Frequently Asked Questions About Using AutoConfig With Oracle Applications Release 11i

Refer to below note id for any confusions/queries regarding Autoconfig 

Matalink Note:218089.1 

Basic things about Autoconfig

When we modify the context file then autoconfig utility needs be executed on all nodes in order to implement the configuration changes

Executing Autoconfig

The AD Configuration utility, adconfig.sh (also known as autoconfig) can be 

executed on all nodes of Oracle Applications, including the Database Node.

 
The file adconfig.sh and all of its supporting scripts are located in the

 $AD_TOP/bin directory

Method of Running

Templates are used by autoconfig to change all configuration files for the different nodes. 

Patches to the Rapid Install product, also known as ADX, update the templates and 

the parameters in the XML file.

There are three phases in which the Autoconfig runs.
1.Setup: reads the templates.
2.Apply:Creates various configuration files using the templates by filling up the

 values in templates.
3.Profile:Updates the profile values.

All application processes should be shut down prior to executing autoconfig.sh.

Running AD Configuration utility

$AD_TOP/bin/adconfig.sh 
contextfile=$APPLTOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME.xml \
appspass=password

Running Auto Config
Apps Tier
In 11i
$COMMON_TOP/admin/scripts/$CONTEXT_NAME/adautocfg.sh and provide apps password

In R12
$INST_TOP/admin/scripts/$CONTEXT_NAME/adautocfg.sh and provide apps password


On DB Tier
$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/adautocfg.sh and provide apps password

Note: If configuration files are modified manually, you will need to edit the context file

 to keep the settings synchronized; otherwise, changes to the underlying configuration

 file will be overwritten the next time AD Configuration (adconfig.sh) is executed.

Autoconfig  Log Files
On Application Tier
11i
$APPL_TOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME/log/MMDDhhmm/adconfig.log

R12
$INST_TOP/admin/log/MMDDhhmm/adconfig.log
where MM is the month, DD is the day, hh is the hour, and mm is the minute when

 autoconfig.sh was executed.

On database tier located

$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/log/$CONTEXT_NAME/MMDDhhmm/adconfig.log


Finding  AutoConfig Execution Changes

If you want to determine configuration changes that will be made by executing autoconfig.sh, 

you can execute the adchkcfg.sh script.This script generates an HTML file named cfgcheck.html

 which displays the differences in the configurations. 
Location of Script: Application Tier $AD_TOP/bin and DB Tier $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil
Location of HTML file:
In Apps Tier: $APPL_TOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME/out/MMDDhhmm
                     $INST_TOP/admin/out/MMDDhhmm

In DB Tier: $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/log/$CONTEXT_NAME/out/MMDDhhmm


Location of autoconfig.sh Backup Files

The execution of autoconfig generates backup files.
Apps Tier
$APPL_TOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME/out/MMDDhhmm
$INST_TOP/admin/out/MMDDhhmm
DB Tier
$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/log/$CONTEXT_NAME/out/MMDDhhmm


Restoring the Configuration from backup

If we want to restore configuration files from the backup of an autoconfig run, then  execute the below scripts
Apps Tier
$APPL_TOP/admin/$CONTEXT_NAME/out/MMDDhhmm/restore.sh
$INST_TOP/admin/out/MMDDhhmm/restore.sh
DB Tier
$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/out/$CONTEXT_NAME/MMDDhhm/restore.sh

What are 10.1.2 or 10.1.3 homes in EBS ?

 R12 file system has come up with new model – Code, Data, Configurations are segregated nicely to have easy maintenance, to avert NFS mount issues on shared appl tier configuration systems. Auto-config will not write anything in APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP area in R12. All instance specific configurations, log files are written in INST_TOP area. Instance Home provides the ability to share Applications and technology stack code among multiple instances.

