Oracle Applications DBA Blog

Release 12 Installation on Sun Solaris

Ever since the release of Oracle Applications release 12 i have been waiting do a post on the installation but never did get the chance. Now finally here it is.
The current post is a step by step documentation of install ting Oracle Applications Release 12 on Sun Solaris 8, 64 bit.

Before you begin the installation make you have staged your software. If you are staging from the DVD pack you can use the adautostg.pl script.
If you have downloaded from edelivery you can just unzip the various parts.

The staged directory structure should look something similar.
oraAS/
oraAppDB/
oraApps/
oraDB/
startCD/

Creating OS Users
The next step is to create two OS users for the database and the primary application tier.

useradd -g dba -d /home/applsam applsam
useradd -g dba -d /home/applsam orasam

Oracle Inventory.
Next i will set up my global inventory to a different location. It better to have this specially when you have multiple instances of different versions on the same box.

cd /var/opt/oracle/
vi oraInst.loc
inventory_loc=/d01/rel12/rel12inv
inst_group=dba

Pre requisite Patches and Packages
Make sure you have all the pre requisite patches and the packages for your OS platform.
You can find the list in the metalink note 402312.1
also you will need an approximate of 140GB to complete a VISION installation of Release 12.More Detailed space requirements can be found in the above mentioned release notes.

Starting The installation.
You can start the installation by setting the appropriate DISPLAY and the running rapidwiz. In a multi user installation you must start the installation from root

/startCD/Disk1/rapidwiz
./rapidwiz

The first screen is the rapid install welcome screen



Next you will be asked to select the type of installation you want to go ahead with. You can choose a standard or an express install. you can also choose to upgrade you oracle applications.



Release 12 comes bundled with Oracle Configuration Manager(OCM).OCM is a tool which allows oracle to gather system information about your instances to help provide support. In case you are planning to install OCM make sure the user through which the installation is  is being done is access to crontab.



If you have chosen to install OCM you will be provided with a screen to enter your CSI number and metalink account name.  Also your proxy details to connect to the internet.



If you have an existing configuration file yo can choose that here or choose to create a new config file for your installation.



Next you specify the port pool for your instance.



The Next screen allows you to specify your Database tier configuration details.



Now you specify the configuration details of your primary application tier.



The following screen shows your nodes and configuration, it also allows you to add a new server to this configuration.



After this a quick pre installation validation check is done,



The next screen allows you to review the components you are about to install.



The installation now begins.




After the installation a post validation similar to 11.5.10 is done and you can log on into the instance.

Posted by Sam at 01:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Interesting Release 12 Changes

With the next release of Oracle Applications Release 12 due in less than a couple of weeks time,31st January as of now. In today’s post I decided to write about some of the interesting changes from a technical point of view that can be expected in Release 12.Some of these have been already talked about in my previous posts in detail. The current post is based mainly in 
the Release Content Documents and The Oracle Open World Sessions relating to Release 12.

