Recommendations:

• Use the WebLogic Image Tool create feature for patching the Oracle SOA Suite Docker image with a bundle patch and multiple interim patches. This is the recommended approach because it optimizes the size of the image.
• Use the WebLogic Image Tool update feature for patching the Oracle SOA Suite Docker image with a single interim patch. Note that the patched image size may increase considerably due to additional image layers introduced by the patch application tool.

Apply the patched Oracle SOA Suite image

To update an Oracle SOA Suite domain with a patched image, first make sure the patched image is pulled or created and available on the nodes in your Kubernetes cluster. Once the patched image is available, you can follow these steps to update the Oracle SOA Suite domain with a patched image:

• Stop all servers
• Update user permissions of the domain PV storage
• Address post-installation requirements
• Apply the patched image

Stop all servers

Before applying the patch, stop all servers in the domain:

1. In the domain.yaml configuration file, update the spec.serverStartPolicy field value to Never.
2. Shut down the domain (stop all servers) by applying the updated domain.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f domain.yaml

Address post-installation requirements

If the patches in the patched Oracle SOA Suite image have any post-installation steps, follow these steps:

• Create a Kubernetes pod with domain home access
• Perform post-installation steps

Create a Kubernetes pod with domain home access

1. Get domain home persistence volume claim details for the Oracle SOA Suite domain. For example, to list the persistent volume claim details in the namespace soans:

   kubectl get pvc -n soans   

   Sample output showing the persistent volume claim is soainfra-domain-pvc:

   NAME                  STATUS   VOLUME               CAPACITY   ACCESS MODES   STORAGECLASS                    AGE
   soainfra-domain-pvc   Bound    soainfra-domain-pv   10Gi       RWX            soainfra-domain-storage-class   xxd
   

2. Create a YAML soapostinstall.yaml using the domain home persistence volume claim.

   For example, using soainfra-domain-pvc per the sample output:

   Note:

   Replace soasuite:14.1.2.0-XXXXXX with the patched image in the following sample YAML:

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Pod
   metadata:
     labels:
        run: soapostinstall
     name: soapostinstall
     namespace: soans
   spec:
    containers:
    - image: soasuite:14.1.2.0-XXXXXX
      name: soapostinstall
      command: ["/bin/bash", "-c", "sleep infinity"]
      imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
      volumeMounts:
      - name: soainfra-domain-storage-volume
        mountPath: /u01/oracle/user_projects
    volumes:
    - name: soainfra-domain-storage-volume
      persistentVolumeClaim:
       claimName: soainfra-domain-pvc
   

3. Apply the YAML to create the Kubernetes pod:

   kubectl apply -f soapostinstall.yaml
   

Perform post-installation steps

If you need to perform any post-installation steps on the domain home:

1. Start a bash shell in the soapostinstall pod:

   kubectl exec -it -n soans soapostinstall -- bash

   This opens a bash shell in the running soapostinstall pod:

   [oracle@soapostinstall oracle]$

2. Use the bash shell of the soapostinstall pod and perform the required steps on the domain home.
3. After successful completion of the post-installation steps, you can delete the soapostinstall pod:

   kubectl delete -f  soapostinstall.yaml

Apply the patched image

After completing the required post-installation steps, start up the domain:

1. In the domain.yaml configuration file, update the image field value with the patched image: For example:

     image: soasuite:14.1.2.0-XXXXXX

2. In case of non-Zero Downtime Patching, update the spec.serverStartPolicy field value to IfNeeded in domain.yaml.
3. Apply the updated domain.yaml configuration file to start up the domain.

   kubectl apply -f domain.yaml

   Note:

   In case of non-Zero downtime patching, update the spec.serverStartPolicy field value to IfNeeded in domain.yaml.
4. Verify the domain is updated with the patched image:

   kubectl describe domain <domainUID> -n <domain-namespace>|grep "Image:"
   

   Sample output:

   kubectl describe domain soainfra -n soans |grep "Image:"
   Image:                          soasuite:14.1.2.0-XXXXXXX