Changing FPP temporary directory (/tmp in noexec and other issues)

When using FPP, you might experience the following error (PRVF-7546):

This is often related to the filesystem /tmp that has the “noexec” option:

Although it is tempting to just remount the filesystem with “exec”, you might be in this situation because your systems are configured to adhere to the STIG recommendations:

The noexec option must be added to the /tmp partition (https://www.stigviewer.com/stig/red_hat_enterprise_linux_6/2016-12-16/finding/V-57569)

FPP 19.9 contains fix 30885598 that allows specifying the temporary location for FPP operations:

After that, the operation should run smoothly:

HTH

Ludo

Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning (FPP): My new role as PM and a brand new series of blog posts

It’s been 6 years since I’ve tried FPP for the first time (formerly Rapid Home Provisioning, or RHP).

Rapid Home Provisioning

FPP was still young and lacking many features at that time, but it already changed the way I’ve worked during the next years. I embraced the out of place patching, developed some basic scripts to install Oracle Homes, and sought automation and standardization at all costs:

Oracle Home Management – part 7: Putting all together

When 18c came with the FPP local-mode automaton, I have implemented it for the Grid Infrastructure patching strategy at CERN:

Oracle Grid Infrastructure 18c patching part 3: Executing out-of-place patching with the local-mode automaton

And discovered that meanwhile, FPP did giant steps, with many new features and fixes for quite a few usability and performance problems.

Last year, when joining the Oracle Database High Availability (HA), Scalability, and Maximum Availability Architecture (MAA) Product Management Team at Oracle, I took (among others) the Product Manager role for FPP.

Becoming an Oracle employee after 20 years of working with Oracle technology is a big leap. It allows me to understand how big the company is, and how collaborative and friendly the Oracle employees are (Yes, I was used to marketing nonsense, insisting salesmen, and unfriendly license auditors. This is slowly changing with Oracle embracing the Cloud, but it is still a fresh wound for many customers. Expect this to change even more! Regarding me… I’ll be the same I’ve always been 🙂 ).

Now I have daily meetings with big customers (bigger than the ones I have ever had in the past), development teams, other product managers, Oracle consultants, and community experts. My primary goal is to make the product better, increasing its adoption, and helping customers having the best experience with it. This includes testing the product myself, writing specs, presentations, videos, collecting feedback from the customers, tracking bugs, and manage escalations.

I am a Product Manager for other products as well, but I have to admit that FPP is the product that takes most of my Product Manager time. Why?

I will give a few reasons in my next blog post(s).

Ludo