• Mixed Case Passwords
  Another interesting feature in Release 12 is that it now has support for having case sensitive mixed case passwords for user ids, for the purpose of backward compatibility case - insensitive passwords are also accepted.
• On Demand User Creation
  In case of SSO environments where a user has an account in OID but not in the E-Business Suite, the user account now gets created on the fly the moment users visits Ebusiness Suite.
• Product Schemas Locked
  In release 12 the Product schemas are kept locked and are unlocked only when required like patching.
• Request Set Restarting
  In case a request set fails in between, in release 12 the user can fix the problem and simply restart the request without  having manually complete the request remaining in that request set.
• New Tablespace in OATM
  In OATM a new 'TOOLS' tablepsace has been introduced which allows store objects related to other tools used with Oracle Applications, like for creating the End User Layer for discoverer.
• Changes To Patch Impact Analysis in OAM
  In the Oracle Applications Manager under patch impact analysis, now the impact of the patch on customized files can also be seen. Additionally OAM now also allows the user to create a list of patches whose impact analysis can be done at one  go.
• Workflow Notification Mailer Enhancements
  There have been some enhancements in Oracle Workflow Notification mailer which includes simplified configuration by way of simple and advanced setup screens. Also SSL support over IMAP and SMTP  mail server is now being supported. The workflow engine itself now implements a bulky array interface which offers performance benefits.
• Grid Control Plug-in
  Grid Control Plug-in is available for Oracle Applications which allows the integration of Oracle Grid Control within Oracle Applications Manger thereby allowing improved System Management.
• mod_oc4j
  In release 12 the support for mod_plsql module is now withdrawn. The mod_oc4j replace mod_plsql in Release 12 of Oracle Applications.
• File System Changes
  One of the major changes at the file system level in Release 12 is the introduction of the INSTANCE_TOP. The INSTANCE_TOP aims to get a clear distinction between the shared file system and the file system unique to an instance.
• Read Only Shared Application Tier Filesystem
  Oracle Applications Release 12 allows for the deployment of a shared Application Tier Filesystem in on Read Only File system also.
• Multi-Org Access Control
  Release 12 implements Multi-org Access Control which allows the user to submit requests and view access data of different operating units without having to switch between responsibilities.
• Multiple Domain Support
  Release 12 also allows that your application server nodes and the database server nodes to have different domain names.
• RAC Cloning
  The Rapidclone with Oracle Applications Release 12 allows you to extend rapidclone to clone Oracle Applications Environments deployed on the Real Application Clusters technology as well.
• XML Publisher Enhancements
  Release 12 also has a number of enhancements that have been introduced in XML Publishers like allowing support for bookmarks in PDF documents, changes to the template builder and template viewer and new features included in the graphics support.
• Web ADI Enhancements
  The Web ADI also has its set of enhancements which have been included in Release 12. These new features cover both the Web ADI product and the Software Development Kit (SDK) of the Web ADI.
• Sub-Set User Provisioning
  Release 12 also allows for new deployment scenarios for Single Sign on where in a single LDAP server and the synchronization of only a sub set of the users is done to the E-Business Suite.

Posted by Sam at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Sneak Preview Release 12

Much speculation about the release dates of Oracle Applications next major release which is Release 12 has been around, However there is still no conformation on the official dates for its release to the users. The beta code version though has been out for some time now.

The current post takes a sneak preview at Release 12 (Beta).
The post just meant to share the new look and feel in Release 12 and is NOT a installation post.

As expected Release 12 was to be real big in terms of disk space at least the vision demo instance.

This is how it ate up disk space on my server

Application Tier Files - 20GB
Database Binaries - 4.5 GB
Vision Demo Data Files - 81GB

The login screen is the one perhaps that has undergone most of the changes. It comes with a fresh cool blue look. Something which you will have to get used with this Release.

The Self Service Home Page does not seem to have changed much expect for the new color scheme and link to Oracle Diagnostics on it.

The Oracle Application Manager console also looked pretty much similar with almost the same links as with 11.5.10.2

Invoking the forms based applications, It prompts you to install the Java 2 Standard Edition on your PC. Yes the Jinitiator is now gone. The installation was quick and over was over in a few clicks.



The forms interface was almost undistinguishable from 11.5.10.2, maybe just the fonts and color again.



Though the User Interface did not undergo any major changes, the Oracle Applications File system has changed quite a bit.

APPSORA.env -> APPS<SID>.env

The APPSORA.env used to setup your E-Business environment has now been replaced by the APPS<SID>.env which in trun calls the
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.2/$TWO_TASK.env
$APPL_CONFIG_HOME/$TWO_TASK.env

Instance Top
A new Instance Top has been introduced
INT_TOP=$HOME/inst/apps/<context_name>
One of the main advantages of having this is to get a clear distinction between the shared file system and the file system unique to an instance.

