Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Managing Linux Packages

Describes how to manage packages for Linux instances that are managed by the OS Management service.

The following Linux package management tasks are covered in this topic:

  • Searching for packages
  • Installing packages on a managed instance
  • Installing packages on a managed instance group
  • Removing packages
Note

For information about other package management tasks, see:

About Linux Updates in OS Management

OS Management uses the following categories for patch updates:

  • All
  • Security
  • Bug Fix
  • Enhancement
  • Ksplice
  • Other
OS Management Category Description
All An update that includes all available updates.
Security

An update that addresses security vulnerabilities found during development, testing, or reported by users. Security fixes usually have one or more associated CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposure) names to identify the vulnerabilities.

Ksplice updates are included for this category.
Bug Fix An update that fixes issues reported by users or discovered during development or testing.
Enhancement An update that introduces new features, improved functionality, or enhanced performance in the package's software.
Ksplice

An update used by Ksplice for installing zero-downtime security patches.

For more information about Ksplice updates in OS Management, see About Ksplice Updates in OS Management. For general information about Ksplice in Oracle Linux, see Oracle Linux Ksplice User's Guide.
Other An update that is not associated with any errata.

About Ksplice Updates in OS Management

Ksplice updates your running instances with the latest kernel and key user space security and bug fix updates, keeping them secure and highly available. For more information, see the Oracle Linux Ksplice User's Guide.

Important

  • OS Management only includes Ksplice updates when Ksplice support is enabled. Oracle Linux and Oracle Autonomous Linux instances deployed from platform images automatically enable Ksplice. Autonomous Linux instances use Ksplice technology to run zero-downtime patching.
  • Ksplice support requires Oracle Cloud Agent 1.14.2 or later. If you have an earlier version of the Oracle Cloud Agent, see Updating the Oracle Cloud Agent Software.
Ksplice Updates for Managed Instances

OS Management includes all available Ksplice updates when you perform the following actions on a managed instance: Install All Updates and Install Security Updates.

For more information, see Installing Packages on a Managed Instance.

Ksplice Updates for Managed Instance Groups

OS Management provides a separate Ksplice update type for applying all Ksplice updates to instances that are part of a managed instance group. OS Management includes all available Ksplice updates when you select All, Security, or Ksplice as the update type on the Install All Updates panel for a managed instance group.

For more information, see Installing Packages on a Managed Instance Group.

Installing Packages on a Managed Instance

Important

Recurring scheduled jobs are available only when installing updates on a managed instance group. If you would like to set up a recurring scheduled job for a managed instance, create a managed instance group and add the instance to the group.
To install packages on a managed instance
  1. Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
  2. Find the instance and click its name.
  3. On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS Management.
  4. Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click View OS Management Details.
  5. Under Resources, click Available Packages.
  6. In the Available Packages section, find and select the packages you want to install.
  7. Click Install.
  8. In the Install Package panel, choose when you want to install the packages.

    To install the packages immediately, choose Install Now and click Install Package.

    To schedule a job to install the packages:

    1. Choose Custom Schedule.

    2. (Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.

    3. For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the date and time you want the job to run.

    4. Click Install Package.

To install specific versions of packages on a managed instance

Note

Use the package search facility to update a package to a specific version, for example, if you need to install a previous or interim version of the package. For more information, see Searching for Packages.

To install all security updates on a managed instance
  1. Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
  2. Find the instance and click its name.
  3. On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS Management.
  4. Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click Install Security Updates.
  5. In the Install All Security Updates dialog box, click Install Updates to confirm the action.
To install all available updates on a managed instance
  1. Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
  2. Find the instance and click its name.
  3. On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS Management.
  4. Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click Install All Updates.
  5. In the Install All Package Updates dialog box, click Install Updates to confirm the action.

Installing Packages on a Managed Instance Group

To install package updates on a managed instance group
  1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under OS Management, click Managed Instance Groups.
  2. In the List Scope section, select the compartment that contains the managed instance group to be updated.
  3. On the row of the managed instance group, click the Actions icon (three dots), and click Install Package Update.
  4. In the Install Package panel, enter the package name you want to install and press Return.

    If a match for the package name is found, a list of package names that match the search pattern is displayed.

  5. Choose when you want to install the packages.

    To install the packages immediately, choose Install Now and click Install Package.

    To schedule a job to install the packages:

    1. Choose Custom Schedule.

    2. (Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.

    3. For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the date and time you want the job to run.

    4. Click Install Package.

To install all available package updates on a managed instance group
  1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under OS Management, click Managed Instance Groups.
  2. In the List Scope section, select the compartment that contains the managed instance group to be updated.
  3. On the row of the managed instance group, click the Actions icon (three dots), and click Install All Updates.
  4. In the Install All Updates panel, for Select Update Type, select the type of Linux updates to install. The default is All.

    You can install all available updates by selecting All (the default type) or you can install the available updates for a particular category by selecting Security, Ksplice, Bug Fix, Enhancement, or Other.

    Note

    Ksplice updates are also included when you select Security.

    For more information about how the Oracle Linux update types map to the OS Management categories, see About Linux Updates in OS Management.

  5. Under Install Schedule: choose when you want to install the updates.

    To install the updates immediately, choose Install Now and click Install All Updates.

    To schedule a job to install the updates:

    1. Choose Custom Schedule.

    2. (Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.

    3. For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the date and time when you want the job to run.

    4. (Optional) For Repeat, select the interval at which to repeat the scheduled job. By default, the interval is set to not recur (Never).

      You can schedule the job to recur Hourly, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly.

    5. Click Install All Updates.

Removing Packages

To remove packages from a managed instance
  1. Open the navigation menu, click Compute, and then click Instances.
  2. Find the instance and click its name.
  3. On the Instance Details page, under Resources, click OS Management.
  4. Click the Actions icon (three dots) and click View OS Management Details.
  5. Under Resources, click Installed Packages.
  6. In the Installed Packages section, find and select the packages you want to remove.
  7. Click Remove.
  8. In the Remove Package panel, choose when you want to remove the packages.

    To remove the packages immediately, choose Remove Now and click Remove Package.

    To schedule a job to remove the packages:

    1. Choose Custom Schedule.

    2. (Optional) For Job Name, enter a description of the job.

    3. For Date and Time, click the calendar icon and select the date and time you want the job to run.

    4. Click Remove Package.

To remove packages from a managed instance group
  1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under OS Management, click Managed Instance Groups.
  2. In the List Scope section, select the compartment that contains the managed instance group that contains packages you want to remove.
  3. On the row of the managed instance group, click the Actions icon (three dots), and click Remove Package.
  4. In the Remove Package panel, enter the package name that you want to remove in the search box. If a match for the package name is found, a list of package names that match the search pattern is displayed.
  5. To remove the packages immediately, click Remove Package.

Using the API

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 these API operations for managing packages on Linux instances:

For a full list of API operations available for the OS Management service, see OS Management API.