtaining Required Access

How to Start Smart Update

Logging In to Smart Update

Related Topics

Obtaining a BEA Account and Accessing Your Contract Entitlement

Working Offline

Setting Preferences

Choosing a Patch Download Directory

Displaying Patch Sets in the Downloaded Patches Panel

Setting HTTP Proxy Information

Related Topics

Downloading and Applying Patches

Choosing a Target Installation

Specifying Other BEA Home Directories

Downloading Private Patches

Related Topics

Downloading Publicly Available Patches

Validating Patches Prior to Download

When Validation Prior to Download is Recommended

Validation Process

Using the Patch Download Validation Dialog Box

Refreshing the View of Patches and Patch Sets

Viewing Patch Information

How to Display Patches

Displaying a List of Publicly Available Patches

Displaying the Contents of the Patch Download Directory

About Patches Displayed in the Get Patches Tab

Viewing Patch and Patch Set Details

Viewing Details about Patches

Viewing Details About Patch Sets

Viewing Currently Downloaded Patches

Applying and Managing Patches

About the Manage Patches Tab

About Patch Profiles

Applying a Patch to the Target Installation

Removing a Patch or Patch Set from the Target Installation

Resolving Patch Conflicts

Validation When Downloading Patches

Validation When Applying Patches

Validation When Removing Patches

Creating and Using Maintenance Snapshots

Applying a Patch to the Client

Downloading and Installing Maintenance Packs

Overview

Using the Node Manager in a Clustered Environment

Removing Pointers to Custom Patch Profiles

Viewing Available Maintenance Packs

Applying the Selected Maintenance Pack

Upgrading Web Server Plug-Ins

Activating Applied Patches in Your Installations and Applications

Overview

Patches that Must Be Referenced by Start Scripts

Patches that Replace Resources for all Applications, Domains, and Servers

Patches that Must be Deployed and Referenced by Applications

How Patch Files Are Stored on Your System by Smart Update

Structure of the Installation-Level Patch Directories

Patch Manifest JAR Files

Native Library Files

Module Patch Files

Classpath, Extended Classpath, and Native Library Patches

About Pointing Start Scripts at Patches

Default Script that Defines Class and Library Paths for All Domains and Servers

Default Patch Path Environment Variables

How Patch Path Variables Are Inserted into Class and Library Paths

About Setting a Patch Path Variable in a Server Start Script

Sequence in Which Start Scripts Are Executed

Placeholders for Defining Patch Path Variables in Default Scripts

Modifying a Start Script

Using the Start Script Editor

Windows

Unix

Opening a Start Script

Modifying the Domain Start Script

Modifying the Start Script for All Managed Servers or Cluster

Modifying the Start Script for a Specific Server

Pointing All Domains and Servers at Patches Through Custom Scripts

Pointing Domains and Servers at Patch JARs in the Default Patch Profile for the WebLogic System Classpath

Pointing Domains and Servers at Library Patches in the Default Patch Profile

For UNIX Systems

For Windows Systems

Module Patching

Module Patching in WebLogic Server

Module Patching in BEA OSGi-based Products

Native Binaries and Other Artifacts Patches

Shared Archive Patches

Overview

Archive Replacement vs. Insertion

Patch Removal

For More Information

Default Application of Shared Archive Patches

Activating Shared Archive Patches in Custom Profiles with Application Scope

Updating Application Descriptors

Patching Individual Applications, Domains, or Servers

About Patching Domains or Servers

About Patching Applications, Domains, or Servers

How Custom Profiles Can Patch Individual Domains, Servers, and Applications

How a Domain or Server Can Point to a Patch in a Custom Profile

Example Use of PATCH_CLASSPATH to Point a Server at Patch Classes

Pointing to Custom Patch Profiles in OSGi-based Products

Best Practices for Using Custom Patch Profiles

Avoiding Proliferation of Custom Profiles

Modifying Domain and Server Start Scripts

Removing Patches that Affect Installation-Wide Resources

Creating a Custom Patch Profile

Related Topics

Initial Contents of a Custom Patch Profile

Cloning a Patch Profile

Adding Patches to a Custom Patch Profile

Deleting a Custom Patch Profile

Pointing Domains and Servers at a Custom Patch Profile

Important Note if You Use Custom Scripts

Related Topics

Managing Custom Patch Profiles in a Node Manager Environment

Uninstalling Maintenance Packs and Patches

Important Note about Uninstalling Products

Removing a Patch or Patch Set

Uninstalling a Maintenance Pack

Using the Command-Line Interface

About the bsu Command

bsu Command Reference

Command-Line Interface Examples

Installation Example

View Patches Example

Another View Patches Example

Display Maintenance Snapshot

Report of Applied Patches

Best Practices for Distributing Maintenance Updates

Distributing Maintenance Patches to a Production Environment

Using Smart Update Scripts to Promote a Standard Maintenance Level to a Production Environment

Creating and Distributing an Archive of the Product Installation

Providing Maintenance Patches to Systems that Cannot Connect to BEA Customer Support

Patching an Offline Machine Via a Shared Patch Download Directory

Requirements

Steps

Patching an Offline Machine Via Removable Media

Requirements

Steps

Additional Means for Patching an Offline Machine

Known Limitations in Smart Update

Frequently Asked Questions

Smart Update Quick Reference