APPL-TIER

• 10.1.2 C ORACLE_HOME / FORMS ORACLE_HOME (8.0.6 ORACLE HOME equivalence)‏
• 10.1.3 Java ORACLE_HOME/OC4J ORACLE_HOME (iAS ORACLE_HOME equivalence)‏
• INSTANCE_TOP : Each application tier has a unique Instance Home file system associated

There are two versions of Oracle Application server 10g (oAS10g) used

• Oracle 10gAS R2: 10.1.2 – 10.1.2.2.0
• Oracle 10gAS R3: 10.1.3.0 – 10.1.3.3
• In R12, 10.1.2 AS and 10.1.3 AS Homes are newly introduced in lieu of 8.0.6 and iAS(1.0.2.2) – 11i Architecture.

Why do we have 10.1.2. AS and 10.1.3 AS? 

• 10.1.2 AS installation will be supporting forms based applications. It is Standalone 10.1.2 forms/reports server installation. Other components are not included.
• 10.1.3 AS tech-stack will be used by java based applications. 10.1.3 AS instance brings latest OC4J code which is successor of 10.1.2 AS. 10.1.3 AS release doesn’t contain forms/reports products.

Hence to take advantage of latest oc4j code 10.1.3 AS got introduced. But to support ebiz forms applications 10.1.2 AS introduced.

 If you dig into the INST_TOP you will find that it only contains all the configuration files, start-stop scripts, log files, certificate files, pid files etc.., so as to make DB_TOP and APPL_TOP untouched for any instance specific changes. So you can also make DB_TOP and APPL_TOP read only.

INSTANCE TOP
Instance home is the top-level directory for an Applications Instance which is known as Instance Home and is denoted the environment variable $INST_TOP. This contains all the config files, log files, SSL certificates etc.

Advantages of new INSTANCE HOME

• The additional Instance Home makes the middle tier more easy to manage and organized since the data is kept separate from the config files.
• The Instance Home also has the ability to share the Applications and Technology stack code across multiple instances.
• Another advantage of the Instance Home is that the Autoconfig writes only in INST_TOP so APPL_TOP and ORACLE_HOME can also be made read only file system if required.
• To create a new instance that shares an existing middle-tier, just create a new instance_top with proper config files and NFS Mount the middle tier

INSTANCE TOP – STRUCTURE

$INST_TOP      : $APPS_BASE/inst/apps/$CONTEXT_NAME/
/admin /scripts :  ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME: Find all AD scripts here
/appl              :  APPL_CONFIG_HOME. For standalone envs, this is set to $APPL_TOP
/fnd/12.0.0/secure : FND_SECURE: dbc files here
/admin             : All Env Config files here
/certs               : SSL Certificates go here
/logs                : LOG_HOME: Central log file location. All log files are placed here (except adconfig)
/ora                 : ORA_CONFIG_HOME
/10.1.2             : ‘C’ Oracle home config, Contains tnsnames and forms listener servlet config files
/10.1.3             : Apache & OC4J config home, Apache, OC4J and opmn
                         This is the ‘Java’ oracle home configuration for OPMN, Apache and OC4J
/pids                : Apache/Forms server PID files here
/portal              : Apache’s DocumentRoot folder

What happens in brief when you run Adpreclone or Adcfgclone in EBS

 What will happen When you run Adpreclone and Adcfgclone?

Adpreclone.pl script prepare the source system to be cloned by collecting information about source
system. Create a cloning stage area,generate template and driver from existing files that contain source specific hard coded value.
When you run “adpreclone.pl dbTier” on DB side
Following directories will be created in the ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/cloneJlib, db, data where “Jlib” relates to libraries “db” will contain the techstack information, “data” will contain the information related to datafiles and required for cloning.
Creates driver files at ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv
Converts inventory from binary to xml, the xml file is located at $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/clone/context/db/Sid_context.xml
Prepare database for cloning:  This includes creating database control file script and datafile location information file at
$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/templateadcrdbclone.sql, dbfinfo.lst
Generates database creation driver file at ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/clone/data/driverdata.drv
Copy JDBC Libraries at ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/clone/jlib/classes12.jar and appsutil

