Upgrade directly to 8.1.7.3?

Solaris 2.6
Oracle 8.0.5 --> Oracle 8.1 --> Oracle 8.1.7.3

I have a Solaris box with a test and a production database. I have 2 code trees: 8.0.5, and 8.1.7 patched up to level 8.1.7.2. With Oracle's blessing (really, I opened a tar), I upgraded the test database directly from 8.0.5 to the 8.1.7.2 patch level. Did not pass go. Did not collect $200.

OK, here's a surprise. I still have not had an opportunity to upgrade production, which is still at 8.0.5, and now I'd like to upgrade it to patch level 8.1.7.3. However, the 8.1.7.3 patch documentation states that "When migrating a database from an earlier release, you must complete the database migration to the 8.1.7 release prior to applying this patch set."

If I believe this note, then I believe I must install a new code tree with a vanilla 8.17, then upgrade production from 8.0.5 to 8.1.7, then immediately upgrade again to 8.1.7.3 My problem: I don't have an extra gig of space to devote to another code tree. (And obviously I want to thoroughly test the test database with exactly the same version I'll be running in production, i.e., 8.1.7.3.)

I don't see a good reason not to go immediately to 8.1.7.3, especially since I was able to go directly to 8.1.7.2 with the test database, which worked nicely. However, this is a critical database, and I'd just as soon not screw it up.

Any words of widsom?

Thanks for any help.

Barb
qqqqqqqqqqqqq
(Jesse: I'm currently taking classes for the q-impaired. I'm feeling much
better now.)

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Author: Baker, Barbara
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