Dirk Nachbar: Oracle Fusion Middleware & Application Server

Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.1) for download available

2011-12-11T13:14:00.002+01:00

Since Friday 9th December 2011 the latest release of the Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.1) is available for download in the Oracle Technology Network under following link: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/weblogic/downloads/wls-main-097127.html

Following Versions are available:

Installer with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c, Oracle Coherence and Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse (for Linux x86 with JVM 32bit, Windows x86 with JVM 32bit and Mac OS X with 32bit)
Installer with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c and Oracle Coherence (for Linux x86 with JVM 32bit, Windows 32bit with JVM 32bit and a generic version for 64bit platforms)
Zip Distribution with Oracle WebLogic Server 12c only intended for WebLogic Server development only (for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X)

The documentation for the new Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.1) can be found under following Link: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24329_01/index.htm

Bye bye WebCache - Welcome Oracle Traffic Director

2011-12-01T21:06:00.001+01:00

I am currently sitting here and listen to the WebCasts for the new Oracle WebLogic Server 12c Release.

Some highlights:

More then 200 new features
Java EE 6 fully profile certified
Seamless upgrades (let's see the reality :-) )
Introduction of Oracle Traffic Director

In my opinion one of the highlights is the introduction of the Oracle Traffic Director, which will be the replacement of the Oracle WebCache on Exalogic platforms. I will miss the WebCache, I really learnt over the years to love this tool ;-)
Oracle Traffic Directory will be officially supported only with Exalogic platforms, but also runable on 64bit OEL platforms ;-)

The downloads for the new Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.1.0) should be available on Oracle Technology Network from the 5th of December 2011 going.

Note 2nd December 2011: There is also a Data Sheet for the new Oracle Traffic Director available http://www.oracle.com/us/products/middleware/application-server/oracle-traffic-director-ds-1389582.pdf

Oracle Weblogic Server 12c Launch announced

2011-11-16T16:35:00.000+01:00

The Oracle Weblogic Server Release 12c is coming soon :-)

Oracle will unveiling the Oracle Weblogic Server 12c on 1st December 2011.

For the Online Launch Event registration just go here: http://tinyurl.com/cfpud2v

Why you should never create own objects under SYS

2011-11-03T09:50:00.000+01:00

I got many times the request by developers to create objects under the SYS schema and my comment is normally "NO". Here is a nice showcase, why the creation of own objects under the SYS schema can become really dangerous:

conn / as sysdba
select count(*) from dba_objects where status = 'INVALID';
COUNT(*)
----------------
        0
-- Now lets create a simple table named SYSTEM under the SYS schema
create table SYS.SYSTEM (id number);
Table created.
-- Now check for invalid objects again.
-- Note: I didnt do anything special after the creation of the table SYS.SYSTEM
select count(*) from dba_objects where status = 'INVALID';
COUNT(*)
----------------
      149

The critical point here is the name of the created table. As soon as you are creating a table named SYSTEM under the SYS schema, you will get immediately a huge number of invalid objects under SYS, most of them are DBMS-Packages, ALL-Views and DBA-Views. The number of invalid objects you will get is depending on your Oracle Release, even a recompile with utlrp.sql will not validate all objects, there will still be invalid objects.

To get ride of this problem, just drop the table SYS.SYSTEM and recompile all with the utlrp.sql script.

This shows clearly why you should not allow the creation of application related objects under the SYS schema.

Oracle Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0) now for Linux x86-64 available

2011-10-25T12:12:00.000+02:00

Last week you could read in my blog post "Oracle Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0) available" that Oracle Forms 11g Release 2 is available for Linux x86 and Windows x86. Now Oracle released also the Linux x86-64 version of Oracle Forms & Reports 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0).

The download can be found under http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/downloads/index.html

Oracle Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0) available

2011-10-20T09:32:00.002+02:00

Oracle released the latest version of Oracle Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.0.0) for Windows x86 and Linux x86 today.

The download can be found under: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/downloads/index.html

There is also a short new features paper available under http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/forms11gr2newfeatures-497502-en-gb.pdf

The necessary installation documentation can be found under http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E24269_01/index.htm

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c for Linux x86 available

2011-10-06T13:30:00.002+02:00

Since today in addition the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c (12.1.0.1.0) for Linux x86 is available in OTN and in Oracle Edelivery.

