How I got access to My Oracle Support (MOS) for US$2.67

Oracle professionals know that the two main sites for information and support on running Oracle products are the Oracle Technology Network (OTN), and My Oracle Support (MOS).

• OTN is free for anyone, and provides discussion forums, white papers and free base-release software downloads under the Developer License.
• MOS requires a paid software license and support contract. It offers technical support notes, bug access, request tracking and patches.  It is the only place you can get critical updates and patch sets to, for instance, bring a 10.2.0.1 database up to 10.2.0.4.

Many people are just starting learning Oracle, or are out of work and no longer associated with a support contract.  Those people could clearly benefit from access to MOS to read support notes, and solve problems they are having while experimenting with Oracle products under the Developer License.

A few years ago, my friend and Oracle ACE Director Dan Morgan mentioned that one could buy a very cheap product in the Oracle Store, opt to pay for support on it, and obtain MOS access for very little money.  This week I mentioned this fact to my Oracle DBA Class at the University of Washington, and my students wanted to know which product to buy, and for how much.  I decided to find out, and here’s what I did.

1. Navigate to http://shop.oracle.com.
2. In the left-hand menu, click on All Products at the bottom.
3. In the gray bar with heading labels, click on Price Range (on the right), and select $.40 – $8.00.
4. The only item that appears for me is Oracle Management Pack Plus for Identity Management. Click on Buy Now.
5. On the product page, change the Metric selection to Non Employee User External – $2.00.
6. Click Add to Cart.
7. Click Checkout (upper right)
8. Make sure you have checked Include First Year Support for License Products.
9. Click Checkout, and follow the purchase process.
10. In a day or so, you will receive an email with your Customer Service Identifier (CSI) and you will be able to register for My Oracle Support.

NOTE: It may take more than 24 hours for Oracle to activate your CSI on MOS. If you try to reigster your new CSI on MOS before Oracle activates it, you will receive the error, “This CSI does not allow registration.” In this case, just wait.  Oracle will activate your CSI eventually.

This process doesn’t give you the right to download or use material from the MOS site for any purpose not covered under the Developer License or the product license you purchased for $2.00 from the Oracle Store.  I am providing this information because it could help those legitimately covered under the Developer License.

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