Oracle Applications APPSLab: April 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Replacing Jinitiator with Sun Java JRE for APPS

Why wait until 2009 July when Oracle desupports Jinitiator for Oracle Applications. Replace your jinitiator now with Sun Java JRE and see the difference

PLATFORM   : Red Hat Linux AS4
DB               : 9.2.0.8
APPS           : 11.5.10.2
JINITIATOR : 1.3.1.21

UPGRADING TO : JRE 1.6_05

Download Interoperability patch 6863618

Download the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 6 plug-in at, http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

Downloaded JRE Native plug-in file from jre-6_uX-windows-i586-p.exe and rename to j2se160x.exe
(Where X = the version number. Using jre-6u5 as an example this would be j2se16005.exe)

Move the j2se1600X.exe file to the web application tier and place it in [COMMON_TOP]/util/jinitiator

Apply Developer 6i Patchset 18 ( 4948577 )

unzip patch to $ORACLE_HOME
cd $ORACLE_HOME/developer6i_patch18
./patch_install.sh 2>&1 | tee patch_install_p18.log

cd $ORACLE_HOME/procbuilder60/lib; make -f ins_procbuilder.mk install
cd $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/lib; make -f ins_forms60w.mk install
cd $ORACLE_HOME/graphics60/lib; make -f ins_graphics60w.mk install
cd $ORACLE_HOME/reports60/lib; make -f ins_reports60w.mk install

cp developer6i_patch18/bin/genshlib $ORACLE_HOME/bin

Additional Patches
------------------
5713544

sh patch.sh
adrelink.sh force=y "fnd f60webmx"

4261542

cd $ORACLE_HOME
unzip p4261542_600_GENERIC.zip

cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class.PRE_BUG4261542
cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class.PRE_BUG4261542

cd $ORACLE_HOME/4261542/oracle/forms/engine
cp Main.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class
cd $ORACLE_HOME/4261542/oracle/forms/handler
cp AlertDialog.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class

Generate Product JAR Files ( adadmin )

5216496
sh patch.sh

5753922
sh patch.sh
adrelink.sh force=y "fnd f60webmx"

6195758
cd $ORACLE_HOME
unzip p6195758_600_GENERIC.zip
cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/UICommon.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/UICommon.class.PRE_BUG6195758
cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/ComponentItem.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/ComponentItem.class.PRE_BUG6195758
cd $ORACLE_HOME/6195758/oracle/forms/handler
cp UICommon.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/UICommon.class
cp ComponentItem.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/ComponentItem.class
Generate Product JAR Files ( adadmin )

5938515
sh patch.sh
adrelink.sh force=y "fnd f60webmx"

3830807
sh patch.sh

4586086
cd $ORACLE_HOME
unzip <patch_file>.zip
cd $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/lib
mv env_forms60.mk env_forms60.mk.PRE_BUG4586086
cp $ORACLE_HOME/bug4586086/env_forms60.mk $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/lib
cd $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/lib
make -f cus_forms60w.mk libso_install
adrelink.sh force=y "fnd f60webmx"

relink - adadmin
select 'Maintain Applications Files Menu' and then select 'Relink Applications Program'
Enter list of products to link ('all' for all products)[all] : fnd
Generate specific executables for each selected product [No] ? y
Relink with debug information [No] ? n
Enter executables to relink, or enter 'all' [all] : f60webmx ar60run ar60runb ar60rund *

4888294 (adpatch )

5884875

cd $ORACLE_HOME
unzip p5884875_600_GENERIC.zip
cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class.PRE_BUG5884875
cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class.PRE_BUG5884875
cd $ORACLE_HOME/5884875/oracle/forms/engine
cp Main.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class
cd $ORACLE_HOME/5884875/oracle/forms/handler
cp AlertDialog.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/AlertDialog.class
Run adadmin "Generate JAR Files"

(6863618)
------------

Apply the Patch Driver using adpatch
Run the txkSetPlugin.sh script from the <patch_top>/6863618/fnd/bin/

txkSetPlugin.sh 16005

Start Oracle Applicatons 11.5.10.2 and start using Java instead of Jinititor for Applets

How to Reload APPS Java Class Objects

How to reload the APPS Java Classes

This should only be necessary if the JVM was rebuilt for some reason.
The solution can also be helpful for customers that have some invalid APPS Java Classes.