When you run “adpreclone.pl appsTier” On Apps Side
This will create stage directory at $COMMON_TOP/clone. This also run in two steps.
Techstack:  Creates template files for Oracle_iAS_Home/appsutil/template and Oracle_806_Home/appsutil/template
Creates Techstack driver files for IAS_ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv and 806_ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv
APPL_TOP preparation:  It will create application top driver file at $COMMON_TOP/clone/appl/driver/appl.drv-Copy JDBC libraries and $COMMON_TOP/clone/jlib/classes111.zip

what Perl adcfgclone.pl dbTechStack do?
Perl adcfgclone.pl dbTechStack will do below things.
1)Create context file
2)Register ORACLE_HOME
3)Relink ORACLE_HOME
4)Configure ORACLE_HOME
5)Start SQL*NET listener

what Perl adcfgclone.pl dbTier do?
1)Create context file
2)Register ORACLE_HOME
3)Relink ORACLE_HOME
4)Configure ORACLE_HOME
5)Recreate controlfile
6)Configure database
7)Start SQL*NET listener
==
cd $ORACLE_HOME/appsutils/clone/bin
perl adcfgclone.pl dbTier pwd=apps
This will use the templates and driver files those were created while running adpreclone.pl on source system and has been copied to target system.
Following scripts are run by adcfgclone.pl dbTier for configuring techstack
adchkutl.sh — This will check the system for ld, ar, cc, and make versions.
adclonectx.pl — This will clone the context file. This will ceate a new context file as per the details of this instance.
runInstallConfigDriver — located in $Oracle_Home/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv
Relinking $Oracle_Home/appsutil/install/adlnkoh.sh — This will relink ORACLE_HOME
For data on database side, following scripts are runDriver file $Oracle_Home/appsutil/clone/context/data/driver/data.drv
Create database adcrdb.zipAutoconfig is runControl file creation adcrdbclone.sql
Run adcfgclone.pl for dbTier.

what Perl adcfgclone.pl appsTier do?
perl adcfgclone.pl appsTier will do below things.
1)Create context file
2)Register ORACLE_HOME
3)Relink ORACLE_HOME
4)Configure ORACLE_HOME
5)Create INST_TOP
6)Configure APPL_TOP
7)Start Apps Processses
==
On Application Side

cd $COMMON_TOP/clone/bin/
perl adcfgclone.pl appsTier pwd=apps
Following scripts are run by adcfgclone.pl:
Creates context file for target adclonectx.pl
Run driver files $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv and $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/driver/instconf.drv
Relinking of Oracle Home $ORACLE_HOME/bin/adlnk806.sh and $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/bin/adlnkiAS.sh
At the end it will run the driver file $COMMON_TOP/clone/appl/driver/appl.drv and then runs autoconfig.

When we run adcfgclone.pl which script it will call?
It will call adclone.pl which is located at $AD_TOP/bin .

When we run perl adpreclone.pl dbTier why it requires apps password?
It requires a database connection to validate apps schema.

When do you run adpreclone on Production?
If any changes made to either TechStack,database or any patches applied.

How do we find adpreclone is run in source or not ?
 If clone directory exists under $RDBMS_ORACLE_HOME/appsutil for oracle user and $COMMON_TOP/clone for applmgr user.

When we run perl adpreclone.pl appTier why it will not prompt for apps password?
It doesn’t require db a connection.

adcfgclone on database node we had three modes
perl adcfgclone.pl dbTier
It will configure the ORACLE_HOME on the target database tier node and  recreate the controlfiles.
This is specially used in case of standby database and/or hot backups. It will take care of all the steps.

perl adcfgclone.pl dbTechStack
It will configure the ORACLE_HOME on the target database tier node only. Relink the oracle home.

perl adcfgclone.pl dbconfig
It is used to configure the database with  context file.Database should be in open mode.

adcfgclone.pl appsTier dualfs
DUALFS – new feature is introduced in the latest AD-TXK Delta 7.
This feature will create both the filesystems fs1 and fs2 during the clonning process.

