How to Delete Old (Inactive) Patches in Oracle 19c Using OPatch

How I Clean Up Old (Inactive) Patches in Oracle Using OPatch

Problem: After multiple Oracle RU patch cycles, old inactive patches accumulate in Oracle Home, causing clutter and confusion during troubleshooting.
Environment: Oracle 19c on Windows (same steps apply to Linux)
Solution: Use OPatch utility commands to safely list and delete inactive patches while retaining the minimum recommended count.

If you have been consistently installing RUs on your Oracle Database, one of the things that will occur to you after some time is your Oracle Home being crammed with outdated patches.

They're not active anymore, but they're still lingering. I ran into the same situation recently while checking one of our 19c environments. There were multiple old RUs lying around, and I thought it's a good time to clean things up a bit.

Here's how I usually handle deleting inactive patches using OPatch.

Prerequisites

• Oracle 19c installed (Windows or Linux)
• OPatch version 12.2.0.1.37 or higher
• Access to OS user with ORACLE_HOME permissions
• Preferably a scheduled maintenance window

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Step 1: Check Your OPatch Version

Before doing anything, I always make sure OPatch is up to date. Some of these utilities won't work properly on older versions.

cd D:\oracle\product\19.3.0\dbhome_1\OPatch
opatch version

Make sure it's 12.2.0.1.37 or higher. In my case, it was 12.2.0.1.45 — good to go.

Step 2: Check What's Actually Inactive

Next step is to see what patches are inactive. This command is quite handy:

D:\oracle\product\19.3.0\dbhome_1\OPatch>opatch util listorderedinactivepatches

Sample output:

Oracle Interim Patch Installer version 12.2.0.1.45
Copyright (c) 2025, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

Oracle Home       : D:\oracle\product\19.3.0\dbhome_1
OPatch version    : 12.2.0.1.45

Invoking utility "listorderedinactivepatches"

***** There are 2 inactive RU patches in chain 1
-Inactive RU/BP 35046439: 19.19.0.0.230418, installed on: Fri Jul 28 10:22:30 GST 2023
-Inactive RU/BP 36521936: 19.24.0.0.240716, installed on: Thu Oct 24 11:31:40 GST 2024
-Active   RU/BP 37486199: 19.26.0.0.250121, installed on: Sat May 17 10:22:50 GST 2025

OPatch succeeded.

So clearly:

• 2 old patches are inactive
• 1 is the current active RU

Pretty typical scenario after a couple of patch cycles.

Step 3: Important — Don't Delete Everything

Oracle recommends keeping at least 2 inactive patches in the Oracle Home. If something goes wrong and you need to rollback or investigate, having older patches helps. So don't just go and delete everything blindly.

Step 4: Clean Up the Old Ones

To remove inactive patches, use:

D:\oracle\product\19.3.0\dbhome_1\OPatch>opatch util deleteinactivepatches

Sample output:

Invoking utility "deleteinactivepatches"

***** There are 2 inactive RU patches in chain 1

***** 1 inactive patches will be deleted
-To be deleted  : 35046439 (19.19.0.0.230418)
-To be retained : 36521936 (19.24.0.0.240716)
-Active RU/BP   : 37486199 (19.26.0.0.250121)

Do you want to proceed? [y|n]

Notice something interesting — even though there were 2 inactive patches, OPatch decided to delete only 1. That's because it automatically ensures the minimum required patches are retained.

Confirm with:

y

Result:

Deleted RU/BP patch: 35046439

OPatch succeeded.

Things I Always Keep in Mind

• Prefer doing this during a maintenance window
• On critical systems, take a quick backup of Oracle Home first
• Always check logs if something looks off:

%ORACLE_HOME%\cfgtoollogs\opatch

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Summary — What we did:

• Verified OPatch version is 12.2.0.1.37 or higher
• Listed inactive patches using listorderedinactivepatches
• Safely deleted oldest patch using deleteinactivepatches
• OPatch automatically retained the minimum required inactive patches

Final Thoughts

This is one of those small maintenance activities that's easy to ignore, but it helps keep your environment clean. Inactive patches don't harm directly, but over time they add clutter and confusion — especially when you're troubleshooting or auditing patch levels.

Related posts:

• How to Patch Oracle 19c to Release 19.29 – Step-by-Step
• Datapatch Fails in Oracle 12c on Windows – Root Cause and Fix

How to Patch Oracle 19c to Release 19.29 – A Complete Step-by-Step Blog

How to Patch Oracle 19c to Release 19.29 – A Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Problem: Oracle 19c database needs to be patched to the latest Release Update (19.29) to stay secure and aligned with Oracle's quarterly patch cycle.
Environment: Oracle 19c on Linux x86-64 (same process applies to all 19c versions)
Solution: Download patch 38291812 from Oracle Support, update OPatch, apply the patch, and run datapatch to register it in the database.