OTN Download: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/grid-control/downloads/index.html

The Oracle Edelivery: https://edelivery.oracle.com/

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c - First screenshots

2011-10-04T13:45:00.016+02:00

In my post from yesterday "Download available for Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1) for Linux x86-64" you could see that the new Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c 12.1.0.1.0 for Linux x86-64 is available for download.

Here are some first impressions:

According to a presentation from Oracle "What's New in Enterprise Manager 12c Install" the installation should be really simplified now: TRUE :-) It's only 6 screens (under optimal conditions) !!!
The fight with a correct WebLogic Server Release and which JDK to use is now eliminated :-) Everything is bundled in the installation sources
The only pre-requirement what you will need is an Oracle Database

My starting position:

Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 Update 3 x86-64
Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 11.2.0.1.0 (no additional patches)

Extract the 2 zipfiles em12_linux64_disk1of2.zip and em12_linux64_disk2of2.zip on your server and start the runInstaller:
At first the typical Welcome screen with the optional declaration of my My Oracle Support credentials

As next we can define if we want to download directly possible available patches from My Oracle Support.

Then the prerequirement checks are running, I receive an error due to a minor version of my installed glibc-devel, so I decided to ignore it and everything works for me well :-)

After that we have to chose the installation type. The Simple option is really simple, it installs you all the necessary stuff (JDK, WebLogic Server, OMS and Agent) and configures your new Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c.

As next we have to define the Password for the adminstrative Users (Weblogic Admin-User, SYSMAN and OMS registration) and the Database Connectivity for the Enterprise Manager.

After the connectivity check you normally get some errors/warnings (eg. that a Stats Gathering Job must be disabled and that some Database Settings are not aligned). The Stats Gathering Job can be disabled directly from the Installer :-) the other warnings in my case were minor and could be aligned after the installation.

As last step we can review the summing up and start with the installation and configuration. This all what we have to do :-) Really simple and straight forward !!!

As last the Installer shows us the Finish screen with a small summing up of the necessary URL's.

To access the new Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c just go to the URL displayed in the Finish screen. The new login screen looks now more blue and from the look'n feel like the Fusion Middleware Login Screens. For the Login you have to use the username SYSMAN.

The first new feature you will see directly after the login. You can now chose your preferred "home page view", e.g. Databases, Middleware, SOA and so on.

The Website of an Oracle Database:

The Website of a WebLogic Server:

The Website of a Host (Oracle Enterprise Linux):

Conclusion: Installation simplified :-) Look'n Feel cool :-) preferred home page view great idea. Seems to be a great new Release from the first look. So let's test deeper ...

Additional Note: For everybody who is searching for the documentation (like me :-) ): http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E24628_01/index.htm I just found the documentation, sometimes its better to read the documentation before you start with the installation, according to the installation guide, I had to apply for my Oracle Database 11.2.0.1.0 two additional patches :-)

Download available for Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.1) for Linux x86-64

2011-10-03T17:09:00.002+02:00

3rd and most important post for today about Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c: Enterprise Manager 12c is available for download in Oracle Technet !!!

Under the link http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/grid-control/downloads/linuxx8664soft-085949.html is the Linux x86-64 Release available:

My download is already started :-)

Next Next update on Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 Launch

2011-10-03T15:33:00.000+02:00

Just some hours ago, I posted "Next update on Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 Launch" and here we go with the next update on Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 (Grid Control) :-)

I just saw in My Oracle Support a Note (ID 1363757.1) dated from 3rd October 2011 which is related Oracle Enterprise Manager 12.1.0.1.0 (12c). Seems that the naming convention is confirmed with 12c

Next update on Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 Launch

2011-10-03T10:07:00.000+02:00

On 4th August 2011, I posted "Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 Launch - 15.11.2011 on DOAG Conference". Now some more proofs, that the new Oracle Enterprise Manager (Grid Control) 12 will come soon :-)

In My Oracle Support you can find already under the Patch Section a selection for Oracle Grid Control 12.1.0.1.0 (see last line in the drop down list). So we know at least the Release Number, but if the new release will be named "12c" is still unconfirmed.

So stay tuned for the next updates ...

