How to create an Oracle VirtualBox host-only network adapter in Windows 7

Yesterday I have downloaded Sample Application OVM for OBIEE 11.1.1.5 and while I was configuring SampleApp_V107 with Oracle VirtualBox, I have noticed VirtualBox host-only network adapter was not created. And I got below error message, when I add an VirtualBox host-only network adapter thru VirualBox console(GUI)

"Failed to create host-only network interface"

To solve this problem, I have to create an Oracle VirtualBox host-only network adapter with following steps

1. From Control Panel, Add New Hardware  (New network adapter)

2. Click Have Disk; (point it to C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\drivers\network\netadp\VBoxNetAdp.inf)

3. Select VirtualBox Host-only Ethernet Adapter

4. OKay to install the unsigned driver

After completed instation, go to Oracle VM VirtualBox console and choose Preference network and add an VirturalBox host-only network adapter.

Again I have started SampleApp_V107 through OVM, its coming up without having any problem and working fine my OBIEE 11.1..5 sample applications

Cheers!!!

How to check if the Workflow Mailer is Running?

There are situations whether the Workflow Standalone Mailer processes are up & running without logging to the Application. Just follow the steps below

1. opmnctl status

2. Check the component container
ps -ef | grep OC4J_SECURITY

3. Is Java Mailer running ?
ps -ef | grep Service_Component_Container

or

SQL> select SC.COMPONENT_TYPE, SC.COMPONENT_NAME,
FND_SVC_COMPONENT.Get_Component_Status(SC.COMPONENT_NAME) COMPONENT_STATUS
from FND_SVC_COMPONENTS SC
order by 1, 2;


Cheers!!!

FNDCPASS Fails With "ORA-01017" Error When Changing Password with 11G Database

After upgrading to 12.0 and database from 10.2.0.2 to 11.1.0.6 getting 'ORA-01017' error when tried to change the application password using FNDCPASS utility.

The reason for this issue is that, database SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON parameter defaults to TRUE in 11G.  When this occurs the password sensitivity conversion does not occur. Passwords that are input as lower case are automatically updated as upper case.  As a workaround set the parameter to FALSE in the init.ora, run autoconfig on application tiers and bounce the database.

Please refer Note 567116.1 Init.ora Parameter "SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON"


Cheers!!!

How to Relink Oracle Database Software

Its better to know the relinking of oracle software manually when there is a situation like

• An OS upgrade has occurred.
• A change has been made to the OS system libraries.  This can occur during the application of an OS patch.
• A new install failed during the relinking phase.
• Individual Oracle executables core dump during initial startup.
• An individual Oracle patch has been applied.

So, relinking Oracle manually is suggested way under the above circumstances.

Those who want to (or have been advised to) manually relink should follow the procedure below.

Step 1 - Log into the UNIX system as the Oracle software owner
Typically this is the user 'oracle'.

STEP 2 - Verify that your $ORACLE_HOME is set correctly:
echo $ORACLE_HOME

Step 3 - Verify and/or Configure the UNIX Environment for Proper Relinking
Set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to include $ORACLE_HOME/lib

Step 4 - For all Oracle Versions and UNIX Platforms:
Verify that you performed Step 2 correctly:

env|pg  ....make sure that you see the correct absolute path for
$ORACLE_HOME in the variable definitions.

Step 5 - For all Oracle Versions and UNIX Platforms:
Verify umask is set correctly:
umask

This must return 022.  If it does not, set umask to 022.
umask 022
umask

Step 6 - Run the OS Commands to Relink Oracle:

Before relinking Oracle, shut down both the database and the listener.
The following commands will output a lot of text to your session window.  To capture this output for upload to support, redirect the output to a file.

