You can use Enterprise Manager to simplify the staging and application of Oracle patches and patchsets. Enterprise Manager stages an Oracle patch by downloading it from the OracleMetaLink Web site and copying it to a directory on a host. Enterprise Manager also allows you to apply a patch from an already staged patch. It also helps to customize the patching operation, by allowing you to specify any pre-patching, and/or post-patching scripts that you may want to execute.
Applying a patch is the process of installing the staged patch in the Oracle home on the host. You can use Enterprise Manager to stage and apply a patch on any host on which the Oracle Management Agent is running. For overview information about patching, see About Patching.
Note: If you are accessing a proxy server to get to the OracleMetaLink site, you will require proper authentication, and must provide appropriate credentials. Oracle supports "basic proxy server authentication".
Important: You must specify patching credentials before you can stage and apply a patch using Enterprise Manager. The patching credentials are your OracleMetaLink credentials, which Enterprise Manager uses to search for patches at OracleMetaLink.
Use one of the following methods to start the patching process using Enterprise Manager:
On the Deployments page, click Patch. The Patching wizard is launched. Enter information about a specific patch, or you enter information about the product whose patches you are interested in.
On the Home Page or Maintenance Page for an Oracle target that supports patching, click Patch. With this approach, the Patching wizard is launched and displays patch selection criteria for that version of the Oracle product.
After the Patching wizard is launched, it steps you through the patching process. You can click Help at any step in the process to learn more about that task.
Related Topics
Accessing the Deployments Page
Specifying Patching Credentials
Enterprise Manager Information Roadmap
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