Mobile My Oracle Support available

2011-09-30T16:43:00.000+02:00

I just saw that the My Oracle Support (MOS) website offers now a Mobile Support :-)

Just go to http://support.oracle.mobi/

Oracle Database 11g XE not longer BETA

2011-09-02T10:35:00.000+02:00

In my blogposts from 1st April 2011 and 2nd April 2011 I was talking about the newly released Oracle Database 11g XE BETA (11.2).

The BETA is now removed for the Oracle Database 11g XE :-)

The downloads can be found under http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/express-edition/downloads/index.html

But still are only 2 versions available, one release for Linux x64 and one release for Windows x32.

Tanel Poder's Oracle Troubleshooting TV show available

2011-08-11T12:12:00.001+02:00

For anybody who has missed Tanel Poder's "Secret Hacking Session - about full scans, direct path reads, object level checkpoints, ORA-8103s" its now available under:

http://blip.tv/tanel-poder-oracle-troubleshooting-tv/oracle-troubleshooting-tv-show-season-1-episode-2-5459181

This show is really a must-see :-)

Oracle Enterprise Manager 12 Launch - 15.11.2011 on DOAG Conference

2011-08-04T13:33:00.002+02:00

During the DOAG (German Oracle User Group) Conference on 15.11.2011 to 17.11.2011 Oracle will present the new Oracle Enterprise Manager Release 12 (Oracle Grid Control 12) within a keynote. The presentation will be done by Richard Sarwal, Oracle Corporation.

Link to the Conference Program (unfortunally in german language) can be found here: http://mydoag.doag.org/konferenz/2011-konferenzplan.php

I am really curious what will be the new features/options, I am expecting them as it will be a new major release :-)

Oracle Virtual Developer Day REA Material available for download

2011-06-19T13:59:00.001+02:00

Some time ago the Oracle Virtual Developer Day Rich Enterprise Applications (REA) took place. For anybody who couldn't attend, here is a link to the presentations, On-Demand-Sessions, Lab Materials and so on.

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/community/developer-day/virtual-dev-day-rea-369353.html

You will find there presentations by people like Frank Nimphius, Grant Ronald and so on. The presentations are covering topics like:

From Forms to ADF - When, Why, How?
Rich Web UI made simple - an ADF Faces Overview
ADF Bindings Internals
Introduction to Developing with Oracle WebCenter
and much more

DOAG Conference 2011 - Call for Papers

2011-05-30T12:58:00.001+02:00

And once again this year the largest european Oracle User Group (Deutsche Oracle User Group - DOAG) is calling for papers for the DOAG Conference 15th til 17th November in Nürnberg / Germany.

Details for the upcoming conference can be found under http://www.doag.org/konferenz/doag/2011/

The Call for Papers form can be found under http://mydoag.doag.org/termine/cfp.php?id=422990 The Call for Papers is still open until 15th June 2011, so hurry up ... :-)

I am proud that the DOAG asked me once again after last year to be in the selection commitee of the submitted presentations for the stream "Databases - MySQL"

I hope, I will see a lot of submitted presentations for the stream "Databases - MySQL"

Oracle JRockit is now free, but ...

2011-05-18T16:12:00.002+02:00

Oracle announce that the usage of the Oracle JRockit JVM is now free :-) See Oracle News: http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/173782

Sounds really good, but ... there is a small restriction inside this news announcement:

Premium offerings such as JRockit Mission Control, JRockit Real Time, Java for Business and Enterprise Support will continue to be made available for an additional charge

So only the core functionalities are free of charge, the cool features like Mission Control or Real Time still have to be paid :-(

Implementing Oracle WebLogic AdminServer as Windows Service

2011-05-11T15:13:00.001+02:00

Today my fight with the Oracle Internet Directory 11.1.1.4.0 from yesterday continues (http://dirknachbar.blogspot.com/2011/05/fighting-with-tns-03505-failed-to.html), but this time the problem were related to the Oracle WebLogic Server. I wanted to implement the startup of the underlying Oracle WebLogic AdminServer and ManagedServer of the Oracle Internet Directory installation as a Windows Service.

For this Oracle provides an installation script %WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd which should be called by a wrapper script which we have to create by ourself. (see http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17904_01/web.1111/e13708/winservice.htm), but unfortunally if you follow this instruction, you will not be able to startup your AdminServer with a Windows Service. In the corresponding logfiles of the AdminServer you will find entries like:

<BEA-000286> <Failed to invoke startup class "JRF Startup Class" ...

