Once again, changes made to the Agent Configuration (.cab) file are not effective until they are applied. For example, let us imagine that the new Oracle tables will be rolled out next weekend:
If changes were effective immediately or automatically at the next start, then these changes could not be performed until the production capture is stopped for the migration during the weekend. Otherwise, the risk exists that the capture agent may go down for unrelated production issues, and the new change would be activated prematurely.
Forcing a distinct and explicit apply step, insures that such changes can be planned and prepared in advance, without putting the current production replication in jeopardy. This allows capture agent maintenance to be done outside of the critical upgrade path.
$ sqdconf stop /<SQDATA_VAR_DIR>/oracdc1/oracdc1.cab
$ sqdconf apply /<SQDATA_VAR_DIR>/oracdc1/oracdc1.cab
$ sqdconf start /<SQDATA_VAR_DIR>/oracdc1/oracdc1.cab