What is OAM ? OIM ? and OID ?

A quick introduction to Oracle Access Manager (OAM), Oracle Identity Manager (OIM) and Oracle Internet Directory (OID).

Oracle Access Manager (OAM)

Oracle Access Manager is a J2EE application typically deployed on a dedicated managed server in a Weblogic (Application Server) clustered environment.

An enterprise typically has many applications for different purposes. Each application typically has its own authentication and authorization functionality.

OAM provides a single point to control all resource grants in an enterprise where multiple applications exist on different platform.

OAM provides:

Single Sign On (SSO)

Authentication

Authorization

Real time session management

Auditing

Policy Administration

Flaws in conventional security model.

Individual authentication/authorization for each independent application in the enterprise. .net, J2EE, SAP, WebCenter etc. All application have their *own* authentication and authorization mechanism.

Effective Security

Cost

Inconsistence

Security Complainces

Ease for users (Single Sign On)

Governance, Support and Management

One of the web server will have OAM-Agent. Other web servers will be redirected to this OAM-Agent via a reverse proxy. Hence, we don't need OAM-Agent on each Web Server.

The request goes to the OAM agent which redirects the request to OAM which in turn challenges the user for user/pwd. Once user/pwd is provided the OAM goes to the LDAP (AD or OID) to authenticate the user. Once the user is authenticated the webgate opens the gate to the underlying corresponding web server.

Oracle Identity Manager (OIM)

OIM does life cycle management of an identity (generally a user, e.g employee).

OIM server is a J2EE application. User provisioning is done in OIM. The OIM integrates this with all the other applications.

Lets take an example of an employee joining an organizaiton. He/She needs access to various applications in the organization. The HR typically creates the employee in HRMS on the joining date.The manager raises various user ids crations for this new employee for email, timesheet app, crm, leave mgmt app etc. With OIM this provisionting can be done automatically or manually at single point.

OIM provides a unified access control for all the applications in the enterprize. Once the employee quits, the manager need only to log onto OIM and delete (soft/hard) the employee from various applications.OIM integrates with other application using SOA suite with respective JCA adapters.

Oracle Internet Directory (OID)

This is a directory of objects. For e.g in case of employees in an organization, this directory will hold employees details like name, designation, enterprize roles, applicaiton specific roles, security credentials like password, password reminder questions.This is typically a single source of truth for information about employees in an organization.

Various applications access OID to authenticate and authorize users. 

Typically, OID is integrated with OAM.OID is Oracle's LDAP implementation. Active Directory or AD is similar implementation for the same solution from Microsoft.OID generally uses oracle database for storage of all the said information above

You have encountered an unexpected error. Please contact the System Administrator for assistance.

 After log onto EBS R12.1.3 homepage, click on one of supplier forms and click save

You have encountered an unexpected error. Please contact the System Administrator for assistance

The error seems just on one page, not on all pages. I had the same error message before when the database having issue, such as invalid package. But the error does not tell what is the real cause.

The key is to enable Profile option “FND: Diagnostics“. After re-login, the error message will come with a link “Click here for exception details”

That leads to find the true error is an

Error Page  

Exception Details.  

 oracle.apps.fnd.framework.OAException: java.sql.SQLException: ORA-06502: PL/SQL: numeric or value error: character string buffer too small

ORA-06512: at "APPS.POS_VENDOR_PUB_PKG", line 1595

ORA-06512: at line 1

Much Much Awaiting articles on " EBS to OCI Manual Migration Documents Available "

I know so many waiting for official documentation on EBS OCI migration documents

and uhhhh...! Finally we can get them from below link.... 

Happy Learning and have fun..!

https://blogs.oracle.com/ebsandoraclecloud/ebs-to-oci-manual-migration-documents-available