After a little bit of Google Search, I found some articles, which point to the fact that a Java Class (ORACLE_COMMON\modules\oracle.jrf_11.1.1\jrf.jar) is missing in the CLASSPATH variable. So I try this, therefore I modified the %WL_HOME%\common\bin\commEnv.cmd which will be called in the installSvc.cmd and added the fullpath including the jar-file name to the variable WEBLOGIC_CLASSPATH. BIG MISTAKE :-) I did this, and re-created the Windows Service for the WebLogic AdminServer newly and try to startup the new Windows Service. This time I got new and strange exceptions . . .

After some investigations and testings I found a valid and working way, which is really simple :-)
At first in the %WL_HOME%\common\bin\commEnv.cmd I modify the line:

# Original:
@rem PRODUCTION_MODE, default to the development mode
set  PRODUCTION_MODE=
# To:
@rem PRODUCTION_MODE, default to the development mode
set  PRODUCTION_MODE=true

As in my case I am running in Production Mode and the declared variable in my wrapper script which calls the %WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd was not taken correctly and secondly I added one line in the %WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd script in order to call the %MW_HOME%\user_projects\domains\<YourDomain>\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd in which all necessary CLASSPATH declarations are included:

# Just add after the first call of the commEnv.cmd
# the call of your setDomainEnv.cmd
. . .
call "%WL_HOME%\common\bin\commEnv.cmd"
call "<YourMW_HOME>\user_projects\domains\<YourDomain>\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd"

After this changes just re-create your Windows Services for the WebLogic AdminServer newly, start the service up and be happy :-)

Fighting with "TNS-03505: Failed to resolve name" and OID 11g

2011-05-10T18:46:00.002+02:00

I am currently setting up an Oracle Internet Directory 11.1.1.4.0 for the usage of tnsnames resolution and run in a nice error.

The installation and setup were straight forward (even as I had to do it under Windows :-) ), I created a test tnsnames entry in my new OID 11g with the Net Manager from an Oracle Client 11.1. So far so good.
But when I wanted to test my new tnsnames entry in the OID with a simple tnsping, I receive immediately following error:

tnsping testdb
TNS Ping Utility for 32-bit Windows: Version 11.1.0.6.0 - 
Production on 10-MAY-2011 18:16:57
Copyright (c) 1997, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.
Used parameter files:
C:\work\network\sqlnet.ora
TNS-03505: Failed to resolve name

Really cool :-) I checked several times my sqlnet.ora and ldap.ora, which are correct. Metalink points to a know problem with OID 11g, that by default an anonymous bind is disabled. So quicktest from my client with ldapbind:

ldapbind -h myoidserver -p 3060
bind successful

Looks ok . . . but even when this ldapbind shows you successful, be aware, in my case it proof nothing :-(

I connected to the Fusion Middleware Control Enterprise Manager, open below my Farm the Entry "Identity and Access", chose the subentry "oid1" (might have a different name in your case) and select under the menu point "Oracle Internet Directory" in the center window the option "Administration/Server Properties" and saw under the General Tab for the option "Anonymous Bind" that it was disabled.

I just switched the option to "Allows", click the Apply button.

After that I try again from my client the tnsping and it worked perfectly this time :-)

Firefox Search Plugin for Oracle Fusion Middleware Documentation

2011-05-09T15:35:00.002+02:00

Some weeks ago a friend of mine (Gregory Steulet, http://www.dbi-services.com/) has published some nice Firefox Search Plugins for Oracle Database Documentation and MySQL Documentation. As I am a pure fan of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Stack I ask him, if he could create also a Firefox Search Plugin for the Oracle Fusion Middleware Documentation and he did it :-)

His blog entry for the annoucement can be found here: http://www.dbi-services.com/index.php/blog/entry/stop-looking-for-oracle-fusion-and-oracle-grid-control-documentation-use-the-dbi-services-firefox-add-ons

The download of the Firefox Search Plugin can be found here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fusion-11114/

Thanks @ Greg for the fast implementation of my feature request :-)

Fusion Middleware 11.1.1.5.0 Patch Set 4 for selected Components available

2011-05-09T12:20:00.001+02:00

Since about 10 days now are patches for selected components of the Oracle Fusion Middleware are available in the My Oracle Support (http://support.oracle.com/).
The patches are available for following Operating Systems at the moment:

