The SE, EE conundrum is an interesting twist and I can see a use for the sixth subdir.. db_1 etc. Joel Patterson Database Administrator 904 727-2546 -----Original Message----- From: Norman Dunbar [mailto:oracle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Monday, November 26, 2012 10:29 AM To: Patterson, Joel Cc: oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Oracle Home naming convention Hi Joel, On 26/11/12 15:17, Patterson, Joel wrote: > /orasoft/app/oracle/product/11.2.0.3.0/dbhome > /orasoft/app/oracle/product/11.2.0.3.3/dbhome > etc.. We have a similar convention, viz: /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/db_1 /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/db_2 /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.2/client_1 etc. You can see where my problem came from! Is db_1 Enterprise or Standard? Well, I got it wrong! When we have to patch an Oracle Home with a one-off patch, we need to create a new home for that, install (or clone) and then patch. Any database affected by the bug that requires the patch will be switched to the new home in the usual /etc/oratab manner. Ditto PSU. It does require a decent amount of free space in /opt/oracle/product, or we can mount another LUN at the appropriate level. It also messes up having multiple databases per server - but then again, what doesn't! Eventually, of course, there's a home or two with no attached databases. Then that can get binned and the disc space recovered - ready for the next one-off patch or CPU. I think, to avoid my original problem, we should be calling our homes something like: /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/EE/ /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/SE/ /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.2/client_1 And maybe, as PSUs are applied: /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3.x/EE/ /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3.x/SE/ /opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.2.x/client_1 What I've done to try and prevent me, and others, from getting the wrong home assigned is to add a couple of entries to /etc/oratab: 11203ee:/opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/db_1:N 11203se:/opt/oracle/product/11.2.0.3/db_2:N Etc. Cheers, Norm. -- Norman Dunbar Dunbar IT Consultants Ltd Registered address: Thorpe House 61 Richardshaw Lane Pudsey West Yorkshire United Kingdom LS28 7EL Company Number: 05132767 -- //www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l