Other Newly Introduced Variables

AF_JLIB - This points to your $COMMON_TOP/java/lib

JAVA_BASE - This points at $COMMON_TOP/java/

Other Environment Variable Changes

JAVA_TOP- The JAVA_TOP now points to $COMMON_TOP/java/classes instead of $COMMON_TOP/java

OA_HTML -  The OA_HTML now points to $COMMOM_TOP/oacore/html instead of $COMMON_TOP/html

FND_SECURE - FND_SECURE now points at $INST_TOP/apps/fnd/12.0.0/secure/ as opposed to $FND_TOP/secure/<SID>/

Apart from this the machine admin scripts are now located at
$INST_TOP/admin/scripts/

Please do note that the official release of R12 is yet to be done and the final product released might be different from what has been talked about in the above post.

Posted by Sam at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Goodbye mod_plsql

In my previous post relation to Oracle Application Express i briefly discussed that running APEX with Oracle  Applications Release 12 will not be that straightforward after all. The reason being the absence of mod_plsql in the Release 12 Application Server. In today’s post i will explore this topic a bit further and understand what  exactly does the mod_plsql do and its absence in Oracle Applications Release 12.

mod_plsql

mod_plsql is a extension module of the Apache Web Server which is the core component of the Oracle Application server. It was also formally referred to as Oracle PLSQL Cartridge. The main function of the mod_plsql is that is  allows the middle tier or the web server to understand and execute plsql code. This is particular useful in  generation of dynamic web pages. The mod_plsql makes a connection to your database based on the information defined  by your Data Access Descriptor (DAD) settings. That is in Oracle Applications the wdbsrv.app file would be used by  the mod_plsql to connect to your database and execute the sql/plsql code against it. What this does mean is that  virtually almost any plsql code can be executed through the web browser via a http/https protocol.

In a default apache web server configuration mod_plsql is configured and started by default.The Oracle Application  server both standalone and the one bundled within Oracle Applications Release 11i.

mod_plsql Vulnerabilities

Although i am yet to see any official document from Oracle on the mod_plsql's demise in release 12 apart from  Steven Chan’s blog and the Oracle Open World presentations, the reason for its exclusion are not mentioned.

The main reason which i feel is the security vulnerabilities that mod_plsql has. Since a connection to a database is  possible relatively easily in a mod_plsql implementation its gives rise to security threats. In fact it allows anyone with access to the Oracle Application web server to execute any sql /plsql code against  the APPS schema and view any data which is visible to the APPS user. This obviously quite dangerous. Also exists a risk of sql injection, which is one of the most commonly used techniques by hackers. Sql injection is a technique where the hacker tries to add in malicious code in between a valid sql/plsql code.This often makes the system quite vulnerable and difficult to detect the intrusion.

Although there have been workaround to block the mod_plsql vulnerabilities, they have been known to cause problems in  complex implementations of Oracle Applications. These vulnerabilities have not gone unnoticed by oracle and it has  relase Oracle Security Alert #28 which takes about the risk arising from the mod_plsql.

As a result i feel the security vulnerabilities surrounding mod_plsql would have been one of the major factors for  Oracle to decide to de support mod_plsql in Oracle Applications Release 12.

Oracle Applications Framework.
When i has started blogging my third post covered Oracle Applications Framework(OAF).Its time to revisit the topic  now. The Oracle Applications Framework is a java framework which is based on the J2EE MVC design pattern and allows to execute HTMl,XML,PL/SQL,Java and web services without compromising on security. The connection to the database  in Oracle Applications Framework model is done through Java Database Connection (JDBC) Drivers.

The Oracle Applications Framework comes bundled in a default installation of Oracle Applications Release 11.5.10  and later for Oracle Applications Release 11.5.9 and prior you would be required to upgrade to the latest AD patchset level to be able to use Oracle Applications Framework. For the current release of OAF you must have be on  java 1.3 atleast. The actual requirements for OAF in Release 12 are not known as the official documentation on that  is yet to be released.