For all UNIX platforms:

Oracle 7.3.x 
For executables:  oracle, exp, imp, sqlldr, tkprof

cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib
make -f ins_rdbms.mk install

For executables:  svrmgrl, svrmgrm

cd $ORACLE_HOME/svrmgr/lib
make -f ins_svrmgr.mk linstall minstall (linstall is for svrmgrl, minstall is for svrmgrm)

For executables:  sqlplus

cd $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/lib
make -f ins_sqlplus.mk install

For executables:  dbsnmp, oemevent, oratclsh

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_agent.mk install

For executables:  names, namesctl

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_names.mk install

For executables:  tnslsnr, lsnrctl, tnsping, csmnl, trceval, trcroute

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_network.mk install

Oracle 8.0.x 
For executables:  oracle, exp, imp, sqlldr, tkprof, mig, dbv, orapwd, rman, svrmgrl, ogms, ogmsctl

cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib
make -f ins_rdbms.mk install

For executables:  sqlplus
cd $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/lib
make -f ins_sqlplus.mk install

For executables:  dbsnmp, oemevent, oratclsh, libosm.so

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_oemagent.mk install

For executables:  tnslsnr, lsnrctl, namesctl, names, osslogin, trcasst, trcroute

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_network.mk install

Oracle 8.1.X, 9.X.X, 10.X.X or 11.X.X
*** NEW IN 8i AND ABOVE ***
A 'relink' script is provided in the $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory.
cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
relink    
...this will display all of the command's options.
usage: relink
accepted values for parameter: all, oracle, network, client,  client_sharedlib, interMedia, precomp, utilities, oemagent, ldap

relink all  

11.2.X special instructions

In 11.2 relink script will only accept "all" as argument
 -or-
Since the 'relink' command merely calls the traditional 'make' commands, you still have the option of running the 'make' commands independently:

For executables:  oracle, exp, imp, sqlldr, tkprof, mig, dbv, orapwd, rman, svrmgrl, ogms, ogmsctl
cd $ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/lib
make -f ins_rdbms.mk install

NOTE: After relinking the oracle executable, make sure that the  permissions on the executable are 6751 (-rwsr-s--x). If they are not, run the following command as the Oracle software owner:
cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
chmod 6751 oracle

For executables:  sqlplus
cd $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/lib
make -f ins_sqlplus.mk install

For executables:  isqlplus   (Oracle9i and higher versions)

cd $ORACLE_HOME/sqlplus/lib
make -f ins_sqlplus.mk install_isqlplus

For executables:  dbsnmp, oemevent, oratclsh

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_oemagent.mk install

NOTE: After relinking the dbsnmp executable, it is necessary to run the following commands as root (so that the ownership/permissions on the executable are correct):

# cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin
# chown root dbsnmp
# chmod 6750 dbsnmp

For executables:  names, namesctl

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_names.mk install

For executables:  osslogin, trcasst, trcroute, onrsd, tnsping

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_net_client.mk install

For executables:  tnslsnr, lsnrctl

cd $ORACLE_HOME/network/lib
make -f ins_net_server.mk install

For executables related to ldap (for example Oracle Internet Directory):

cd $ORACLE_HOME/ldap/lib
make -f ins_ldap.mk install

How to Tell if Relinking Was Successful:

If relinking was successful, the make command will eventually return to the OS prompt without an error. There will NOT be a 'Relinking Successful' type message.

If You Receive an Error Message During Relinking:
Confirm that the message you received is an actual fatal error and not a  warning. Relinking errors usually terminate the relinking process and contain verbage similar to the following:
'Fatal error', 'Ld: fatal', 'Exit Code 1'
While warnings will look similar to: 'ld: warning: option -YP appears more than once, first setting taken' and can most often be ignored.

If you receive an error that terminates the relinking process, your first step should be to extract the relevant information about the error from the make output:

This can be broken down into three basic steps:
1. Identify the OS utility that is returning the error.
    'ld', 'make', 'cc', 'mv', 'cp', 'ar' are common sources.
2. Identify the type of error:
    'Permission Denied', 'Undefined Symbol', 'File Not Found' are common types.
3. Identify the files or symbols involved.


Cheers!!!

How to verify Oracle HTTP Server MLR Patchset 4393827 applied or not?

As we are all knows premier support for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i ends yesterday, November 30, 2010. Extended Support for EBS 11i begins today, December 1st, 2010. And a new set of minimum technical requirements for Apps 11i goes into effect. The new minimum baseline patch requirements for Extended Support on Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 explained in  Note 883202.1. These are baseline patch minimum
1. Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11.5.10 Consolidated Update 2 plus additional patches
2. ATG Rollup Patchset 6 (11i.ATG_PF.H.delta.6, Patch 5903765)
3. 10.2.0.4 Database or 11.1.0.7 Database
4. Forms6i Patchset 19 (version 6.0.8.28, Patch 6194129)
5. Oracle HTTP Server MLR Patchset 4393827
6. Sun Java Runtime Engine (JRE) 1.6.0_03 or higher

In addition to the major technology stack components shown above, Note 883202.1 contains additional minimum baseline requirements.