I recently had to patch one of my Oracle 19c databases from 19.28 to 19.29. Since this is something we DBAs do every few months, I decided to write down the exact steps I followed. The procedures are the same for all 19c versions.

Note: On production systems, always apply on test/dev first. Never patch production directly without testing!

Prerequisites

• Oracle 19c database installed on Linux x86-64
• Access to Oracle Support (MOS account)
• OS user with ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_BASE permissions
• At least 12 GB free disk space in /home
• WinSCP or similar tool to transfer files to the server
• Scheduled maintenance window (database downtime required)

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Step 1: Download the Patch and OPatch Utility

Log in to Oracle Support and download the following:

• Patch file: 38291812 → p38291812_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip
• OPatch utility: 6880880 → p6880880_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip

Steps to download: Select Patches & Updates → enter patch number → select platform Linux x86-64 → download both files and review the README.

Step 2: Check and Update OPatch

On the server, check your current OPatch version:

cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
./opatch version

You need version 12.2.0.1.48 or higher. If it's older, update it:

mv OPatch OPatch_backup1
cp p6880880_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip $ORACLE_HOME
cd $ORACLE_HOME
unzip p6880880_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip

Update your .bash_profile so OPatch is available globally:

vi /home/oracle/.bash_profile

Add this line:

PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch:$PATH

Save and reload:

:wq
. ~/.bash_profile

Step 3: Prepare the Patch Directory

mkdir /home/oracle/patch
chmod -R 777 /home/oracle/patch

Transfer both ZIP files (Patch + OPatch) to /home/oracle/patch using WinSCP or SCP.

Step 4: Unzip the Patch

cd /home/oracle/patch
unzip p38291812_190000_Linux-x86-64.zip
cd 38291812

Step 5: Run Pre-checks

Before applying the patch, check for conflicts with existing patches:

./opatch prereq CheckConflictAgainstOHWithDetail -ph ./

If you see "OPatch succeeded" — you're good to go. If there are conflicts, resolve them before proceeding.

Step 6: Stop the Database and Listener

sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> shutdown immediate
SQL> exit

lsnrctl stop

Verify all services are completely down before moving to the next step.

Step 7: Clean Up Inactive Patches (Optional but Recommended)

This frees up Oracle Home space before applying the new patch:

cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
./opatch util listOrderedInactivePatches
./opatch util deleteInactivePatches

Step 8: Check Available Disk Space

You'll need at least 12 GB free in /home:

df -h

Do not proceed if space is insufficient — the patch will fail midway.

Step 9: Apply the Patch

cd /home/oracle/patch/38291812
./opatch apply

Watch the output carefully. You should see success messages for each component. The full process typically takes 10–20 minutes.

Sample successful output at the end:

Patching component oracle.rdbms, 19.0.0.0.0...
Verifying the update...
Patch 38291812 successfully applied.
OPatch succeeded.

Step 10: Start the Database and Run DataPatch

Start the database first:

sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL> startup

Then run DataPatch to register the patch inside the database dictionary:

cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
./datapatch -verbose

This step is mandatory — without it the patch is applied at the binary level but not registered in the database.

Step 11: Verify the Patch

SQL> select * from v$version;
SQL> select patch_id, patch_uid, version, action, status, description
     from dba_registry_sqlpatch
     order by action_time;

You should see 19.29.0.0.0 listed in the output with status SUCCESS.

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Summary — What we did:

• Downloaded patch 38291812 and updated OPatch to 12.2.0.1.48+
• Ran pre-checks to confirm no patch conflicts
• Shut down database and listener cleanly
• Applied the patch using opatch apply
• Ran datapatch -verbose to register the patch in the database
• Verified patch version shows 19.29.0.0.0 in dba_registry_sqlpatch

Final Tips

• In Data Guard setups — always patch the standby first, then the primary
• Never patch production directly — test on a non-prod clone first
• Always read the patch README before applying — it may have special instructions
• Keep the OPatch backup (OPatch_backup1) until you've verified the patch successfully

Related posts:

• How to Delete Old (Inactive) Patches in Oracle 19c Using OPatch
• Datapatch Fails in Oracle 12c on Windows – Root Cause and Fix
• How to Patch Oracle 19c to Release 19.27 – Step-by-Step