Linux x86
Linux x86-64
Windows 32-bit
Windows 64-bit
Oracle Solaris on SPARC (64-bit)
Oracle Solaris on SPARC (32-bit)
Oracle Solaris on x86-64
Oracle Solaris on x86
IBM AIX on Power Systems (64-bit)
HP-UX PA-RISC (64-bit)

For following components are the Patch Set 5 (11.1.1.5.0) is available:

Oracle Data Integrator
Oracle Enterprise Content Management
Oracle Identity Management
Oracle Application Development Runtime
Oracle SOA Suite
Oracle WebCenter Suite
Oracle Service Bus
Oracle Fusion Middleware Web Tier Utilities

A really good summary of the Installation Types and the necessary patches inlcuding the necessary links to each patch or fullinstaller can be found under the link: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E23104_01/download_readme_ps4/download_readme_ps4.htm

I hope the remaining components will follow soon.

Commodore 64 is back :-)

2011-04-06T18:58:00.003+02:00

Today something which have nothing to do with Oracle Fusion Middleware or Oracle Database.

Do you still remember the famous Commodore 64? You are still worried that you throw away your Commodore 64? Here is the ultimate solution :-)

Commodore 64 is back !!!!!!!

Commodore USA, LLC brings the famous Commodore 64 back

Checkout the Homepage of Commodore USA, LLC http://www.commodoreusa.net

They also provide a nice promotion video:

The new Commodore 64 will come with an INTEL Atom D525 1.8 GHz and can be extended up to 4 GB memory, imagine how fast the cars will drive on the road in the classical game Frogger :-)

I love such stuff :-)

Note: Seems that the website of Commodore USA is a little bit overloaded right now :-) So be patient and try with reloads in your brower.

Oracle XE 11g Beta - First Tests

2011-04-02T18:04:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I posted that Oracle XE 11g Beta Version is available for download (see here http://dirknachbar.blogspot.com/2011/04/oracle-database-112-express-edition.html).

Today I got some time and installed the new Beta Version of the Oracle Database 11.2 Express Edition. I tested the release for Linux 64bit. My choosen Linux is an Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 Update 3 (x86-64).

The installation is really simple, unzip the downloaded installation software and run the following commands as root user:

rpm -ihv oracle-xe-11.2.0.5.x86_64.rpm
# After the rpm is install you have to run the configuration script as root user
/etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure

Below you will see the full steps as a screenshot:

What is new in Oracle XE 11g Beta Release is the installation location, now Oracle follows his own recommendations and is placing the Oracle XE 11g under OFA layout :-) The new installation location is /u01/app/oracle/product/11.2/xe (In some sections in the documentation are still references to the previous used installation location, just ignore this wrong path locations). In your desktop you will find also after the installation of the Oracle XE 11g a new menu with the necessary Oracle XE menu's:

In the menu you will find the major tasks:

Get Help
Backup Database
Get Started
Restore Database
Run SQL Command Line
Start Database
Stop Database

If you choose for example the option "Get Started" your browser will open with the general startpage which includes multiple sections:

And to check if we are really running an Oracle Database 11.2 Express Edition, just run in a sqlplus session:

conn / as sysdba
select banner from v$version;

You will see following output then:

Oracle Database 11.2 Express Edition Beta available for download

2011-04-01T22:56:00.001+02:00

Some real good news, already last year Oracle announce that they will provide an Oracle XE 11g (11.2.) Release and since today the first Beta Release of the Oracle Express Edition 11.2 (Oracle XE 11g) is available for download and testing :-)

You can find the Beta Release download under http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/express-edition/11gxe-beta-download-302519.html
The provided Beta Release of the Oracle XE 11.2 is available right now for Windows 32bit and Linux 64bit :-)

That the new Oracle XE 11.2 is now available for Linux 64bit is really a good news :-)

Following Linux 64bit Operating Systems are officially supported with the new Oracle XE 11.2:

Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 Update 7
Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 Update 2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update 7
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 2
SUSE Enterprise Linux 10 SP2
SUSE Enterprise Linux 11

What is new in the Oracle XE 11.2 limitations, that you can store now up to 11 GB user data as before in Oracle XE 10g only 4 GB. The 1 GB limitation of the SGA still remains :-(

Enjoy the testing of the new Oracle XE 11.2 Beta Release :-)