Ok fine, here what I am explaining is that, how to identify whether Oracle HTTP Server MLR Patchset in my instance is required any additional patchset or not. The way to find-out the current Oracle HTTP Server MLR Patchset are:

Login as APPLMGR in your Web server node and set environment

Then you can run "$IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/bin/httpd -v".

This command should return "Rollup 5" if  The patch 4393827 has been already applied, like the following example:

[applmgr@devtapps ~]$ cd /apps/devtora/iAS/Apache/Apache/bin/
[applmgr@devtapps bin]$ httpd -v
Server version: Oracle HTTP Server Powered by Apache/1.3.19 (Unix)
Server built:   Feb 22 2005 18:51:19 (iAS 1.0.2.2.2 rollup 5)


Following are Oracle HTTP Server Patch List
Release Rollup Version iAS Patch Number Applications Interop patch Patch Included in Rapid Install
1.0.2.2.2 Rollup 5 4393827 4104924 None
1.0.2.2.2 Rollup 4 3072811 3239694 11.5.10
1.0.2.2.2 Rollup 3 2674529 2757379 11.5.9
1.0.2.2.2 Rollup 2 2488351,2362590,2517475 2641718 11.5.8
1.0.2.2.2 Rollup 1 2120450 2549489 11.5.7
1.0.2.1S Rollup 1 2050415 3035685 None


Cheers!!!

How to find the versions of technology stack components?

To find out the versions of Forms, iAS, Framework, JDK, OJSP, Database, etc. for oracle support review, you have to execute the following command like

On Application Tier

$ADPERLPRG $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/TXKScript.pl \
-script=$FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/txkInventory.pl -txktop=$APPLTMP \
-contextfile=$CONTEXT_FILE \
-appspass=apps \
-outfile=$APPLTMP/Report_App_Inventory.html

On Database Tier

$ADPERLPRG $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/bin/TXKScript.pl
-script=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/bin/txkInventory.pl -txktop=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/temp
-contextfile=$CONTEXT_FILE
-appspass=apps
-outfile=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/temp/Report_DB_Inventory.html

To generate the report in text format, the parameter "-reporttype=text" needs to be passed to the above commands. For example:

outfile=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/temp/Report_DB_Inventory.html -reporttype=text
Once the command executes successfully, it should generate the report file in the location specified for "outfile" parameter in above script


Cheers!!!

How to Enable Automatic Compilation of JSP pages in R12

1. Login into E-Business suite and select System Administrator responsibility

2. Select function AutoConfig (under Oracle Applications Manager)
For each web tier server perform the following:
Click on pencil icon under Edit Parameters
Select tab System
Expand section jtff_server

3. Change value for the entry s_jsp_main_mode from justrun to recompile
Confirm the change by clicking Save button


4. Run AutoConfig to propagate the changes to the configuration files
Verify that the $INST_TOP/ora/10.1.3/j2ee/oacore/application-deployments/oacore/html/orion-web.xml  has the following:

Check param-name "main_mode" under init-param variables
Its changed into "recompile"

5. Restart the web tier services

Cheers!!!

Forms Runtime Diagnostic - Steps to take FRD trace in 11.5.10 & R12

In 11i

1.   Login to your Instance Unix session as Apps.
2.   Login to System Administrator Responsibility in Oracle Applications.
3.   Add the following profile to the USER LEVEL as follows
ICX: Forms Launcher = http://vis11i.apps.local:8090/dev60cgi/f60cgi?&record=collect&log=testing.log

4.    Logout and Log back in again, for this profile to take effect. When you login again, a message box pops up, which alerts you that Diagnostics is enabled.
5.    Reproduce the Forms-Issue.
6.    Exit the application.
7.    Locate the file in the directory set by variable $FORMS_TRACE_PATH.

