How to find the current SCN, SCN and Archive Log

Oracle SCN (System Change Number) is a mechanism to maintain data consistency in Oracle database. A stamp that defines a committed version of a database at a point in time. Oracle assigns every committed transaction a unique SCN.

Checkpoint (CKPT) occurs when all modified database buffers in the Oracle SGA are written out to datafiles by the database writer (DBWn) process. It is a data structure that defines an SCN in the redo thread of a database. Checkpoints are recorded in the control file and each datafile header, and are a crucial element of recovery.

How to find current SCN in the database

Method-I

column current_scn format 99999999999999999999;
select current_scn from v$database; 

Method-II

select to_char(dbms_flashback.get_system_change_number) from dual;

Archive Log and SCN:

col first_change# for 999999999999999999
col next_change# for 999999999999999999
select name, thread#, sequence#, status, first_time, next_time 
from v$archived_log 
where &scn between FIRST_CHANGE# and NEXT_CHANGE#;

SCN and Timestamp:

SQL>select scn_to_timestamp(281840233193) as timestamp from dual;

TIMESTAMP
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
04-MAY-15 10.01.49.000000000 AM
SQL>col scn for 99999999999999999999;
SQL>select timestamp_to_scn(to_timestamp('05/04/2015 10:25:01','MM/DD/YYYY HH24:MI:SS')) as scn from dual;

                  SCN
---------------------
         281842111354
SQL>select timestamp_to_scn(to_timestamp('05042015102501','MMDDYYYYHH24MISS')) scn from dual; 
 SCN
---------------------
         281842111354

Other options are to query smon_scn_time and v$log_history. smon_scn_time is owned by SYS and have data worth of 5 days.

R12.2 Patching info

ADOP Patching:

adop phases:

prepare       : Prepare the instance for online patching.
apply         : Apply patch(es) to the Patch Edition. 
finalize      : Ready the instance for cutover. 
abort         : Abort the patching cycle. 
cutover       : Promote the Patch Edition to Run Edition. 
cleanup       : Drop obsolete objects and seed data from Old Editions.
actualize_all : Actualize all objects in the Patch Edition. 
cleanup_full  : Cleanup and drop Old Editions. 
abandon       : yes|no - Abandon failed patches.



adop patch log directory:

<INSTALL BASE>/fs_ne/EBSapps/log/adop


adop patch process cycle steps:

Download any required technology patches and unzip the contents. The patch contents may be unzipped into  $NE_BASE/EBSapps/patch.

1. Prepare the system for patching.

   source <EBS_ROOT>/EBSapps.env run

   $ adop phase=prepare

2. Apply technology patches to the Oracle Home under the Patch f/s using the information below.

   source <EBS_ROOT>/EBSapps.env patch

3. Apply any Oracle E-Business Suite patches planned for this patching cycle

   $ adop phase=apply patches=<patch_list>

4. After all patches have been successfully applied, complete the patching cycle.

   $ adop phase=finalize
   $ adop phase=cutover

Note: Below steps can be done when applications are up and running

5. source <EBS_ROOT>/EBSapps.env run
 
   $ adop phase=cleanup

6. To complete the process and synchronize the technology level between patch and run f/s.

   $ adop phase=fs_clone



adop hotpatch steps (we cannot abort hotpatch and abondon cannot be done):

Hotpatch which can apply directly on run fs

$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch_list> hotpatch=yes

After hotpatch please run phase=cleanup and phase=fs_clone to sync the run fs with patch fs to prepare for next patching cycle



adop re-apply patch forcefully:

If we try to re-apply the patch which is already applied/exists then adop patch terminates
with below message and by default it takes N when prompted. to overcome this we need to
re-apply patch with options=forceapply.
This Patch seems to have been applied already.
Would you like to continue anyway  [N] ? N *


$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch list> hotpatch=yes options=forceapply



adop deal with "Continue As If It Were Successful" error:

$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch list> abandon=no restart=yes flags=autoskip



To define workers in adop:



$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch list> workers=5



To define patchtop in adop:



$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch list> patchtop=<patch location base>



adop merge patch:



$ adop phase=apply patches=<patch list> merge=yes



Restarting adop From A Failed Session:




 $ adop phase=abort
 $ adop phase=cleanup cleanup_mode=full
 $ adop phase=fs_clone

Then reapply the patch



adop apply for language patch:



$ adop phase=apply patches=18023722_ESA:u18023722.drv



adop non-interactive with patch top and define driver:



$ adop phase=apply options=nocopyportion patchtop=$XLA_TOP/patch/115 patches=driver:xla5584908.drv



adop Steps to follow to skip the failed workers:



1. Use adctrl and select option#8 (This will not be visible) to skip thefailed jobs
2. Restart adop using "restart=yes" parameter

** If the failed jobs are numerous, then better to re-start this patch once again with autoskip option.

ie.  adop restart=no abandon=yes flags=autoskip

This command will restart the patch once again from starting onwards and will skip all the failures if any comes. But make sure to review the log file at the end of the patch application that you have skipped the failures that you want to.




