Upgrade OracleDB

In a project I was requested to install Oracle SOA Suite 10g (10.1.3.1.0).

It is interesting that my colleagues simply knew I need to upgrade an existing OracleDB to higher version. But when I asked where do I find the documentation regarding the upgrade, they replied they hit an error before and they solved it but they didn't remember where's the documentation.

Anyway, the summary is, documentation does exist. You may go http://otn.oracle.com/ -> Documentation -> Oracle Application Server -> etc. Please reference the following link for the corresponding OracleDB that is required by SOA Suite 10g installation:
http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/B31019_01/install.1013/install/reqs.htm#CHDEAICG

% sqlplus sys/password as sysdba
SQL> select version from product_component_version where product like 'Oracle%9i%' or product like 'Oracle%Database%';

The existing OracleDB is 10.1.0.4. How do I upgrade it to 10.1.0.5?

Steps to find patch for upgrading OracleDB:

1. Login http://metalink.oracle.com
2. Go to [Patches & Upgrades] tab.
3. Select "Advanced Search".
4. Search with the following options:

* Product Family: RDBMS Server
* Release: Oracle 10.1.0.4, 10.1.0.5

5. Then, a list of related items are returned.

I want to upgrade OracleDB 10.1.0.4 to 10.1.0.5, which one is the right one? Siva simply suggested me to use "4505133 - Oracle Database Family: Patchset 10.1.0.5 PATCH SET FOR ORACLE DATABASE SERVER". I asked him, how do you know is this one? He replied, you click the readme file, then you'll know everything. Magic. Anyway, I trust him, so I just simply download patch 4505133.

Here you go. Upgrade patch is bundled in OUI (Oracle Universal Installer) format. So we simply shutdown all database processes and execute "./runInstaller". OracleDB will be upgraded beautifully.