In R12

1. Login to your Instance Unix session as Apps.
2.Make the USER value for profile option 'ICX: Forms Launcher' the same as the SITE value.
3. Append the USER value of ICX: Forms Launcher with the "?record=collect" and save this at the user level.
http://visr12.apps.local:8091/forms/frmservlet?record=collect

4. Logout and Log back in again, for this profile to take effect. When you login again, a message box pops up, which alerts you that Diagnostics is enabled.
5. Go to Help->About Oracle Applications, go to the section 'Forms Server Environment Variables'
There you should see a value in FORMS_TRACE_DIR. Note down the value.
6. Reproduce the Forms-Issue.  
7. Locate the file in the directory noted in FORMS_TRACE_DIR.
Note: By default, this directories named as forms_[pid].trc where pid is the process identifier.
Collect _[form_process_id]

Cheers!!!

How to remove an OA Framework Personalization

Using this method, you can remove personalization from an OAF page.

1) Login to Oracle Applications as SYSADMIN

2) Select Functional Administrator Responsibility -> Personalization

3) Fill in the criteria to locate the OA Framework page and press Go
    Tip: Check 'Personalized' checkbox to only query the pages having a personalization

4) Identify the correct page from the results returned

5) Depending on the situation you have following options:
  
Cause of failure is known (e.g. last change made) and can be removed

Click pencil "Personalize Page" and confirm personalization levels.
Revert the personalization step causing the problem
Apply the changes
Retest if the page is now accessible again.

Cause of the failure is unknown  or can not be simply removed

Click pencil "Manage Personalizations"
Now Deactivate or Delete the personalization document.

The difference between Deactivate and Delete is that in the case of Deactivating the personalization document in the MDS repository is not removed, while this is the case for Delete. Especially when there are multiple personalization documents, but it's not clear which causes the problem the 'Deactivate' allows these to be tested individually without the need to reload or recreate the personalization documents.

Get the source file of any 'Pl/Sql Stored Procedure' on current program

All of us knows how to find-out the source of a stored procedure in database using TOAD.

Using SQL*Plus, to retrieve the sources, please do the following :

1. From the Define concurrent Program forms, query your PL/SQL concurrent program then note Executable Name  .

2. Go to the Define Executable forms, query the executable name of step 1 then note the Execution File Name.

An executable file name is generally formatted as :

Package_name.Procedure

3. To retrieve the source, connect to apps then run the following sql statement from SQL*Plus :

set long 20000
set pages 9999
set lines 80
select text from user_source
where name =''
order by line
/

Cheers!!!

How to enable and collect debug for HTTP, OC4J and OPMN - R12

When we used to send debug details to oracle support for troubleshooting, we have to perform the following  for enable and collect debug information from HTTP, OC4J and OPMN services of R12.

Run the following script on all middle tiers as the application file system owner. A file named after the servername and date will be created in every server under the /tmp directory. Upload the resulting zip file from every server to your service request on Metalink.

zip -r /tmp/`uname -n`_`date +%m%d%y.%H%M`_iAS_CONFIG.zip \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/Apache/Apache/conf \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/config \ 
$INST_TOP/pids/10.1.3/Apache \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/ \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/javacache/admin \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/network/admin \ 
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/opmn

First of all, need to shutdown the http server, oc4j and opmn services, for that:
cd $ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME
$adapcctl.sh stop
$adoacorectl.sh stop
$adformsctl.sh stop
$adoafmctl.sh stop
$adopmnctl.sh stop

Then need to take the backup existing log files for safe custody.
$LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/Apache
$LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/j2ee
$LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/opmn

1. Enable http ODL logging 

Edit httpd.conf file, add the following to the end of file $ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/Apache/Apache/conf/httpd.conf

OraLogMode oracle
OraLogSeverity TRACE:32
OraLogDir $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/Apache/oracle
Please use the full path to $LOG_HOME e.g.
OraLogDir = /u01/inst/apps/JCB_atg/logs/ora/10.1.3/Apache/oracle

Warning: the log.xml file created by the http ODL log can get very large.
Diligence must be taken to monitor this file and maintain its size under the 2GB limit which when exceeded can cause issues with login

2. Increase OC4J logging for oacore

edit j2ee-logging.xml adjust the following in file:
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/oacore/config/j2ee-logging.xml

<logger name='oracle' level='TRACE:32' useParentHandlers='false'>

3. Increase OC4J logging for forms

edit j2ee-logging.xml adjust the following in file:
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/forms/config/j2ee-logging.xml

