Upgrading Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) to 12.2.8

R12.2.8 is the latest Release Update Pack(RUP) available for R12.2 version.  Insturctions for downloading and applying the patch can be found from the below MoS Note:

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.8 Readme (Doc ID 2393248.1)

Release 12.2.8 is cumulative. That means, as well as providing new updates,features,fixes it also includes earlier versions features as well.  As per the release notes, there are enhancements for stability, performance and security.

Let's us explore how to upgrade to this latest RUP version 12.2.8. Assumption is, you are already on one of earlier versions of 12.2.

Initiate an online patching Cycle.

adop phase=prepare 

There are pre-requisites you need to verify before the next steps.

FMW

• Check the versions of Fusion Middleware Technology Stack (FMW). If you are on 11.1.1.6 then definately you need to upgrade to either 11.1.1.7 (11gR1 PS6)  or 11.1.1.9 (11gR1 PS7) . 
• To upgrade to 11.1.1.7 (11gR1 PS6) use the Mos Doc 2002603.1
• To upgrade to 11.1.1.9 (11gR1 PS7) use the Mos Doc 1590356.1

Tech Stack Patches

Apply the latest application tier technology patches. Refer the Section 3 and 4 from the Doc ID 1594274.1 to identify and apply the patches to all the tech stack components. This Doc also helps provides instructions to verify the output of the latest EBS Techonology Codelevel Checker(ETCC) script. ETCC can be downloaded via Patch 17537119.  Make sure ETCC reports no patches missing. 

once all the pre-requisites met, apply the patch 26787767 (This is big patch. Download in prior to upgrade. Otherwise use wget.sh to download directly to your server).

Apply the 12.2.8 patch 

adop phase=apply patches=26787767

adop phase=finalize,cutover,cleanup

Post Update Steps

• Apply Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2.8 Online Help Patch 26787780 to the new Run file System

adop phase=apply patches=26787780 hotpatch=yes

• E-Business Suite is locked down - Verify Security configurations

After the RUP applied, E-Business Suite is locked down until the APPS DBA acknowledges the recommended security configurations. User with System administrator responsibility should login and then he will be redirected to the Secure Configuration Console. 

There are security guildesliness which you have to go through in detail as displayed in the console. Certain actions are autofixable and many requires manual actions from your side.

• Grant flexfield value set access to specific users (required)

This is a mandatory action items incase if you have not done in the previous 12.2.x releases. It's a new feature introduced in 12.2. It controls who can create or modify flexfield values in the Flexfield Values Setup window. For more details, check the 'Flexfield Value Set Security' chapter in Oracle® E-Business Suite Flexfields Guide, Release 12.2 (Part No. E22963). 

• Perform Product-Specific Steps (conditional)

There are product specific actions need to be performed post update. It is advised to loop correspending product teams from your organizations to verify and perform the changes. Also, these teams have to verify the documents to verify if oracle has released any patches for their corresponding module.

• Perform NLS-related Step (conditional)

Incase if you have additional launguates installed, you must apply the 12.2.8 NLS software patch for the other languages enabled. Refer the Doc Oracle E-Business Suite NLS Release Notes, Release 12.2 (Doc ID 1314621.1) for more details on NLS.

• Consider E-Business Suite recommended patches

There are recommended patches for E-Business Suite environment. Please have a visit to the Doc How to Find E-Business Suite Recommended Patches (Doc ID 1400757.1)

• Look and Feel

From 12.2.5 onwards the look and feel of the E-Business suite has been changed. It is not possible to keep the same look and feel from the previous to 12.2.5 versions.

References: 

1. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2.8 Readme (Doc ID 2393248.1)
2. Document 2002603.1, Fusion Middleware Technology Stack of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 to 11.1.1.7 (11gR1 PS6).
3. Document 1590356.1, Fusion Middleware Technology Stack of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 to 11.1.1.9 (11gR1 PS7)
4. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2: Consolidated List of Patches and Technology Bug Fixes (Doc ID 1594274.1)
5. Oracle E-Business Suite NLS Release Notes, Release 12.2 (Doc ID 1314621.1)
6. How to Find E-Business Suite Recommended Patches (Doc ID 1400757.1)