Using the utility adadmin it is possible to rebuild the JAR/ZIP files and have these loaded into the database. Before providing steps to do the rebuild and load it is necessary to be aware of unpublished bugs

The issue is that the file $AD_TOP/admin/driver/adldjava.drv used by adadmin to reload the JAR files into the Database is incorrect.

The contents of $AD_TOP/admin/driver/adldjava.drv should be:

loadjava csf java/jar csflf.jar
loadjava cz java/jar czdb.jar
loadjava eam java/jar eampmsch.jar
loadjava eam java/jar eamwkbch.jar
loadjava ecx java/jar ecxutils.jar
loadjava ecx java/jar ecxprocess.jar
loadjava fnd java/3rdparty/stdalone xmlparserv2.zip
loadjava fnd java/jar fndcct.jar
loadjava inv java/jar invdbtrx.jar
loadjava inv java/jar invlabel.jar
loadjava itg java/jar itgv1.jar
loadjava jtf java/jar jtfaoljdepen.zip
loadjava per java/jar perimage.jar
loadjava per java/jar perkigfclient.jar
loadjava per java/jar perkpiclient.jar
loadjava wms java/jar wmscrtzn.jar
loadjava xtr java/jar xtrintrp.jar

UPDATE ADLDJAVA.DRV

1. Make a back up of the current driver file $AD_TOP/admin/driver/adldjava.drv
2. Modify the contents of $AD_TOP/admin/driver/adldjava.drv to be as the list given above.

REBUILD THE JAR/ZIP FILES

1. Run Adadmin
2. Select Generate Applications Files menu
3. Select Generate product JAR files

RELOAD THE JAR/ZIP FILES INTO THE DATABASE

1. Run Adadmin
2. Select Compile/Reload Applications Database Entities menu
3. Select Reload JAR files to database

RECOMPILE THE LOADED JAVA CLASSES

1. Run Adadmin
2. Select Compile/Reload Applications Database Entities menu
3. Select Compile APPS schema

NOTE:

The number of APPS Java Classes from before rebuilding the JVM will be more than the number of APPS Java Classes after completing above steps. This is because when Applications is first installed it also loads a Base image of the Database. This image includes a lot of Java Classes that are no longer necessary to be loaded. The fact that the JVM has been recreated and the Java Classes reloaded, only those Java Classes that should be loaded have been loaded. The fact that the number of Java Classes decreases is correct and expected.

Pinning Oracle Applications Objects into the shared pool

Oracle Applications DBAs who want to improve database performance by pinning packages into shared pool.

Why pinning objects into the shared pool?

Oracle Applications requires space in the ORACLE System Global Area (SGA) for stored packages and functions. If SGA space is fragmented, there may not be enough space to load a package or function. You should pre-allocate space in the SGA shared pool for packages, functions, and sequences by "pinning" them.

Pinning objects in the shared pool can provide a tremendous increase in database performance, if it is done correctly. Since pinned objects reside in the SQL and PL/PLSQL memory areas, they do not need to be loaded and parsed from the database, which saves considerable time.

What objects to be pinned into the shared pool?

Most performance improvement can be gained from pinning large, frequently used packages. Pinned objects are expensive in terms of memory space, since other not-pinned objects need this memory space, too. In general do not pin all objects or rarely used objects - this could even decrease database performance.

As a general rule, you should always pin the following packages which are owned by SYS:
(see Note 61623.1 SHARED POOL TUNING)

STANDARD

DBMS_STANDARD

DBMS_UTILITY

DBMS_DESCRIBE

DBMS_OUTPUT

and maybe other SYS packages that are often used (DBMS_LOCK, DBMS_ALERT, etc.).

The Applications objects that should be pinned are harder to identify and will vary from site to site, depending on what the users are doing. To identify good candidates for pinning, you need to know which objects are being executed the most. To do this, let the system run long enough to reach a steady state (several days to a week). Then initiate a SQL*Plus session as system (or sys or apps) and run the following script $AD_TOP/sql/ADXCKPIN.sql. This will spool object execution and reload statistics into the output file ADXCKPIN.lst.

