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Oracle RAC

OPATCHAUTO-72126 – Destination Directory Already Exists in Out-of-Place Patching

HenriqueBy Updated:2 Mins Read

This post is also available in: Português (Portuguese (Brazil))

When running opatchauto with the out-of-place option, the process fails immediately:

OPATCHAUTO-72126: Cannot execute out of place patching.
OPATCHAUTO-72126: Clone home path specified in mapping file already exists on host.
OPATCHAUTO-72126: Please correct clone path mapping file and re-run out of place patching operation.

opatchauto failed with error code 42

The error indicates that the destination directory defined in clone.properties already exists on the server.

Why It Happens

In out-of-place patching, opatchauto creates a new Oracle Home by cloning the current one and applying the patch to it. The new home path is defined in the clone.properties file:

/u01/app/19.21.0.0/grid=/u01/app/19.23.0.0/grid
/u01/app/oracle/product/19.0.0.0/dbhome_1=/u01/app/oracle/product/19.23.0.0/dbhome_1

If the directory on the right side (destination) already exists — from a previous failed attempt, an old test, or a home that was removed from the inventory but not from the filesystem — opatchauto refuses to run to avoid overwriting data.

Solution

1. Check if the destination home is in the inventory

grep "19.23.0.0" /u01/app/oraInventory/ContentsXML/inventory.xml
  • If it appears without REMOVED="T" → the home is active. Don’t delete. Verify you chose the correct path in clone.properties.
  • If it appears with REMOVED="T" → already deinstalled from the inventory, safe to remove the directory.
  • If it doesn’t appear → filesystem leftover, safe to remove.

2. Remove the destination directory

ls -la /u01/app/oracle/product/19.23.0.0/dbhome_1/

rm -rf /u01/app/oracle/product/19.23.0.0/dbhome_1

⚠ Warning: Confirm no database is running from this home before deleting. Check with cat /etc/oratab | grep 19.23 and ps -ef | grep pmon.

3. Re-run opatchauto

sudo $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto apply ${PATCH_TOP} -outofplace -silent ./clone.properties

Quick Checklist

ls -la /u01/app/oracle/product/19.23.0.0/dbhome_1/

grep "19.23.0.0" /u01/app/oraInventory/ContentsXML/inventory.xml

cat /etc/oratab | grep 19.23
ps -ef | grep pmon

rm -rf /u01/app/oracle/product/19.23.0.0/dbhome_1

sudo $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatchauto apply ${PATCH_TOP} -outofplace -silent ./clone.properties
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