<logger name='oracle' level='TRACE:32' useParentHandlers='false'>

edit orion-web.xml adjust the following in file:
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/oacore/application-deployments/oacore/html/orion-web.xml

<param-name>debug_mode</param-name>
<param-value>true</param-value>

4. Increase OPMN Logging

edit opmn.xml adjust the following in file:
$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/opmn/conf/opmn.xml

<debug path="/u01/inst/apps/JB_atg/logs/ora/10.1.3/opmn/opmn.dbg" comp=" internal;ons;pm" rotation-size="1500000" rotation-hour="0" />

Startup the http server, oc4j and opmn

Reproduce the issue

Access the following urls and inform support if the url was successful or unsuccessful:

http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>/OA_HTML/ServletPing
http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=OAHOMEPAGE
http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>
http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>/OA_HTML/jsp/fnd/aoljtest.jsp
http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>/OA_MEDIA/FNDLOGOL.gif
http://<server>.<domain>:<PORT>/forms/frmservlet
http://<hostname.domainname>:<port>/OA_HTML/fndvald.jsp?username=sysadmin&password=<sysadmin_password>

Run this inventory script and upload the html output

$ADPERLPRG $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/TXKScript.pl -script=$FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/txkInventory.pl -txktop=$APPLTMP -outfile=$APPLTMP/Report_Inventory.html

Shutdown the http server, oc4j and opmn

Run these commands to zip up the required log files:

zip -r /tmp/`uname -n`_`date +%m%d%y.%H%M`_iAS_HTTP.zip $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/Apache/*log* $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/Apache/*lock* $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/Apache/oracle $INST_TOP/pids/10.1.3/Apache
zip -r /tmp/`uname -n`_`date +%m%d%y.%H%M`_iAS_OC4J.zip $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/j2ee/ $LOG_HOME/appl/rgf/*log*
zip -r /tmp/`uname -n`_`date +%m%d%y.%H%M`_iAS_OPMN.zip $LOG_HOME/appl/admin/log/ $LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3/opmn/

The commands will create zip files in the /tmp directory named after the server name and date. Please now run the following script to compile the 3 zip files into 1 zip. Upload the resulting zip file to the associated service request.

zip -r /tmp/`uname -n`_`date +%m%d%y.%H%M`_iAS_Debug.zip /tmp/*zip*

Finally, revert the changes and re-start the services

How to change and which Apps database users passwords can be changed in a Multi-Node Apps Installation

In 11i oracle applications, the following list shows which database users should be changed and which should not be changed

APPLSYS -  Y
APPLSYSPUB -  N
APPS -  Y
CTXSYS -  Y
DBSNMP -  Y
PORTAL30 - Y
PORTAL30_SSO - Y
PRODUCT_SCHEMAS (AMB_XTR) - Y
SYS - Y
SYSTEM - Y

The following database users passwords may be changed

MDSYS
ORDPLUGINS
ORDSYS
PORTAL30_DEMO
PORTAL30_PUBLIC
PORTAL30_SSO_PS
PORTAL30_SSO_PUBLIC

The passwords of APPS and APPLSYS must be identical.
So you just need to change APPLSYS password not APPS , by changing APPLSYS
password , APPS password assumes the same value

Shutdown the Applications Tier services on each of the Nodes
Database Tier Services must be up and running

To change the APPLSYS password:

FNDCPASS apps/apps_schema_password 0 Y system/system_schema_password SYSTEM APPLSYS new_password
Ex: FNDCPASS apps/apps 0 Y system/manager SYSTEM APPLSYS WELCOME123

To change an Oracle user password:

FNDCPASS apps/apps_schema_password 0 Y system/system_schema_password

ORACLE apps_database_user new_password
Ex: FNDCPASS apps/apps 0 Y system/manager ORACLE GL GL_123

Run Autoconfig on each of the Nodes wherever Application Tier is installed

Bring up the Application Tier services on each of the Nodes

How to enable debugging for Concurrent Managers

Sometimes concurrent managers debug information is requires to solve issues related with CM, for achieve this purpose we have to do the following

Steps for enable DIAG for the ICM
you have to modify adcmctl.sh script using vi editor

vi $COMMON_TOP/admin/scripts/SID_HOSTNAME/adcmctl.sh
Replace line :
CONTEXT_PARAMS="diag=N wait=N"
With :
CONTEXT_PARAMS="diag=Y wait=N"
Save file.

