Release Updates (RUs)

RUs are highly tested bundles of critical fixes which enable you to avoid known issues. They usually contain the following type of fixes: security, regression (bug), optimizer, and functional (which may include feature extensions as well).

Oracle recommends that you stay current by using RUs. By doing this, you minimize the chance of encountering known bugs and security vulnerabilities.

The nomenclature for the RU patches is a five-field number, such as 19.7.0.0.0.

• The first of the five fields indicates the year that this annual set of new features (also known as, this release) was first available.
• The second field shows the RU level that has been applied against that annual new features release. 19.7.0.0 would designate the seventh quarterly RU for Oracle Database 19c. Please note that several of the initial RUs are internal to Oracle and the first publicly available RU is often the forth quarterly RU, as in 19.4.0.0. That first publicly available RU is provided the next quarter after the release is publicly available.
• The third field refers to the RUR (Discontinued January 2023).
• The fourth field is reserved for future use and is currently always set to 0.
• Although only the first three fields are commonly used, the fifth field may show a numerical value that redundantly clarifies the release date of the RU, such as 19.7.0.0.200414.

Monthly Recommended Patches (MRP)

Starting with update 19.17, Oracle is providing MRPs for Linux x86-64 to provide proactive patching between Release Updates.

In October 2022, starting with RU 19.17, Oracle is modifying its proactive patch program between Release Updates to use Monthly Recommended Patches. Release Update Revisions (RURs) are deprecated, and planned to be discontinued after January 2023. MRPs provide many of the same features of the RUR patches. However, they are offered only for Oracle Database 19c on Linux x86-64 platforms.

MRPs will be delivered for each RU in the 6 months following each RU’s release, starting with Oracle Database 19c RU19.17 (mid-October, 2022). MRPs will include the fixes documented in “Oracle Database Important Recommended Patches” (My Oracle Support Doc ID 555.1), plus the prior MRPs for the RU. While RUs will continue to be available on all supported platforms, MRPs will only be offered on Linux x86-64 platforms. Customers can continue to request one-off patches on all supported platforms. If a particular month does not have new recommended fixes for an RU, then no MRP will be released, and an annotation will be added in the relevant My Oracle Support notes to avoid confusion. Merge patches will be provided if there are conflicts between one-off patches and the latest MRP for an RU.

MRPs are a collection of one-off patches bundled together. Unlike an RU, an MRP does not affect the release revision number. The release number continues to be designated by the RU number. The MOS Conflict Checker will treat the MRP fixes as it does with other bundled patches, and regular conflict resolution will take place. The patches in an MRP are tracked in the Oracle Inventory directory (oraInventory), which is updated to indicate which one-off are installed from the MRP.

MRPs are provided as separate patches for the database (RDBMS), Oracle Clusterware (OCW), Advanced Cluster File System (ACFS) and Rapid Home Provisioning (RHP). Each MRP is packaged as a bundle of One-off patches that you can apply by using the command opatch napply. You can apply or rollback by using the opatchauto tool.

Each MRP includes the latest critical and regression fixes, but also contains the critical content that was released six months prior. By choosing to wait on taking new RU content by six months, you can take a more conservative approach to Oracle Database software maintenance, but you still risk the chance of hitting known issues that are fixed in the most recent RU. The main benefit of this patching strategy is that, if there are any regressions reported on the base RU or succeeding MRP, then they will be fixed in later MRPs.

MRPs are characterized as follows:

• MRPs are cumulative: each new MRP will contain the patches in any earlier MRPs released for a given release update, as well as the current set of one-off patches that Oracle recommends for the RU plus the current set of recommended one-off patches for the RU documented in Oracle Database 19c Important Recommended One-off Patches (Doc ID 555.1)
• MRPs do not change the release number
• MRPs are deployed using Opatchauto
• MRPs are available only on the Linux x86-64 platform

RUs and MRPs Content Differences

There are content differences between release updates (RUs) and monthly recommended patches (MRPs).

The following table describes the differences:

Monthly Recommended Patches (MRPs) are offered for Oracle Database 19c on Linux x86-64. Both RUs and MRPs are cumulative bundle patches. Each of them include all the fixes of the previous patches. You can install directly whatever bundle patch as long as its year digits are the same as the digits of your current installation and the bundle was released at the same time or after your current installed version.

For Oracle Database on Linux x86-64 platforms, RUs and MRPs are designed to coexist and allow future RUs and MRPs to be installed.

Moving from one MRP to the next (for example 221115 to 221220) results in taking up all the functional fixes in the underlying RU (in this case 19.17), but with an additional month of more recent patch updates.

See My Oracle Support Note 6880880.1 or My Oracle Support Note 224346.1

Which Patching Method to Use?

For Linux x86-64 platforms, MRPs provide a method to apply all Oracle recommended fixes easily for the current RU.

Each MRP provides update content, month by month after the RU associated with that monthly update is released, up to six months after the release date of the RU. By waiting to install a new update content by three or six months, you take a more conservative approach to Oracle Database software maintenance, but you still risk the chance of hitting known issues fixed in the most recent updates.

Additionally, you should install the following:

• The OJVM patches where Oracle Database uses the JVM
• Interim patches only for specific issues that you know apply to your environment
• A minimum of interim patches

Installing the latest update is a good way to reduce the need for interim patches.