Weblogic Server Smart Update Patching :

Steps to apply weblogic server smart update patch:


Refer Note:
How to Apply WebLogic Server (WLS) Patches Using Smart Update [Video] (Doc ID 876004.1)

1.Download the patch
2.Copy the files (for example, E5W8.jar and WGQJ.jar) and the patch-catalog_xxx.xml from the zip file to the target machine. You do not need the readme file.
Path: $FMW_HOME/utils/bsu/cache_dir

3.cd $FMW_HOME/utils/bsu

To install patch:
./bsu.sh -prod_dir=$FMW_HOME/wlserver_10.3 -patchlist=7FC9 -verbose -install

To Verify:
./bsu.sh -prod_dir=$FMW_HOME/wlserver_10.3 -status=applied -verbose -view | grep 7FC9

To Rollback:
./bsu.sh -remove -patchlist=7FC9 -prod_dir=$FMW_HOME/wlserver_10.3 -verbose

We can also apply the Smart Update patch in graphical (GUI) mode.




Steps to apply opatch on FMW Web Tier HOME :


Set the Environment as below (replace <INSTALL_BASE> path as required):

$ export ORACLE_HOME=$FMW_HOME/webtier
$ export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch:$PATH

$ opatch lsinventory


Apply opatch:

$ opatch apply




Steps to apply opatch on FMW oracle_common HOME :


Set the Environment as below:

$ export ORACLE_HOME=$FMW_HOME/oracle_common
$ export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch:$PATH

$ opatch lsinventory

Apply opatch:

$ opatch apply




Queries :

Query to check if a patch is applied in Oracle EBS R12.2.x:

In Oracle E Business Suite (ebs erp) R12.2.x you cannot query the AD_BUGS table to check if patches have been applied..
The AD_BUGS table may have entries for patches that were applied but later the patching cycle was aborted (not really applied).


The way to check whether a patch is really applied is to use the AD_PATCH.IS_PATCH_APPLIED PL/SQL function.

Usage:

select AD_PATCH.IS_PATCH_APPLIED(\'$release\',\'$appltop_id\',\'$patch_no\',\'$language\')
from dual;

Example sql:

SELECT adb.bug_number,ad_patch.is_patch_applied('11i', 1045, adb.bug_number)
FROM ad_bugs adb
WHERE adb.bug_number in (20034256);

or for single app tier installations:

select ad_patch.is_patch_applied('R12',-1,20034256) from dual;

Expected results:

EXPLICIT = applied
NOT APPLIED = not applied / aborted

Note: If you are sure patch is applied, but showing as not applied then do the following workaround.


1. Start adadmin after source the RUN FS env.
2. Select "2. Maintain Applications Files menu" in "AD Administration Main Menu".
3. In "Maintain Applications Files", select "4. Maintain snapshot information".
4. Select "2. Update current view snapshot" in the "Maintain Snapshot Information".
5. Select "1. Update Complete APPL_TOP" in the "Maintain Current View Snapshot Information".


Query to check current AD patchset:

SELECT a.application_short_name, b.patch_level
FROM fnd_application_vl a,fnd_product_installations b
WHERE a.application_id = b.application_id
  and application_short_name = 'AD';



Query to check patches applied correctly and in the expected sequence:



1.1.Run this sql statement:

   select * from ad_adop_session_patches order by end_date desc;

1.2. Run this piece of sql code:

   set pagesize 200;
   set linesize 160;
   column adop_session_id format 999999999999;
   column bug_number format a15;
   column status format a15;
   column applied_file_system_base format a23;
   column patch_file_system_base format a23;
   column adpatch_options format a15;
   column node_name format a15;
   column end_date format a15;
   column clone_status format a15;

   select ADOP_SESSION_ID, BUG_NUMBER, STATUS, APPLIED_FILE_SYSTEM_BASE, PATCH_FILE_SYS   TEM_BASE, ADPATCH_OPTIONS, NODE_NAME, END_DATE, CLONE_STATUS
   from ad_adop_session_patches
   order by end_date desc;


Below are possible values of STATUS column:

N - Not Applied In the current node but applied in other nodes
R - Patch Application is going on.
H - Patch failed in the middle. (Hard Failure)
F - Patch failed in the middle but user tried to skip some failures.
S - Patch Application succeeded after skipping the failed jobs.
Y - Patch Application succeeded.
C - Reserved for clone and config_clone. Indicates clone completed



Query to Check AD and TXK C Patch levels:



SELECT codelevel FROM AD_TRACKABLE_ENTITIES WHERE abbreviation in ('txk','ad');

Active Users Concurrent Program Never Completes After Clone

Recently we did a clone (R12). Everything worked as expected, except for Active Users Concurrent program which never completed when submitted. The status remains Running – Normal for hours together. But “Prints environment variable values” concurrent program completed within no time.

This is how the issue was approached and resolved.

1. This is not a concurrent manager (FNDLIBR) issue, since the concurrent managers came up without any problem. – This eliminates concurrent manager to be part of the problem.
2. How about running some other concurrent program viz., Users of a responsibility or Active Users of a Responsibility. Same behavior as Active Users – request never completes.

3. Now it is clear that the problem is with concurrent programs which has (Oracle Reports) .rdf defined as an executable, since “Prints environment variable values” completed successfully.

Thinking it could be a clone issue, i recompiled all the reports using adadmin, still the same issue.

To get more information, i enabled trace for Active users concurrent program and resubmitted it. Strange, it didnt even generate a trace file, but a session had been established on the database. Checking for the sql being run by the session, returns nothing.

4. Decided to run the report manually from the command prompt. 

Atlast ….

Error: [cache directory location] does not exist.

Where is this defined ?

Checking $INST_TOP/ora/10.1.2/reports/conf/rwbuilder.conf revealed that the cacheDir value defined (same as the missing directory) in this file did not physically exists on the server. Created the cache directory and

Re-ran the report manually from command prompt, Guess what, the active users concurrent request completed successfully and even generated a trace file.