How to Patch Oracle 19c Grid Infrastructure Restart Home to 19.31 (GI RU 39036936): Complete Step-by-Step Upgrade Guide

Oracle Grid Infrastructure (GI) Restart environments require regular patching to maintain high availability, security, and compatibility with Oracle Database Release Updates. In this guide, we’ll cover the full process of upgrading Oracle 19c Grid Infrastructure Restart Home to Oracle GI 19.31 using Patch 39036936, including prerequisite validation, OPatch upgrades, conflict analysis, and OPatchAuto deployment in a production environment.

Oracle Grid Infrastructure 19.32 Release Update (RU) Patching Guide – Patch 39467003

Oracle Database 19.32 Release Update (RU) Patching Guide – Patch 39472050

Why Upgrade Oracle GI Restart Home to 19.31?

Oracle GI 19.31 Release Update provides:

• Critical security patches
• Clusterware and Restart stability improvements
• Enhanced ASM and Oracle Restart reliability
• Bug fixes for enterprise infrastructure
• Better compatibility with Oracle Database 19.31 RU

For standalone servers using Oracle Restart (SIHA), staying current with GI Release Updates is essential for reducing downtime risks and maintaining Oracle support compliance.

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Existing Environment Validation

Before patching, verify the current Oracle Home patch levels:

$ opatch lspatches

This confirms the database RU is already upgraded, while Grid Infrastructure requires patching to align with 19.31.

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Step 1: Upgrade OPatch Utility for Grid Home

Oracle GI patching requires a minimum OPatch version. The Grid Home OPatch was upgraded from :How To Download And Install The Latest OPatch

• Old version: 12.2.0.1.47
• New version: 12.2.0.1.51

Validation:

$ ./opatch version
OPatch Version: 12.2.0.1.51

Using the latest OPatch version prevents patch failures and compatibility issues.

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Step 2: Validate Patch Prerequisites

Run minimum OPatch version checks:

opatch prereq CheckMinimumOPatchVersion

Output:

Prereq "checkMinimumOPatchVersion" passed.

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Step 3: Perform Conflict Checks for All Sub-Patches

Oracle GI RU 39036936 contains multiple sub-patches, including:

• 39034528
• 39039430
• 39055473
• 39107855
• 39107825

Each patch should be validated individually:

opatch prereq CheckConflictAgainstOHWithDetail

Important Real-World Conflict:

Patch 39107825 initially reported conflict with installed patch 38322923:

ZOP-47: Superset conflict detected
ZOP-40: Conflict with patch 38322923

Resolution:

Despite the conflict warning, OPatchAuto successfully handled patch supersets during bundle deployment.

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Step 4: Validate System Space

Before patching, confirm sufficient Oracle Home storage:

opatch prereq CheckSystemSpace

Result:

Prereq "checkSystemSpace" passed.

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Step 5: Apply Oracle GI 19.31 RU Using OPatchAuto

For Oracle Restart Home, use:

# opatchauto apply -oh /u01/app/19c/grid

OPatchAuto Process Includes:

• CRS prepatch shutdown
• Oracle Restart service stop
• Binary patching
• rootadd_rdbms.sh execution
• CRS postpatch startup
• Service restoration

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Step 6: Monitor Automated Patching Workflow

Key production steps:

[root@prod 39036936]# /u01/app/19c/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply -oh /u01/app/19c/grid

OPatchauto session is initiated at Sun May  3 19:18:39 2026

System initialization log file is /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchautodb/systemconfig2026-05-03_07-18-55PM.log.

