Does your GI RU/RUR patch level has to match your database’s?

A long while ago I blogged about whether you should keep your patch versions between Grid Infrastructure and Databases Homes in synch, or not. And today, Daniel dropped me a note mentioning that this old blog post may need an update for 18c/19c. He’s right. And as I’ve had trouble finding my old blog post, I title this one a bit more obvious: Does your GI RU/RUR patch level has to match your database’s?

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Before Oracle Database 18c

Since Oracle 18c we move from a 5-number release schema to a 3-number one. But I bet you can name at least 99 examples where 4 or even 5 numbers are used. And the recent patches added a 8-digit-number to the end, e.g. 18.10.0.0.20200415 – which was clearly not the intention.

Even the GI/ASM Compatibility note MOS Note: 337737.1 uses 4 numbers. And I exchanged emails with some folks as exachk complains when your COMPATIBLE parameter is at the recommended and default of 3 numbers (such as 19.0.0). It mixes “asm compatibility” with the COMPATIBLE setting in your spfile. Well …

Anyhow, let me repeat what MOS Note: 337737.1 says about releases before Oracle 18c:

• “Before 18c, the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) /Clusterware (CRS) version must be of equal or the highest version down to the 4th digit in the possible combinations at all times.“

Let me translate this into some examples:

• GI 12.2.0.1.0 with DB 12.2.0.1.0
  • ==> equal until 4th digit
    • ==> OK
• GI 12.1.0.2.0 with DB 12.2.0.1.0
  • ==> GI is lower
    • ==> not OK and does not work
• GI 12.2.0.1.0 with DB 11.2.0.4.0
  • ==> GI is higher
    • ==> OK
• GI 12.1.0.1.0 with DB 12.1.0.2.0
  • ==> GI is lower
    • ==> not ok and does not work
• GI 12.2.0.1.0 and RU 20190415 with DB 12.2.0.1.0 and RU20200415
  • ==> equal until 4th digit
    • ==> OK

The last line is the crucial one. You can have a higher patch level, whether it is the RU or the RUR or the PSU or the BP in your DB home when you have the same base release. Even though we don’t recommend this as those combinations won’t get tested to full extend.

But being honest, I have a good number of customers who are happy with the GI version and its stability at a certain patch level, but need to keep the databases homes up to date more frequently because of the security patches.

Since Oracle Database 18c

Now with Oracle Database 18c and 19c, the release numbering schema changed. And initially, there was no use for the 4th digit as it was meant to have 3 numbers only. The text in MOS Note: 337737.1 has been adjusted to meet the new model:

• “Starting from 18c, the Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) /Clusterware (CRS) version must be of equal or the highest version down to the first digit in the possible combinations at all times.“

Let me put up a few simple examples again (even though the wording “digit” is incorrect in the MOS note):

• GI 18.7.0 with DB 18.10.0
  • ==> equal at the 1st number
    • ==> OK
• GI 18.7.0 with DB 19.7.0
  • ==> GI is lower at the 1st number
    • ==> not OK and does not work
• GI 19.6.0 with DB 19.7.0
  • ==> GI and DB are equal at the first number
    • ==> OK

Please see MOS Note: 337737.1 – Oracle Clusterware (CRS/GI) – ASM – Database Version Compatibility for further details and – even more important – the full certification matrix.

Further Information and Links

• Keep your patch versions between Grid Infrastructure and Databases Homes in synch (April 26, 2017)
• MOS Note: 337737.1 – Oracle Clusterware (CRS/GI) – ASM – Database Version Compatibility
• MOS Note: 1369107.1 – ACFS Support On OS Platforms (Certification Matrix)

–Mike