Steps for enable the Debug Service

Login with System Administrator responsibility
Navigate to Concurrent / Manager /Define
Query manager with name "Debug Service"
Tick the "Enabled" checkbox if not yet ticked
save

Once completed these two steps, required to bounce the concurrent managers
cd $COMMON_TOP/admin/scripts/SID_HOSTNAME
adcmctl.sh stop apps/password

wait for all your concurrent process to complete, you can monitor using
ps -ef|grep -i fndlibr

All CM process completed, start your CM

adcmctl.sh start apps/password

Please don't forget to switch it off after the debug information has been generated.

Cheers!!!

Audit - responsibilities and Data in Oracle Applications

There two levels of auditing in Oracle applications,

1. System usage
2. Data itself, its called auditTrail.

We can enable system usage auditing from
system administrator responsibility ->system profile -> Sign-On:Audit Level. Sign-On:Audit Level

Set this option can be site, responsibility, user level and can be done at the form, responsibility and the user level.

Depends on exiting scenario of the organization, set this value.

If decide to audit a responsibility, then need to decide at what level: form, responsibility or user.

If audit the responsibility at the form level, then will get the most details about who used the responsibility, what forms they accessed using this
responsibility, when they accessed the responsibility and when they left the responsibility.

If auditing the responsibility is done at the responsibility level, will not get the forms that the responsibility accessed but you will get everything else.

If audit the responsibility at the user level, will get the user that accessed the responsibility, when they started and when they stopped. But this is very limited data.

The second level of auditing is for the data itself. This auditing is called AuditTrail and is more involved in setup. Here need to identify the data want to audit and then translate that to the specific table and column for later tracking. Based on these data, can create Audit groups for auditing of these columns and tables.

Some of the useful reports for the Sign-On:Audit Level found fat System Administrator responsibility:

1. Signon Audit Concurrent Requests
2. Signon Audit Forms
3. Signon Audit Responsibilities
4. Signon Audit Unsuccessful Logins
5. Signon Audit Users

Cheers !!!

How to track HTML Page Access in Oracle Applications Release 12.0

Page access tracking allows Oracle Application usage statistics and performing Web site traffic analysis. For Web-based applications based on the Oracle Applications Framework (OAF), Page Access Tracking transparently captures application-rich context information for every user click. In terms of performance, the data capture has negligible overhead.

How to configure

Oracle Applications Manager: Site Map > Monitoring > Applications Usage Reports > Page Access Tracking and Sign-on Audit Configuration

On the Page Access Tracking Configuration page, you can enable or disable Page Access Tracking for your site

Page Access Tracking data is logged in the database in a staging area. It needs to be migrated and mined before the UI reports are refreshed. How frequently Page Access Tracking Data needs to be migrated and mined depends on how updated the UI reports need to be. Generally speaking, the recommendation is to run the concurrent program once a day (preferably at midnight) for the reports to be up to date.

Use the following procedure to schedule the concurrent program "Page Access Tracking Data Migration" using Concurrent Manager:

After the Concurrent Program completes, you should be able to view the latest data reports and statistics in the Oracle System Administrator Console. 

The page is located at Settings > System > Page Flow Logging > Reports.

Page Access Tracking data is buffered within each JVM and periodically asynchronously flushed to the database. The flush is triggered by the following site-level profiles:

JTF_PF_FLUSH_INTERVAL, which defines a time interval. The default value is 120 seconds.

JTF_PF_BUFFER_SIZE, which defines the maximum number of page log accesses in the buffer. The default value is 20 accesses.

The data is flushed to the database when the specified time interval is reached, or when the number of page log accesses exceeds the configured buffer size. These parameters can be modified from their default values through Oracle Forms. The default values are used if the profiles are not set.

The amount of data recorded by Page Access Tracking depends on what applications, responsibilities and users have tracking turned on, the tracking level selected and user traffic. On a regular basis, the System Administrator should purge the Page Access Tracking repository. The frequency of data purge also depends on how much historical tracking data is needed in the UI reports.

