last but not least: apply the PSU

I could have applied the PSU earlier ( before creating the database ), but in real life this is the more likely scenario. As the patch sources are already in place:

su - oracle
cd /opt/oracle/stage
ls -la
6880880_112000_Linux-x86-64.zip
p13348650_112030_Linux-x86-64.zip
opatch_response.rsp

start with updating opatch:

unzip p6880880_112000_Linux-x86-64.zip -d $ORACLE_HOME/

It is safe to answer “All” if the unzip utility ask to replace some files.

Extract and check the readme:

unzip p13348650_112030_LINUX.zip

The structure of the oracle patches is always the same. You will get subdirectories named with the patch number and the readme:

ls -la
drwxr-xr-x 4 oracle oinstall 4096 Jan 14 17:08 13343438
drwxr-xr-x 5 oracle oinstall 4096 Jan 14 17:08 13348650
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 422 Jan 14 17:08 bundle.xml
-rwxrwx--- 1 grid oinstall 621 Mar 23 11:31 opatch_response.rsp
-rwxrwx--- 1 grid oinstall 32510817 Mar 23 10:54 p6880880_112000_Linux-x86-64.zip
-rw-rw-r-- 1 oracle oinstall 107674 Jan 16 14:49 README.html
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 21 Jan 14 17:08 README.txt

Because this patch contains both, the database and the grid patches, change to the database patch directory ( which is 13343438 ) and apply the patchset:

cd /opt/oracle/stage/13343438
srvctl stop listener -l listener_DB112
srvctl stop database -d DB112
export PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch:$PATH
opatch lsinventory -detail -oh $ORACLE_HOME
opatch prereq CheckConflictAgainstOHWithDetail -phBaseDir /opt/oracle/stage/13343438 -oh $ORACLE_HOME
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/ocm/bin/emocmrsp -output /opt/oracle/stage/opatch_response.rsp -no_banner
opatch apply -ocmrf /opt/oracle/stage/opatch_response.rsp

The output should be very similar to this:

Oracle Home : /opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3
Central Inventory : /opt/oracle/oraInventory
from : /opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 11.2.0.3.0
OUI version : 11.2.0.3.0
Log file location : /opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3/cfgtoollogs/opatch/13343438_Mar_28_2012_15_35_47/apply2012-03-28_15-35-47PM_1.log
Applying interim patch '13343438' to OH '/opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3'
Verifying environment and performing prerequisite checks...
All checks passed.
Please shutdown Oracle instances running out of this ORACLE_HOME on the local system.
(Oracle Home = '/opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3')
Is the local system ready for patching? [y|n]
y
User Responded with: Y
Backing up files...
Patching component oracle.rdbms.rsf, 11.2.0.3.0...
Patching component oracle.rdbms, 11.2.0.3.0...
Patching component oracle.rdbms.dbscripts, 11.2.0.3.0...
Verifying the update...
Patch 13343438 successfully applied
Log file location: /opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3/cfgtoollogs/opatch/13343438_Mar_28_2012_15_35_47/apply2012-03-28_15-35-47PM_1.log
OPatch succeeded.

Patch ( almost ) applied.

Perhaps you noticed that opatch creates a new directory under you ORACLE_HOME which is called .patch_storage:

ls -la /opt/oracle/product/base/11.2.0.3/.patch_storage/
total 28
drwxr-xr-x 4 oracle oinstall 4096 Mar 28 15:38 .
drwxrwx--- 75 oracle oinstall 4096 Mar 28 15:36 ..
drwxr-xr-x 4 oracle oinstall 4096 Mar 28 15:38 13343438_Jan_3_2012_02_50_27
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 336 Mar 28 15:36 interim_inventory.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 92 Mar 28 15:36 LatestOPatchSession.properties
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 0 Mar 28 15:38 patch_free
-rw-r--r-- 1 oracle oinstall 51 Mar 28 15:36 record_inventory.txt
drwxr-xr-x 2 oracle oinstall 4096 Mar 28 15:38 verify

Under no circumstances delete this files. You will not be able apply any futures patches if you do this. If you really experience space issues, you can do a cleanup of the files which are not needed:

opatch util cleanup

One step is still missing. It it very likely that oracle modified some SQL files with this patch, so one needs to apply this, too:

srvctl start listener -l listener_DB112
srvctl start database -d DB112
sqlplus / as sysdba
@?/psu/11.2.0.3.1/catpsu.sql
select * from registry$history;

Work done.

Now there is a working Grid Infrastructure and database each patched to the ( currently ) latest release. If you did not export your Virtual Machine and did not create any snapshots I recommend to do an export now ( you need to shutdown your Virtual Machine for this ):

vboxmanage export "oracleplayground" --output oracleplayground.ovf

If you destroy the database or any parts of the grid infrastructure you are always able to bring it back in a few minutes.

Where to go from now ? This depends on you. If you are new to oracle there is a lot of literature out there, but the most important ( and at no cost ): Oracle Database Concepts . This should be your starting point.