Software images are either Oracle-published software releases or custom software images created by you that include the desired release updates (RU) and additional one-off (interim) updates or patches referenced from specific Oracle home inventory file.

There is no limit on the number of software images you can create in your tenancy, and you can create your software images with any supported Oracle Grid Infrastructure or Oracle Database release update available in the OCI Console.

Software images are automatically stored in Oracle-managed Object Storage and can be viewed and managed in the OCI Console.

Software images are regional-level resources and can be accessed from any region within your tenancy.

Required IAM Policy

To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don’t have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment to work in.

For administrators: The policy in Let database admins manage Oracle Cloud database systems lets the specified group do everything with databases and related Database resources.

If you're new to policies, see Getting Started with Policies and Common Policies. If you want to dig deeper into writing policies for databases, see Details for the Database Service.

Perform the following steps to view the list of software images in your tenancy using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.

Perform the following steps to create a Grid Infrastructure software image using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.
3. Select Create software image.
4. For Image type, select Grid Infrastructure software image.
5. Enter a display name for the software image. Avoid entering confidential information.
6. Select a compartment from the list.
7. Select a Grid Infrastructure release for the software image from the list.
8. Select a Grid Infrastructure version for the software image from the list. You can create a software image using any supported release update (RU).
9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-separated list of one-off patch numbers.
10. Optionally, you can upload an Oracle home inventory file from an existing DB system. For instructions on creating an inventory file using OPatch, see Verify the Updates Applied to an Oracle Home.

    Note:

    Oracle Home inventory contains a list of updates installed in a Grid Infrastructure or database home. To ensure that a new software image contains, at a minimum, all updates and patches installed in an existing home, you can upload a file containing the output of the "opatch lsinventory" command run in the existing home.
11. Select Show advanced options to apply tags to the resource. You can add free-form tags or defined tags. You must have permissions to use the tag namespace for defined tags. For more information about using tags to manage OCI resources, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you must apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
12. Select Create.

Perform the following steps to create a database software image using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.
3. Select Create software image.
4. For Image type, select Database software image.
5. Enter a display name for the software image. Avoid entering confidential information.
6. Select a compartment from the list.
7. Select a database release for the software image from the list.
8. Select a database version for the software image from the list. You can create a software image using any supported release update (RU).
9. Optionally, you can enter a comma-separated list of one-off patch numbers.
10. Optionally, you can upload an Oracle home inventory file from an existing DB system. For instructions on creating an inventory file using OPatch, see Verify the Updates Applied to an Oracle Home.

    Note:

    Oracle Home inventory contains a list of updates installed in a Grid Infrastructure or database home. To ensure that a new software image contains, at a minimum, all updates and patches installed in an existing home, you can upload a file containing the output of the "opatch lsinventory" command run in the existing home.
11. Select Show advanced options to apply tags to the resource. You can add free-form tags or defined tags. You must have permissions to use the tag namespace for defined tags. For more information about using tags to manage OCI resources, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure if you must apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.
12. Select Create.

Perform the following steps to create a database software image from a database in an existing DB system using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Select your Compartment. A list of DB systems is displayed.
3. On the DB systems list page, select the DB system that contains the database you want to use to create a database software image. The DB system details page is displayed.
4. On the DB system details page, select the database that you want to use to create a database software image. The database details page is displayed.
5. From the More actions menu, select Create image from database.
6. Enter a display name for the software image. Avoid entering confidential information.
7. Select a compartment from the list. You can also select a different compartment from the one you are currently working in to store the database software image.
8. Select Create.

You can view the details, such as version, release update, one-off (interim) updates, and so on, of the database and Grid Infrastructure software images.

Perform the following steps to view the software image details using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.
3. On the software images list page, select the image that you want to view.
4. On the software image details page, you can view the following details:
   • Lifecycle state: The lifecycle state of the software image, such as available, provisioning, or failed.
   • Compartment: The compartment where the software image is located.
   • OCID: The unique Oracle Cloud Identifier (OCID) for this software image. You can select Show to view the complete OCID or select Copy to copy the OCID to the clipboard.
   • Created: Date of creation of this software image.
   • Image type: Type of the software image, either Grid Infrastructure or database.
   • Service: Name of the Oracle Cloud Service using which this software image was created.
   • Release: The release number of the database or Grid Infrastructure, such as 19.0.0.0 for 19c.
   • Version: The version number of the database or Grid Infrastructure, such as 19.22.0.0 for the database and 19.16.0.0.0 for Grid Infrastructure.
   • One-Off updates (patches): The list of one-off updates included in the software image, if any. The list includes all updates specified when creating the software image (including updates listed in lsinventory).
     • To view all the included updates, select View all items. A list of all one-off updates is displayed.

Perform the following steps to delete a software image using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.
3. On the software images list page, select the software image that you want to delete.
4. On the software image details page, select Delete and then confirm the deletion.

Perform the following steps to move a software image to a different compartment of your choice using the OCI Console:

1. From the navigation menu, select Oracle Database, and then select Oracle Base Database Service.
2. Under Resources, select Software images. A list containing custom Grid Infrastructure and database software images is displayed.
3. On the software images list page, select the software image that you want to move.
4. On the software image details page, select Move resource.
5. Select a destination compartment from the list.
6. Select Move resource.

You can use a database software image to provision a DB system. For more information, see Create a DB System.

You can use a database software image to update the database of an existing DB system. This is sometimes referred to as an "in-place update". For information about using a custom database software image to update a database in a DB system, and to determine if a database has been updated with a particular database software image, see Update a Database.

The OPatch utility enables you to apply and manage interim patches for your Oracle Database software. Using the lsinventory command provided by OPatch, you can create a file that lists the interim patches applied to an Oracle Database Home. This file can then be uploaded to the OCI Console during the creation of a custom database software image to add the exact set of patches used by the source database home to the list of patches included in the software image. You can find the OPatch utility in the $ORACLE_HOME/Opatch directory. The following example shows how to use the lsinventory command to create the lsinventory file.

ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch lsinventory

Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 12.2.0.1.21
Copyright (c) 2021, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

Oracle Home : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2
Central Inventory : /u01/app/oraInventory
from : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 12.2.0.1.21
OUI version : 12.2.0.7.0
Log file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch2021-01-21_09-22-45AM_1.log

Lsinventory Output file location : /u02/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_2/cfgtoollogs/opatch/lsinv/lsinventory2021-01-21_09-22-45AM.txt

For information about using the API and signing requests, see REST APIs and Security Credentials. For information about SDKs, see Software Development Kits and Command Line Interface.

Use the following APIs to manage database updates.

• CreateDatabaseSoftwareImage
• ListDatabaseSoftwareImages
• GetDatabaseSoftwareImage
• DeleteDatabaseSoftwareImage
• ChangeDatabaseSoftwareImageCompartment

Resource-Types

The database-software-image resource-type covers the Oracle and custom database software images available through the database software image feature. The database-family aggregate resource-type covers the database software image resource-type as well as other resources related to Base Database instances. For more information, see Resource-Types in How Policies Work.

Aggregate Resource-Type

There are no aggregate resource-types for database software images.

Individual Resource-Types

Supported Variables

Only the general variables are supported. For more information, see General Variables for All Requests in Policy Reference.

Details for Verb + Resource-Type Combinations

The following tables show the permissions and API operations covered by each verb. The level of access is cumulative as you go from inspect > read > use > manage. A plus sign (+) in a table cell indicates incremental access compared to the cell directly preceding it, whereas "no extra" indicates no incremental access.

Permissions Required for Each API Operation

The following tables list the API operations for database software images in a logical order, grouped by resource type.

Database Software Image API Operations