Use the following procedure to schedule the concurrent program "Page Access Tracking Purge Data" using Concurrent Manager:

How to sync refreshed database with already applied patches in Test Apps Tiers

Normally, we are applying patches to Test Instance. But here the sitution is that after applying the patches to the Test instance, suddenly need to refresh the database with latest from production db.

We can perform the database refresh part without having any problems, but how will be sync already applied patch to the newly refreshed database.

In this case, we have to use the adpatch option
"options=nocopyportion,nogenerateportion". 

By doing this, only the database portion will be applied, and the database will be in sync with the application in terms of those earlier patches.

Cheers!!

How to Upgrade Oracle Application Server to 10.1.3.5 (10g R3 patchset 5)

Recently I have upgraded my R12.1.2 with OracleAS 10g Release 3 Patch Set 5 (10.1.3.5.0)
OS: Windows XP
Apps Version 12.1.2

These are the points for Oracle Application Server 10.1.3 Upgrade in R12
1. There are two Oracle Homes under application tier in R12  and other one is in Database Tier
a) 10.1.2 for forms & reports
b) 10.1.3 for Web (Apache) and J2EE (OC4J for oacore, oafm and forms)
Two Oracle Home (10.1.2 and 10.1.3) are under R12_BASE_INSTALL_DIR/apps/tech_st/

2. OracleAS 10g Release 3 (10.1.3) Patch Set 5 (10.1.3.5.0) is not a complete software distribution, and the patch set can only be applied to an existing Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 10.1.3 Oracle Home via patch 8626084

3. You should be on minimum 12.0.3 (version of R12/12i) to upgrade 10.1.3 Oracle Home. To check your apps R12 version use
SQL> select release_name from apps.fnd_product_groups;

4. During upgrade, installer will prompt for OC4JADMIN password. If your source oracle home version is 10.1.3.0 then password for oc4jadmin is secret else (for 10.1.3.1/2/3) password is oafm
If you don’t remember oc4jadmin password you can reset oc4jadmin password

5. To check current Oracle Application Server Patchset version i.e. if 10.1.3.0 or 10.1.3.1 or 10.1.3.2
There different ways:
a)cd %IAS_ORACLE_HOME%\config
you can look into file ias.properties, there is an entry for version
b) Using runInstaller
–Invoke runInstaller from 1013_ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin
–Click on Installed Products.
–Select the 10.1.3 Oracle Home and expand the tree. You should see Oracle Application Server Patchset 10.1.3.X patch in the list.
c) Using Opatch
Run the command ‘opatch lsinventory -detail‘
Look for ‘Oracle Application Server PatchSet‘ in the ‘Product‘ column.

Main Upgrade Steps:-
1. Set your environment
Log in to the application tier as the OS user who owns the application tier file system. Navigate to the INST_TOP/ora/10.1.3 and source the [SID_machine].env/.cmd file to set your 10.1.3 ORACLE_HOME. Source [SID_Hostname].cmd

2. Apply OracleAS 10.1.3.5 Patch Set
Unzip patch 8626084 (OracleAS 10g Release 3 (10.1.3) Patch Set 5 (10.1.3.5.0)) into a temporary directory ()

Change directory to /Disk1
Execute runInstaller (UNIX) or setup.exe (Windows)

On UNIX and Linux:

If you have a Global Inventory, invoke the runInstaller program by running the command:

$ ./runInstaller

On Windows, invoke the setup.exe program by running the command:
/Disk1/setup.exe -installAdditionalComponents "oracle.swd.oui.core:ALWAYS_IF_NEW_OR_VERSION_GTE,oracle.swd.oui:ALWAYS_IF_NEW_OR_VERSION_GTE"
Shut down any services started by OracleAS 10.1.3.5 Patch Set

3. Run AutoConfig

4. Apply additional patches to 10.1.3 oracle home (using opatch and not adpatch)

5. Regenerate appsborg.zip and appsborg2.zip files using adadmin

6. Restart application tier services for r12 , click here for how to start/stop services on R12

For step by step OAS upgrade steps for R12 check metalink note 454811.1

References
454811.1  Upgrading to the Latest OracleAS 10g 10.1.3.x Patch Set in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12
Read Me of Patch  8626084

How to Enable Tracing in Jinitiator

This post explains how to enable tracing in Jinitiator for troubleshooting webform applications while your end user complaining about Jinitiator related issues. This trace will obtain additional information when the application is running - For e.g. to know the files being loaded when the web form application uses images.

