Creating a Merged Patch

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1. Why Merging patches ?

Merging patches allows us to create a merged patch which contains all the changes found in the patches which will be merged. This decrease the downtime for patching. 

2. How could I merge patches ?

a) Download the patches to be merged

b) Review the readme files: Not all the patches can be merged. Also, some patches require manual steps. 

c) Create source / destination directories 
The source and the destination directory must be created in the same directory. The source and the destination directory could have any name. 

d) Unzip the patches in the source directory 

e) Run AD Merge Patch

[oracle@APPS PATCH_TOP]$ ls
DESTINATION SOURCE

[oracle@APPS PATCH_TOP]$ . /APPS/visappl/APPSORA.env

[oracle@APPS PATCH_TOP]$ admrgpch -s SOURCE -d DESTINATION -merge_name merge1 -logfilemerge1.log

Executing the merge of the patch drivers
-- Processing patch: SOURCE/6012471
-- Done processing patch: SOURCE/6012471

-- Processing patch: SOURCE/6132763
-- Done processing patch: SOURCE/6132763

Copying files...
100% complete. Copied 14 files of 6...
2 unified drivers merged.
Patch merge completed successfully

f) Check AD Merge Patch log file (admrgpch.log or the named one) for errors

NOTES: 

• A merged patch is applied just like a single patch (using adpatch). 

• The manifest option could be used to let Oracle unzip the zip files during the merging process.

More information about this subject ( Creating a Merged Patch ) you can get from  www.in-oracle.com