Example output:

OBJECT TYPE SPACE(K) LOADS EXECS KEPT

---------------------------------- ------------ -------- ------ ------- ----

APPS.FND_ATTACHMENT_UTIL_PKG PACKAGE 15.2 1 9 NO

APPS.FND_ATTACHMENT_UTIL_PKG PACKAGE BODY 13.7 1 8 NO

APPS.FND_CLIENT_INFO PACKAGE 2.7 1 206 NO

APPS.FND_CLIENT_INFO PACKAGE BODY 13.0 1 206 NO

APPS.FND_CONCURRENT PACKAGE 15.2 1 199 NO

APPS.FND_CONCURRENT PACKAGE BODY 24.2 1 197 NO

Another handy script:

SELECT substr(owner,1,10)||'.'||substr(name,1,35) "Object Name",

' Type: '||substr(type,1,12)||

' size: '||sharable_mem ||

' execs: '||executions||

' loads: '||loads||

' Kept: '||kept

FROM v$db_object_cache

WHERE type in ('TRIGGER','PROCEDURE','PACKAGE BODY','PACKAGE')

AND executions > 0

ORDER BY executions desc,

loads desc,

sharable_mem desc;

Choose the objects with a high number of executions (EXECS) or very large (SPACE(K)), frequently used objects. If the decision is between two objects that have been executed the same number of times, then preference should be given to the larger object. From experience, very good results have been achieved with having pinned only about 10 packages.

How to pin object into shared pool?

The pl/sql scripts $AD_TOP/sql/ADXGNPIN.sql (packages, functions) and ADXSPPNS.sql (sequences) generate pinning scripts, which can be executed in Sql*Plus. Do not run them without having edited them, otherwise the scripts would try to pin all objects. Create your own script to pin the packages and pin them in a descending order according to their size.

The pl/sql command to pin a package (i.e. FNDCP_TMSRV) manually is:

SQL> execute dbms_shared_pool.keep('APPS.FNDCP_TMSRV');

Sunday, April 6, 2008

How to Change IP Address in an Oracle Applications Environment

1. Change the IP Address in the Server;

2. Verify the current ip address setup in the Oracle Applications environment. Connect as apps user into SQL*Plus and run:

select NODE_NAME, STATUS, NODE_MODE, NODE_ID,SERVER_ADDRESS, HOST, DOMAIN, WEBHOST, VIRTUAL_IP from fnd_nodes where node_name = upper('hostname');

3. Run the following command to remove the old ip address from the Oracle Applications tables:

perl $AD_TOP/bin/adgentns.pl appspass=apps contextfile=$APPL_TOP/admin/<SID>_hostname.xml -removeserver

replace <SID>_hostname.xml for the context file name under the $APPL_TOP/admin directory;

then connect to SQL*Plus as apps user and run:

begin
FND_NET_SERVICES.remove_server('<SID>', '<hostname>');
end;
/
commit;
/

replace <SID> by the SID of the environment and <hostname> by the hostname in the environment. Both must be entered in upper case.

4. Run autoconfig to populate the values using the new IP Address.

5. Confirm the ip address has been changed to the new value changed in the step 1:

select NODE_NAME, STATUS, NODE_MODE, NODE_ID,SERVER_ADDRESS, HOST, DOMAIN, WEBHOST, VIRTUAL_IP from fnd_nodes where node_name = upper('hostname');

How to find out if a product is installed in e-Business Suite?

You can find out what products are installed in e-Business Suite, and their patch levels, via Oracle Applications Manager.

You will also find a list of the installed by running the script <adutconf.sql> ($AD_TOP/sql/adutconf.sql), or in the file <applprod.txt>. You can find out the patch level of any product you have installed in e-Business Suite by running the following query via SQL:

$ sqlplus apps / <pwd>

SQL> SELECT substr(APPLICATION_SHORT_NAME,1,8) product,
                          substr(PRODUCT_VERSION,1,14) version,
                          substr(PATCH_LEVEL,1,11) patch_level,
           FROM fnd_application a, fnd_product_installations p
           WHERE a.application_id = p.application_id
           ORDER BY application_short_name
           /

If you know the product code, you can obtain output for individual products with the following SQL:

SQL> SELECT patch_level
           FROM fnd_product_installations
           WHERE patch_level LIKE '<product_code>'
           /
for example:          WHERE patch_level LIKE 'BIS'

The product code is the 2- or 3-letter code you see when you search for a patch in Metalink by product family, and in the name of the patchset, e.g. 11i.BIS.L.

As a double check that the database knows that the product is installed, you can run the following query. It should produce the same answer:

SQL> SELECT fa.application_id id, fa.application_short_name app, fa.application_name, fpi.status,
fpi.patch_level
           FROM fnd_application_all_view fa, fnd_product_installations fpi
           WHERE fa.application_id = fpi.application_id
           AND fpi.patch_level LIKE '<product_code>'
           /

How to start Apps R12 in forms socket mode for testing

Here are two methods (A and B) of starting the forms server for testing in R12.