There are two ways to enabling tracing in Jinitiator

From client machine, Open the Jinitiator Control Panel.
On Windows select Start - Settings -
Control Panel - Jinitiator 1.3.1.x. Enter the following  in the "java Run Time parameters" textfield:

-Djavaplugin.trace=true
-Djavaplugin.trace.option=basic|net|security|ext|liveconnect.

Tracing set through the Control Panel will take effect when the Plug-in is launched, but changes made through the Control Panel while a Plug-in is running will have no effect until restart.

You can see the trace information in the jinitiator console or in the file
C:\Documents and Settings\\jinitiator131x.trace

The other method is relatively simple

This method assumes you are running a web forms application and the Java Console is active. Press an appropriate number using your alphanumeric keypad (0-5).
This enables tracing on the fly.

The trace level options (0-5) are increasingly verbose with the various levels corresponding to the following:

0 - off
1 - basic
2 - network and basic
3 - security, network and basic
4 - extension, security, network and basic
5 - LiveConnect, extension, security, network and basic

Cheers!

What role APPLSYSPUB user plays in oracle applications?

Intially oracle applications connects to this public schema, APPLSYSPUB This schema has sufficient privileges to perform the authentication of an Applications User (FND user), which includes running PL/SQL packages to verify the username/password combination and the privilege to record the success or failure of a login attempt.

The public ORACLE username and password that grants access to the Oracle E-Business Suite initial sign-on form. The default is APPLSYSPUB/PUB.

Once had changed the APPLSYSPUB password must propagate the change to application tier configuration files. If  the instance is Autoconfig enabled, must edit the CONTEXT file on each tier prior to running Autoconfig.

In the CONTEXT file, locate the autoconfig variable “s_gwyuid_pass” and set it to the new password, then run AutoConfig in each applicatins nodes.

Always change password of APPLSYSPUB with FNDCPASS

$ FNDCPASS APPS/[apps_pwd] 0 Y SYSTEM/[system_pwd] ORACLE APPLSYSPUB [new_pwd]

0 & Y are flags for FNDCPASS
0 is request id  (request ID 0 is assigned to request ID's which are not submitted via Submit Concurrent Request Form)
'Y' indicates that this method is directly invoked from the command-line and not from the Submit Request Form.

If you are not using AutoConfig you must manually edit the following configuration files :

1) FND_TOP/resource/appsweb.cfg
2) OA_HTML/bin/appsweb.cfg
3) FND_TOP/secure/HOSTNAME_DBNAME.dbc

All application tier processes (Apaches) must be restarted following the password change and password propagation.

How to change the default passwords in Oracle Applications

After a fresh installation of Oracle Applications, database contains many default, open schemas with default passwords.
These accounts and corresponding passwords are well-known, and they should be changed, especially for a database to be used in a production environment as a best practice. Default schemas come from different sources and can be classified as below :

1. Default database administration schemas
2. Schemas belonging to optional database features neither used nor patched by E-Business Suite
3. Schemas belonging to optional database features used but not patched by E-Business Suite
4. Schemas belonging to optional database features used and patched by E-Business Suite
5. Schemas common to all E-Business Suite products
6. Schemas associated with specific E-Business Suite products

For the schemas in categories 1, 2 and 3, use standard database commands to change a password:
SQL> alter user [SCHEMA] identified by [NEW_PASSWORD];

For the schemas in categories 4, 5 and 6, use the application password change tool:
$ FNDCPASS APPS/apps_pwd 0 Y SYSTEM/system_pwd ORACLE [SCHEMA] [NEW_PWD]

To save time, category six (6) schema passwords may be changed en masse using FNDCPASS. FNDCPASS accepts a keyword ALLORACLE forcing a change of all managed schemas to the new password. If your version of FNDCPASS does not already support the ALLORACLE keyword, apply patch 5080487.

$ FNDCPASS APPS/apps_pwd 0 Y SYSTEM/system_pwd ALLORACLE [NEW_PWD]
To determine which schemas are managed by E-Business Suite (categories 4, 5 and 6), run the AD adutconf.sql script.