Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Manage Oracle Database Software Images

Parent topic: How-to Guides

Creation and Storage of Software Images

Software images are resources within your tenancy that you create before provisioning or updating a DB system, Exadata Cloud Infrastructure instance, Database Home, database, or Grid Infrastructure.

There are two types of software image resources:

  • Grid Infrastructure software image: Grid Infrastructure software images are resources containing Oracle Grid Infrastructure software used to update Oracle Grid Infrastructure. Grid Infrastructure software images are either Oracle-published software releases or custom software images created by the customer that include the desired release updates (RU) and additional one-off (interim) patches.
  • Database software image: Database software images are resources containing Oracle Database software used to provision and update Oracle Databases and Oracle Database Homes. Database software images are either Oracle-published software releases or custom software images created by the customer that include specified patches and updates.

There is no limit on the number of software images you can create in your tenancy, and you can create your images with any Oracle Database software or Oracle Grid Infrastructure version and update supported in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Software images are automatically stored in Oracle-managed Object Storage and can be viewed and managed in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console. Software images are regional-level resources but they can be accessed from any region within your tenancy.

Note

The software images incur Object Storage usage costs.

Using a Software Image with an Exadata Cloud@Customer System

Create, save, and reuse a Software Image.

Creating a Software Image enables you to:

  • Create custom Database and Grid Infrastructure images based on Software Images, RU, and one-off (interim) patches.
  • Save a custom image automatically to Object Storage as a resource.
  • Provision an Oracle Database home or Oracle Database with the desired RU and one-off (interim) patches.
  • Update the Database Home and Grid Infrastructure created using the Software Image.
  • Clone Software Image to another service in the Data Guard creation process.
Note

The Software Images are created and managed by the customer and they are available for use until explicitly deleted.

Using the Console to View the List of Software Images

  1. Open the navigation menu. Click Oracle Database, then click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software Images.

    The resulting Software images page displays the list of custom software images, which includes details such as Image type (Database, Grid infrastructure), and version.

Using the Console to Create a Database Software Image

To create an Oracle Database Software Image with the console, use this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software Images.
  3. Click Create Software Image.
  4. In the resulting Create software image page, click Database Software image.
  5. In the Display name field, provide a display name for your image. Avoid entering confidential information.
  6. Choose your Compartment.
  7. Choose a Database release.
  8. Choose the Database version for your image.
  9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-delimited list of one-off (interim) patch numbers.
  10. Optionally, you can upload an Oracle Home inventory file from an existing Oracle Database. For more information, see Using the OPatch lsinventory Command to Verify the Patches Applied to an Oracle Home.
  11. Click Show Advanced Options to add tags to your database software image. To apply a defined tag, you must have permission to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you should apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
  12. Click Create software image.

Using the Console to Create a Grid Infrastructure Software Image

To create a Grid Infrastructure Software Image with the console, use this procedure.

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software Images.
  3. Click Create Software Image.
  4. In the resulting Create software image page, click Grid Infrastructure Software image.
  5. In the Display name field, provide a display name for your image. Avoid entering confidential information.
  6. Choose your Compartment.
  7. Choose a Grid Infrastructure release.
  8. Choose the Grid Infrastructure version for your image.
  9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-delimited list of one-off (interim) patch numbers.
  10. Optionally, you can upload a Grid Infrastructure Home inventory file from an existing Oracle Grid Infrastructure. For more information, see Using the OPatch lsinventory Command to Verify the Patches Applied to an Oracle Home.
  11. Click Show Advanced Options to add tags to your database software image. To apply a defined tag, you must have permission to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you should apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
  12. Click Create software image.

Using the OPatch lsinventory Command to Verify the Patches Applied to an Oracle Database Home or Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home

OPatch utility enables you to apply the interim patches to Oracle Database Home or Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home. You can find the opatch utility in the $ORACLE_HOME/Opatch directory.

Using the lsinventory command provided by OPatch, you can create a file that lists the interim patches applied to an Oracle Database Home or Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home. This file can then be uploaded to the OCI Console during the creation of a custom software Image to add the exact set of patches used by the source Oracle Database Home or Oracle Grid Infrastructure Home to the list of patches included in the software image. You can find the opatch utility in the $ORACLE_HOME/Opatch directory. The following example shows how to use the lsinventory command to create the lsinventory file:
  1. Run the opatch lsinventory command to get the list of interim patches applied.
    $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory
Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 12.2.0.1.21
Copyright (c) 2021, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
 
Oracle Home : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2
Central Inventory : /u01/app/oraInventory
from : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 12.2.0.1.21
OUI version : 12.2.0.7.0
Log file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2021-01-21_09-22-45AM_1.log
 
Lsinventory Output file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory2021-01-21_09-22-45AM.txt
    Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 12.2.0.1.41
Copyright (c) 2024, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.
 
 
Oracle Home       : /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/gridhome_1
Central Inventory : /u01/app/oraInventory
   from           : /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/gridhome_1/oraInst.loc
OPatch version    : 12.2.0.1.41
OUI version       : 12.2.0.7.0
Log file location : /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/gridhome_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2024-04-19_19-24-22PM_1.log
 
Lsinventory Output file location : /u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/gridhome_1/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory2024-04-19_19-24-22PM.txt
  2. Use the lsinventory output file to extract the additional interim patches applied to a specific Oracle Home.

Using the Console to Delete a Software Image

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, find the image you want to delete and click the action icon (three dots) at the end of the row.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. In the resulting Delete software image dialog, enter the name of the software image to confirm your action.
  6. Click Delete software image.

Using the Console to View the Update Information of a Software Image

To view the Oracle Database version, update information (RU level), and included one-off (interim) patches of a database software image, use the following instructions:

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, find the image you want to view and click on the display name of the image.
  4. On the Software Image details page for your selected image, details about the image are displayed:
    • The General Information section includes details such as Image type.
    • The Patch Information section includes details such as release, version, and available interim patches.
    • The One-Off Patches field displays the number of one-off (interim) patches included in the image, if any. The count includes all patches specified when creating the image (including patches listed in lsinventory). To view the included patches (if any are included), click the Copy All link and paste the list of included patches into a text editor. The copied list of patch numbers is comma-separated and can be used to create additional software images.

      Click the Show link to view a comma-delimited list of one-off patches included in that specific software image in the One-Off patches window.

Using the Console to Move a Software Image to a Different Compartment

Follow these steps to move a Software Image to a different compartment of your choice:

  1. Open the navigation menu. Under Oracle Database, click Oracle Exadata Database Service on Cloud@Customer.
  2. Under Resources, click Software images.
  3. In the list of software images, find the image you want to move and click the action icon (three dots) at the end of the row.
  4. Click Move resource.
  5. In the resulting Move resource to a different compartment dialog, choose a compartment.
  6. Click Move resource

Using the API for Managing Software Images

Review the list of API calls to manage Software Images.

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 to manage Database Software Images:
  • CreateDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • ListDatabaseSoftwareImages
  • GetDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • DeleteDatabaseSoftwareImage
  • ChangeDatabaseSoftwareImageCompartment

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