Opatch Slow Checking Patch Prerequisites

Is your Opatch session stuck on verifying "prerequisite checks"?

Verifying environment and performing prerequisite checks

See the full article here:

Binary patching is slow because of the inventory

https://mikedietrichde.com/2022/05/10/binary-patching-is-slow-because-of-the-inventory/

UPDATE:

OPatch 12.2.0.1.37+ Introduces a New Feature to Delete Inactive Patches in the ORACLE_HOME/.patch_storage Directory (Doc ID 2942102.1)