A. Modify the existing adformsrvctl.sh script, that starts the forms servlet process, to start the forms server.
1. Create a new copy of the $ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME/adformsrvctl.sh, name it something like testformsocket.sh

2. chmod 755 testformsocket.sh

3. In the new file/testformsocket.sh,
Change this line:
if [ "servlet" = "servlet" ]
to
if [ "servlet" = "socket" ]
Save your changes.

4. Now execute this script to start the forms socket listener.
testformsocket.sh start

5. At user level, set the profile 'ICX: form launcher' to http://<hostname:port#>/OA_HTML/frmservlet?serverURL=&connectMode=socket

6. Login as the above user and test the issue.
Enable the java console and review the log to verify that the user has connected using the Socket Mode.

To verify that the forms server is running, you can run something like the following on Unix:
testformsocket.sh status
or
lsof|grep <forms port #>

B. Or you can start the forms server the old way, by running frmsrv.

1. cd $ORACLE_HOME/forms/server

2. Source socket.env
. ./socket.env

3. To start the forms server, run:
frmsrv host=<enter your host name> port=<enter your forms port> &
Example:
frmsrv host=rwmatthe-linux port=9005 &
Note: You can use any available port

4. At the user level, set the ICX: Forms Launcher to:
http://<your host.domain:webport>/OA_HTML/frmservlet?serverURL=&serverPort=<forms server port>&connectMode=socket
5. Login as the above user and test the issue.
Enable the java console and review the log to verify that the user has connected using the Socket Mode.

Note: Make sure to pass the serverPort= or it will use the port defined in FORMS_WEB_CONIG_FILE.
To check to see if the forms server is running, you can run something like the following on Linux:
lsof | grep <forms port #>
or
lsof | grep frmsrv

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Changing Application Tier Platforms for Applications Release 12

It's now possible to migrate your E-Business Suite Release 12 application tier servers

from one operating system platform to another. Oracle announced the availability of

new Oracle Applications Platform Migration Methodology for E-Business Suite Release 12.

This process provides a way to quickly and easily move an existing Oracle E-Business Suite

middle tier (applications tier) system to a different platform. The migration utility retains

the exact E-Business Suite patch level; no APPL_TOP or Database synchronization is necessary.

This allows you to retain existing customizations.

Continue Reading on this from Steven Chan Blog

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Oracle Applications 11i Hot Backup Cloning

You can make use of rapid clone for hot backup cloning of oracle applications 11i.

These are very useful while Oracle Applications Production server where downtime

is very much limited and is required to 24/7.

For 9i database, you can generate script to put tablespaces in offline mode.

For 10g datbase, you can put database itself in offline mode.

Here are the steps explained from Atul Kumars Blog :

Hot Backup Cloning ( which are explained for a 10g database with 11i )

Access Oracle Apps R12 / 11i from Linux Client

In Oracle Applications professional Users can access professional forms via Applet in web

browser. This Form Applet must run with in Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and Oracle bundles

its own JVM as Oracle Jinitiator. This Jinitiator is available only for Windows Client and for

Unix/Linux you have to use Java Plug-In. Till Oracle Apps 11i default JVM was Jinitiator but

with Oracle Apps R12 default JVM under which form Applet run is J2SE Plug-In. If you are

accessing Oracle Applications (11i/R12), Apps will automatically prompt you to install Jinitiator

or J2SE Plug-in (If Jinitiator/J2SE is not installed in client machine) but if you are accessing

same Oracle Applications from Linux/Unix it does not prompt to install plug-in and you can't

apps forms from Linux client.

Steps explained from Bas Klassen Blog :

Accessing Oracle EBS from Linux Client

Downtime and Apache Restricted Mode in Release 12

E-Business Suite Release 12 provides a useful mechanism for the Applications administrators

to start the Apache on the applications tier during down time. Applications administrator can

start the apache in a mode called restricted mode. Down time tasks like patching can continue

to be performed while the Apache is in restricted mode. Restricted access to Oracle Applications

Manager (OAM) is available in this mode. This allows the system administrator to monitor tasks

like patching from OAM. When the Apache is started in restricted mode, normal users are

redirected to a downtime URL containing downtime details.

Here are the details explained from Oracle Blogs (Steven Chan)

http://blogs.oracle.com/schan/2008/03/25#a2411

Downtime and Apache Restricted Mode in Release 11

E-Business Suite Release 11 provides a useful mechanism for the Applications administrators