Queryable Patch Inventory or DBMS_QOPATCH

New in Oracle 12c is queryable Opatch. Oracle offers a set of tables and a PL/SQL packages to query the Oracle Inventory.Prior to Oracle 12c, it was not easy to List Oracle patches. Now from Oracle 12c and beyond, you can use the DBMS_QOPATCH package to list all patches.

Using DBMS_QOPATCH; Oracle Database 12c has a PL/SQL - SQL interface for viewing patch information using a select statement instead a OS ORACLE opach command. This new interface view all the patch information available as part of the ,OPatch lsinventory -xml command conform the the OS Oracle opatch command. The package DBMS_QOPATCH accesses the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) patch inventory in real time to provide patch and patch meta information.

Oracle 12c - Oracle-Supplied - CATCON.pl

The installation of an Oracle database is done by executing serveral scripts. Those scripts perform operations such as creating data dictionary views and installing options. Oracle has now introduced multiple database [PDB's] inside one database [CDB]. For maintenacne and a new strategy Oracle's best way is to run SQL scripts and SQL statements is done by using catcon.pl. It can run them in the root and in specified PDBs in the correct order, and it generates log files that you can view to confirm that the SQL script or SQL statement did not generate unexpected errors.
It also starts multiple processes and assigns new scripts to them as they finish running scripts previously assigned to them.

Example of the Statement

perl /u02/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/rdbms/admin/catcon.pl -n 1 -l /u02/app/oracle/admin/CDB1/scripts -b catalog /u02/app/oracle/product/12.1.0/dbhome_1/rdbms/admin/catalog.sql

CatCon.pl = Perl Module for creating - upgrading CATalogs for CONtainer databases

Using Oracle multithreaded Oracle model (Threaded execution)

In previous releases, Oracle processes did not run as threads on UNIX and Linux systems. Starting in Oracle Database 12c, the multithreaded Oracle Database model enables Oracle processes to execute as operating system threads in separate address spaces.

THREADED_EXECUTION specifies whether to enable the multithreaded Oracle model. Starting in Oracle Database 12c, the multithreaded Oracle model enables Oracle processes on UNIX and Linux to run as operating system threads in separate address spaces.

The choice of threading model is dictated by the THREADED_EXECUTION initialization parameter.

THREADED_EXECUTION=NO  : The default value causes Oracle to run using the multiprocess model.
THREADED_EXECUTION=YES : Oracle runs with the multithreaded model.

Password File in ASM - Oracle release 12c

Prior to Oracle Database 12c, the password file was always located under $ORACLE_HOME/dbs file structure, even for RAC instances and for RAC ASM cluster. For RAC the DBA organisation had to managed to keep the password file in sync on each node. See for a solution in an earlier blog on my site "Password file maintenance on Clustered ASM and RAC databases 11gR2 and before"

Oracle 12c

Now in Oracle 12c, it is possible to store the password file on ASM. Wonderfule this means a shared password file for Oracle RAC databases , it is shared for all instances in the cluster.