Session log file is /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/opatchauto2026-05-03_07-19-05PM.log
The id for this session is 51WW

Executing OPatch prereq operations to verify patch applicability on home /u01/app/19c/grid
Patch applicability verified successfully on home /u01/app/19c/grid


Executing patch validation checks on home /u01/app/19c/grid
Patch validation checks successfully completed on home /u01/app/19c/grid


Performing prepatch operations on CRS - bringing down CRS service on home /u01/app/19c/grid
Prepatch operation log file location: /u01/app/oracle/crsdata/prod/crsconfig/hapatch_2026-05-03_07-22-39PM.log
CRS service brought down successfully on home /u01/app/19c/grid


Start applying binary patch on home /u01/app/19c/grid

Binary patch applied successfully on home /u01/app/19c/grid

Running rootadd_rdbms.sh on home /u01/app/19c/grid
Successfully executed rootadd_rdbms.sh on home /u01/app/19c/grid


Performing postpatch operations on CRS - starting CRS service on home /u01/app/19c/grid
Postpatch operation log file location: /u01/app/oracle/crsdata/prod/crsconfig/hapatch_2026-05-03_07-38-41PM.log
CRS service started successfully on home /u01/app/19c/grid

OPatchAuto successful.

--------------------------------Summary--------------------------------

Patching is completed successfully. Please find the summary as follows:

Host:prod
SIHA Home:/u01/app/19c/grid
Version:19.0.0.0.0
Summary:

==Following patches were SUCCESSFULLY applied:

Patch: /home/oracle/patch/39036936/39034528
Log: /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/core/opatch/opatch2026-05-03_19-23-40PM_1.log

Patch: /home/oracle/patch/39036936/39039430
Log: /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/core/opatch/opatch2026-05-03_19-23-40PM_1.log

Patch: /home/oracle/patch/39036936/39055473
Log: /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/core/opatch/opatch2026-05-03_19-23-40PM_1.log

Patch: /home/oracle/patch/39036936/39107825
Log: /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/core/opatch/opatch2026-05-03_19-23-40PM_1.log

Patch: /home/oracle/patch/39036936/39107855
Log: /u01/app/19c/grid/cfgtoollogs/opatchauto/core/opatch/opatch2026-05-03_19-23-40PM_1.log



OPatchauto session completed at Sun May  3 19:42:46 2026
Time taken to complete the session 23 minutes, 51 seconds

Prepatch:

CRS service brought down successfully

Binary patch:

Binary patch applied successfully

Postpatch:

CRS service started successfully

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Step 7: Successful Patch Completion

Final result:

[oracle@prod OPatch]$ ./opatch lspatches
39107855;TOMCAT RELEASE UPDATE 19.0.0.0.0 (39107855)
39107825;DBWLM RELEASE UPDATE 19.0.0.0.0 (39107825)
39055473;ACFS RELEASE UPDATE 19.31.0.0.0 (39055473)
39039430;OCW RELEASE UPDATE 19.31.0.0.0 (39039430)
39034528;Database Release Update : 19.31.0.0.260421 (39034528)

OPatch succeeded.

OPatchAuto successful.

Successfully applied patches:

• GI RU 39036936
• 39034528
• 39039430
• 39055473
• 39107825
• 39107855

Total patching time:

Approximately 24 minutes.

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Oracle GI 19.31 Post-Patching Benefits

After successful patching:

Infrastructure improvements:

• Updated Oracle Restart binaries
• Improved ASM stack stability
• Enhanced Cluster Ready Services
• Better patch synchronization with Oracle DB Home
• Improved system security posture

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Best Practices for Oracle Restart Patching

Recommended DBA Checklist:

• Upgrade OPatch first
• Validate all sub-patches
• Check conflict analysis
• Confirm system storage
• Use OPatchAuto for Restart environments
• Review CRS logs
• Align DB Home and GI Home patch levels

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Common Issues to Watch

Potential challenges:

• Legacy one-off patch conflicts
• Insufficient Oracle Home space
• CRS startup failures
• Missing root permissions
• Outdated OPatch versions

Careful validation significantly reduces production patching risks.

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Final Thoughts

Patching Oracle 19c Grid Infrastructure Restart Home to 19.31 using GI RU 39036936 is a critical operational task for enterprise DBAs managing standalone Oracle Restart servers.

This production-tested upgrade demonstrates that with proper prerequisite checks, updated OPatch tooling, and OPatchAuto automation, Oracle GI patching can be completed efficiently with minimal downtime.

For organizations prioritizing uptime, security, and Oracle support compliance, Oracle GI 19.31 patching is an essential maintenance milestone—not just a routine update.