OPatchAuto Error Code 42: RemoteHostExecutor.pl Permission Denied During Oracle GI/RAC Patching

Oracle Grid Infrastructure patching with OPatchAuto is designed to automate rolling patch application across RAC nodes. However, incorrect file ownership or permissions in the OPatch directory can cause the patching process to fail immediately with error code 42.

In this article, we’ll examine a real-world Oracle 23ai Grid Infrastructure patching issue, explain why it occurs, and show the exact steps to resolve it.

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Environment

• Oracle Grid Infrastructure 23ai
• Oracle RAC (2 Nodes)
• OPatchAuto Rolling Patch
• Linux

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Problem

While applying a Grid Infrastructure patch using opatchauto, the patch failed almost immediately.

Command Executed

/u01/app/23.26.0.0/grid/OPatch/opatchauto apply /home/oracle/install/39568945 -logLevel FINEST

Error Output

Remote command execution failed due to

Can't open perl script

"/u01/app/23.26.0.0/grid/OPatch/auto/database/bin/RemoteHostExecutor.pl":
Permission denied

OPatchAuto failed.

opatchauto failed with error code 42

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What Does This Error Mean?

During a RAC patch, OPatchAuto copies commands to the remote node and executes the Perl script:

RemoteHostExecutor.pl

If Oracle cannot read or execute this script on the remote node, the entire patch process stops before any binaries are updated.

The failure is usually caused by:

• Incorrect ownership
• Incorrect permissions
• OPatch directory copied incorrectly
• Manual replacement of the OPatch directory
• Root ownership on files that should be owned by Oracle/Grid

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Investigation

Checking the Grid Home showed an unusual ownership for the OPatch directory.

Example:

drwxr-x---. 14 root root 4096 Jul 29 12:19 OPatch

Instead of being owned by the Oracle software owner, the directory belonged to root.

Because of this, Oracle could not execute:

OPatch/auto/database/bin/RemoteHostExecutor.pl

resulting in:

Permission denied

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Root Cause

The OPatch directory ownership had changed to:

root:root

instead of:

oracle:oinstall

(or grid:oinstall, depending on your Grid Infrastructure owner).

Since OPatchAuto runs under the Oracle/Grid software owner, it was unable to access the required Perl scripts on the remote RAC node.

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Solution

Correct the ownership of the OPatch directory.

cd $GRID_HOME

chown -R oracle:oinstall OPatch

Then correct the permissions.

chmod -R 775 OPatch

If your Grid Infrastructure is owned by the grid user instead of oracle, use:

chown -R grid:oinstall OPatch

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Verify Ownership

Run:

ls -ld $GRID_HOME/OPatch

Expected output:

drwxrwxr-x oracle oinstall OPatch

or

drwxrwxr-x grid oinstall OPatch

depending on your installation.

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Retry the Patch

After fixing the ownership and permissions, rerun the patch:

$GRID_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto apply /home/oracle/install/39568945

The remote execution should now proceed successfully.

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Why Did This Happen?

This issue is commonly seen after:

• Manually replacing the OPatch directory
• Copying OPatch using the root user
• Extracting a new OPatch ZIP as root
• Restoring a Grid Home from backup
• Incorrect post-installation permission changes

Whenever the OPatch directory ownership changes, OPatchAuto may fail before the actual patching begins.

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Best Practices

To avoid this issue in future patching activities:

• Always extract OPatch as the Grid/Oracle software owner.
• Verify ownership before starting patching.
• Never leave the OPatch directory owned by root.
• Validate permissions on all RAC nodes.
• Keep OPatch versions consistent across every node in the cluster.
• Run opatchauto pre-checks before applying production patches.

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Quick Checklist

Before running opatchauto, verify:

ls -ld $GRID_HOME/OPatch

ls -l $GRID_HOME/OPatch/auto/database/bin/RemoteHostExecutor.pl

whoami

$GRID_HOME/OPatch/opatch version

Ensure:

• ✔ Correct software owner (oracle or grid)
• ✔ Read and execute permissions
• ✔ Same OPatch version on all RAC nodes
• ✔ No root ownership inside the OPatch directory

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Conclusion

The OPatchAuto error code 42 with the message:

Can't open perl script:
RemoteHostExecutor.pl: Permission denied

is typically caused by incorrect ownership or permissions on the OPatch directory. Correcting the directory ownership and permissions restores access to the required Perl scripts, allowing OPatchAuto to execute remote operations successfully across RAC nodes.

By verifying file ownership before every patch cycle, Oracle administrators can prevent this common issue and ensure smooth, uninterrupted Grid Infrastructure patching.