ALERT: 8.1.7.1 Upgrade Overwrites iAS OWA

Question

I'm poting the following for those of who who don't have access to Metalink (let me know if I'm not supposed to do this) and because I have an issue with what it says:
Doc ID: Note:143368.1
Subject: ALERT: 8.1.7.1 Upgrade Overwrites iAS OWA Packages
Type: ALERT
Status: PUBLISHED
Content Type: TEXT/PLAIN
Creation Date: 26-APR-2001
Last Revision Date: 15-MAY-2001
This alert was modified on:
15-May-2001 to clarify which iAS versions are affected.
Bug:1745320 8.1.7.1 Install Overwrites iAS OWA Packages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Versions Affected
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This problem is related to the installation of the 8.1.7.1 or
8.1.7.1B patch sets where the database is used by iAS-based
mod_PLSQL applications (such as Oracle Portal).
This problem only affects existing installations of iAS 1.0.2
where the database is upgraded after the iAS installation has
been performed.
Platforms Affected
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This problem is GENERIC - it affects all platforms.
Description
~~~~~~~~~~~
The upgrade of a database to 8.1.7.1 reinstalls the default OWA packages
which can cause iAS applications to fail with errors such as ORA-6502.
The errors occur as iAS 1.0.2 based product require a newer version of
the OWA packages than is supplied with 8.1.7.1.
Likelihood of Occurrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may encounter problems if you use iAS 1.0.2 products with 8.1.7.0
and then upgrade the database to 8.1.7.1.
If you install 8.1.7.1 and then subsequently install iAS you will not
encounter this problem.
Possible Symptoms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Possible symptoms include errors of the form:
ORA-6502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error:
Bulk bind: Error in define (WWV-11230)
Workaround
~~~~~~~~~~
The preferred workaround is to re-install the OWA packages supplied
with iAS AFTER the database has been upgraded to 8.1.7.1. This requires
you to run the "owaload.sql" script supplied with iAS when connected
as SYS. Before running this script ensure the fix for bug 1671234 /
bug 1680043 is present.
eg:
1. cd $IAS_HOME/portal30/admin/plsql/owa
2. Check that "owacomm.sql" has been modified to avoid
bug 1671234 / 1680043. To do this edit "owacomm.sql"
and change the line:
spool ..\..\portal\...\owaldscr.sql
to read:
spool owaldscr.sql
3. Connect to the database as SYS and execute:
@owaload.sql owaupd.log
An alternative workaround (before running the 8.1.7.1 upgrade script)
is to edit the $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/admin/catproc.sql script and comment
out the line "@@owacomm.sql" . When using this option remember that
any new database created will have NO OWA packages loaded when catproc
is executed.
Patches
~~~~~~~
There is no patch for this problem. The problem will be addressed
in future patch sets.
References
~~~~~~~~~~
Base bug describing the problem [BUG:1745320]
My issue:
The spool line is not present in my 'owacomm.sql' file, so I ran the 'owaload' as indicated and SQL*Plus bombed out.
I edited a very similar line to the one described above, but located in the 'owaload.sql' script and referring to a 'wpildscr.sql'. When I run this, it reports 'SP2-0024: Nothing to change.' -- is this reliable?

Answer 1

John, this is a simple workaround, regardless..
In the 8.1.7.2.1 patch docs it also tells you how to pre-empt the whole problem anyway. Not that I'm finding 8.1.7.2.1 very stable either.