RU and RUR patches for Oracle 12.2

The first RU (Release Update) for Oracle Database 12.2.0.1 has been released. And Oracle Support provides some very helpful documents to explain the implication of the new RU (Release Update) and RUR (Release Update Revision) patches.

As of July 2017, Oracle is modifying the Proactive Patch program for Database and Grid Infrastructure release 12.2 and later. The primary goal is:
Provide customers with a more flexible way to
a) Efficiently adopt Bug Fixes when needed (like the DB Proactive BP currently provides)

b) Efficiently keep current with Quarterly Security updates once their environment becomes stable (like the PSU currently provides)

 

Release Updates and Release Update Revisions

To support both security-related fixes and high-priority non-security fixes, quarterly Release Updates (RUs) will be provided each January, April, July and October. To allow customers to keep current on just security-related fixes once their feature environment becomes stable, quarterly Release Updates Revisions (RURs) will be provided each January, April, July and October for the most recent two (2) RUs.  This RU and RUR strategy replaces the legacy Patchset Update (PSU) strategy for 12.2.0.1 database software, beginning in July of 2017.

• RUs are proactive, highly tested bundles of critical fixes which enable customers to avoid known issues.
• RURs contain security and regression fixes to a RU that extend the RU’s lifetime up to two quarters. They are specific to a particular RU.
• The legacy terms ‘Patchset’, ‘Patchset Update’, and ‘Database Bundle Patch’ will no longer be meaningful for 12.2 database software.

This strategy allows a more conservative approach to maintenance while still getting fast access to critical security and proactive stabilization content. Customers can switch back and forth between RUs and RURs, whereas this is not possible with PSUs and BPs. Both RUs and RURs contain all security fixes, thus eliminating any ‘security’ versus ‘stability’ tradeoff.

 

Figure 1: 12.2.0.1 Database Release – Naming convention for RU/RUR

• Release Update (RU) – Database Release Update 12.2.0.1.<build-date>
• Release Update Revision (RUR) – Database <Quarter> Release Update Revision 12.2.0.1.<build-date>
  • <Quarter> is ‘MMM YYYY’
  • <build-date> is YYMMDD

More Information about RU and RUR patches for Oracle 12.2

First of all, these are the most important MOS notes to have a look at:

• MOS Note:742060.1 – Release Schedule for Current Database Releases (no update yet)
• MOS Note: 2285040.1 – Release Update and Release Update Revisions for Database Proactive Patch Program
• MOS Note: 2275525.1 – FAQ for RU and RUR (not public yet)