Apart from addressing the security vulnerabilities OAF also allows the out of box customizations of the Oracle  Applications imodules. In Oracle Applications Release 12 all customizations which use the application server  mod_plsql would have to be migrated to the Oracle Applications Framework model.

Additional References
Red-database-security.com's Sql Injection via mod_plsql
Steven Chan's Post on Release 12 Tech Stack

Posted by Sam at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Oracle Containers For J2EE (OC4J)

One of the reasons I am writing today’s post on Oracle Container For J2EE is that apart from being a core component of the 10g  Application Server Oracle Containers For J2EE is also an important member of the new Oracle Applications Release 12 Tech Stack. In this and my coming posts i would be touching upon the new feature which are planned to included in Oracle Applications Release 12.

Oracle Containers For J2EE or commonly referred to as OC4J is the underlying runtime engine for the 10g Application Server infrastructure. It is an extremely lightweight and easy to install component which requires less than 50 MB of disk space and  20 MB of your server memory to be up and running. It also has a support for a wide range of operating systems including  NT, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, IBM-AIX and Compaq True 64 with support for both 32 and 64 bit operating system.

OC4J runs on the Java 1.4 virtual machine and is J2EE 1.3 complaint. You can have multiple OC4J process running configured each  of which is referred to as a OC4J instance. The OC4J configuration is controlled via  XML configuration files and OC4J properties file. An OC4J instance is referred to as a container as it provides a web container to support services like Java Server  
Pages(JSP),Servlets , Enterprise Java Beans(EJB) and Web Services.

The OC4J also implements the following J2EE services.

• Java Authentication And Authorization Service (JAAS)
• Java API for XML Parsing (JAXP)
• J2EE Connector (J2C)
• Java Mail
• Java Naming and Directory Interface(JNDI)
• Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
• Java Application Framework(JAF)
• Java Transaction API (JTA)
• Java Messaging Service (JMS)

High Availability Single Sign On and SOA

OC4J can also be configured to support High availability architectures with Oracle RDBMS using Real Application Clusters and Oracle Datagaurd Technologies.OC4J also supports the Single Sign On functionality by make use of the JAAS service.OC4J is also out of box Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) compliant as it supports the underlying feature of persistence.

Deployment

Though in the current post we are mostly talking about OC4J as a component of the Oracle Application Server, its important to note here that it comes as a standalone java component as well in the form a single zip file. Both the standalone distribution and the Application server distribution are developer friendly and deployment friendly. The code deployment in OC4J is done 
through a Enterprise Archive File (EAR). The EAR file contains the Web Archive (WAR file) which in turn encapsulates the Java Archive (JAR) files containing the code.

OC4J In Oracle Applications

OC4J replaces the Jserv component which is there in the current release 11i of Oracle Applications. Also as a result the  mod_jserv component would be replaced by the mod_oc4j component in release 12 of Oracle Applications. The mod_oc4j is used to  communicate between different OC4J instances.

The default installation Release 12 of Oracle Applications creates 3 OC4J instances

• Oacore: This runs the OA Framework -based applications.
• Forms: This runs the Forms-based applications.
• OAFM:  This is responsible for running the web services.

The Jserv groups which are there current in Oracle Applications Release 11i are also planned be replaced by OC4J instances.

As mentioned earlier the OC4J properties are controlled using the XML files and OC4J.properties file. These files are  managed by the standard Oracle Applications Autoconfig.

The Java code deployment in Oracle E-Business suite for OC4J is done at the time of install using rapid install and maintained by ad tools like adadmin and adpatch. New custom code deployment can be done by using the Application Server Control user interface.

The OC4J implementation In Oracle Applications Release 12 includes the following directory structure.

• applications: Contains applications deployed
• applications-deployment: Contains configuration settings for the applications deployed
• config: Contains common configuration setting for the OC4J instance.

Posted by Sam at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)