DB systems require access to the Object Storage, including connectivity to the applicable Swift endpoint for Object Storage. We recommend using a service gateway with the VCN to enable this access. For more information, see these topics:

For more information, see:

• Update the DB System Resources Using dbcli
• VCN and Subnets
• Troubleshoot Update Failures
• Object Storage FAQ

For guidelines on how to update Oracle Database releases 12.2, 12.1, and 11.2 for the January 2024 Release Update, see Patching Guidelines - Oracle Cloud Customers with lower database release version 18c and lower (Doc ID 2997504.1).

For a list of Release Updates and Release Update Revisions for Oracle Database 19c, see Oracle Database 19c Proactive Patch Information (Doc ID 2521164.1).

For more information, see:

• Update the Operating System of a DB System Node
• Upgrade a Database

Updating a DB system requires a reboot, which can take several minutes. To minimize the impact on users, run the update at a time when the system has the fewest users. To avoid system interruption, consider implementing a high availability strategy such as Oracle Data Guard.

Oracle recommends backing up your database and testing the update on a test system before you apply the update.

Oracle recommends updating the DB system before updating the database within that DB system. For the Grid Infrastructure, updates are available for two most recent versions (N and N-1). For the Oracle Database, updates are available for four most recent versions (N through N-3). For example, if an instance is using 21c and the latest version of 21c offered is 21.10.0.0, then 21.10.0.0 and 21.9.0.0 are available for Grid Infrastructure updates, while 21.10.0.0, 21.9.0.0, 21.8.0.0, and 21.7.0.0 are available for Oracle Database updates. You can use any of these updates, but Oracle recommends using the latest.

Perform the following steps to update the operating system of a DB system.

1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
3. In the list of DB systems, click the name of the DB system you want to update. Details of the DB system you selected are displayed.
4. In the DB system information tab, under Version, click the View link beside the Update available field.
5. Under DB system, under OS updates, review the list of available OS updates for the DB system.
6. Click the Actions menu for the update you are interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
   • Run precheck: Check for any prerequisites to ensure that the update can be successfully applied. To run precheck, click Run precheck and provide confirmation in the Confirm precheck dialog.
   • Apply: Applies the selected update. Oracle recommends that you run the precheck operation for an update before applying it. To apply the update, click Apply and provide confirmation in the Apply update dialog.

In the list, the State displays the status of the operation. While an update is being applied, the State displays as Updating. The status of the DB system also displays as Updating. Lifecycle operations on the DB system and its resources might be temporarily unavailable. If the update completes successfully, the State changes to Applied and the status of the DB system changes to Available.

Perform the following steps to update the Grid Infrastructure of a DB system.

1. Open the navigation menu. Select Oracle Database, then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
3. In the list of DB systems, click the name of the DB system you want to update. Details of the DB system you selected are displayed.
4. In the DB system information tab, under Version, click the View link beside the Update available field.
5. Under DB system, under Grid Infrastructure updates, review the list of available Grid Infrastructure updates for the DB system.

   • The Oracle Grid Infrastructure Software Images tab displays generally available Oracle Grid Infrastructure software images that you can use to update your DB system.

   • The Custom Grid Infrastructure Software Images tab allows you to select a Grid Infrastructure software image you have created in advance.
     • Use the Select a compartment selector to specify the compartment that contains the software image.
     • Use the Region filter to access the software images created in a different region.
6. Click the Actions menu for the update you are interested in, and then click one of the following actions:
   • Run Precheck: Check for any prerequisites to ensure that the update can be successfully applied. To run precheck, click Run precheck and provide confirmation in the Confirm precheck dialog.
   • Apply: Applies the selected update. Oracle recommends that you run the precheck operation for an update before applying it. To apply the update, click Apply and provide confirmation in the Apply update dialog.

In the list, the State displays the status of the operation. While an update is being applied, the State displays as Updating. The status of the DB system also displays as Updating. Lifecycle operations on the DB system and its resources might be temporarily unavailable. If the update completes successfully, the State changes to Applied and the status of the DB system changes to Available.

For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.

Use the following APIs to manage DB systems updates:

• ListDbSystemPatches
• ListDbSystemPatchHistoryEntries
• GetDbSystemPatch
• GetDbSystemPatchHistoryEntry
• UpdateDbSystem

For the complete list of APIs for the Database service, see Database Service API.