Differences and changes between oracle E-Business Suite 11i

and 12i from DBA Perspective

Changes at Database Level:

Database Version in 11i (11.5.9 & 11.5.10) was 9i Rel 2 where as in Release 12 its
10g R2 (10.2.0.2)

o Oracle Applications Tablespace Model (OATM)

o Objects are classified by object type and access patterns
o Transaction tables, Transaction indexes, Reference/SEED, Interface, Summary
Management, Archive, No Logging, Queue, Media, Temporary, Undo, System
o Uniform extents, locally managed, less fragmentation.
o Total = 12 Tablespaces (11i: 400+)
o Better Performance
o PL/SQL operation 2x faster
o PL/SQL Native Compilation

Changes at the Application Tier:

The Below picture compares File system Structure difference between R11i and
R12i
11i Apps file System Layout

12i Apps file System Layout

In Oracle Apps R12, You can see new TOP called INSTANCE_TOP in Application Tier.
This TOP will now hold any configuration files (specific to that server) , Certificates (If
SSL is enabled SSL Certificates & any other certificates specific to that server) and
related log files or PID files (for Apache or any other process). In diagram tops with
<>ST can be shared across servers (Shared Tier) and INSTANCE_TOP will be specific
to Server.
Context file is under $INST_TOP/appl/admin

11i : $APPL_TOP/admin

Benefits of INST_TOP

1) Clear distinction between the location of data, code, and configuration files.
2) Configuration and log files are centrally contained in the instance configuration home.
3) Ability to share code (Applications, Technology Stack) among multiple instances.
4) Collection of configuration, logs is much easier since they are centrally located.
5) Can split ownership of apps and technology stack file systems.
6) Ability to place the configuration home on a Network or a local file system for
performance improvement.

Tech Stack in 12i

Tech Stack in 11i Application Tier consist of iAS(1.0.2.2.2) & Developer 6i (Forms &
Reports 8.0.6) but in Applications R12 it is build on Fusion Middleware (10g Web
Server and 10g Forms & Reports)

Components differences in Application Tier

A) HTTP Server or Web Server in R12 is Version 10.1.3 which is built on Apache
version 1.3.34. In apps 11i it is Version 1.0.2.2.2 built on Apache Version 1.3.19
B) JServ in apps 11i is replaced by OC4J (mod_jserv is replaced by mod_OC4J)
C) Forms Version 6i in Apps 11i is replaced by Forms 10.1.2.0.2 in R12
D) Reports Version 6i in Apps 11i is replaced by Reports 10.1.2.0.2 in R12
E) JDBC version is changed from version 9 in apps 11i to version 10.2.0 in Apps
R12
F) modplsql or mod_pls is removed from Apps R12
 G) Java processes use JDK / JRE version 1.5.0 in R12 against JDK Version 1.3.1 or
1.4.2 in Apps 11i

Summary of Changes from 11i to 12i

Component Release 11i Release R12

Database 9.2 10.2.0.2

Developer 6i 10g (BI publisher)

(Forms & Reports) (8.0.6) (10.1.2.0.2)

Application Server iAS 1.0.2.2 Fusion middleware 10g

(Apache Version ) (1.3.19) (1.3.34)
Java Container Jserv OC4j

Client Plug-in Jinitiator Native Sun J2SE 1.5

Forms Servlet default deployment / communication mode
Default Forms connection mode in Oracle Applications R12 is "SERVLET" where as in
Oracle Apps 11i default form connect mode is "SOCKET"

Oracle Form Servlet Overview in apps R12

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

1) In this mode, Java Servlet handles communication between forms client(java based)
and Oracle Forms Service (10g).

2) All connection is via HTTP Server so there is no need to start form server and no need
to open form Server Port on firewall between client machine and application tier.

3) More secure as compared to Forms Socket Mode.

4) Network traffic is more as HTTP protocol is more chatty so little bit Network
bandwidth hungry when compared with SOCKET mode

5) No additional certificate requirement during SSL implementation for application tier,

single certificate will handle both forms & web connection.

How to change from default Servlet mode (in apps R12) to Socket mode ?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Refer to Oracle Metalink Note # 384241.1 Using Forms Socket Mode with Oracle E-
Business Suite Release 12

Are there any network overheads of using Forms in Servlet Mode ?

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

Metalink Note # 311091.1 Understanding the Network Overhead Of Forms Servlet

Listener Architecture Compared to Forms Server, covers some interesting points w.r.t.
network traffic

Advantage & Disadvantages of Forms Servlet Mode

----------------------------------------------------------
-- Simple SSL Configuration (as no separate SSL configuration is required for Forms as
connections are via web/http server)

-- No port need to open to access forms in firewall.

-- More secure method of deployment over Internet

-- Result in more network traffic because of HTTP is more chatty than socket (dedicated)
so not preferred in WAN implementation.

Unified APPL_TOP in Oracle Applications R12

Unified APPL_TOP in Oracle Applications R12 which is different from Separate
APPL_TOP in Oracle Applications 11i.

Unified APPL_TOP make more sense if you are using multi node Oracle Applications
R12.

In Oracle Applications 11i , in multi node installation each APPL_TOP have its different
name and files in each APPL_TOP will depend on type of Node (i.e. Forms Node will
have fmx or forms related files where as APPL_TOP belonging to CM only node will
have .rdf or files required to run CM node)

Starting from R12, it will use Unified APPL_TOP which means all files required for all
middle tier services are included in all nodes of Multi Node installation (irrespective of
services running on that node)

Advantages of Unified APPL_TOP?

Cloning of multi node Oracle Application install, only one copy (any one APPL_TOP)
of Application Node files need to copied to target instance.
Cloning of Multi Node to Single Node you don't have to merge APPL_TOP in R12 as
required in 11i .
Services start/stop If you are using adstrtall.sh to start services on a node then it will
start services which were configured to start during install on that node (You can still
start a specific service even though it was not suppose to configure/start by calling startup
script of that specific services).
To explain this better, let’s assume you installed multi node R12 instance with Node 1 as
Forms & Web Server where as Node 2 was installed with Concurrent Manager. Now on
Node1 when you use adstrtall.sh script to start services as expected it will start Forms and
Web services but unlike 11i, You can still start Concurrent Manager on Node1 by
running adcmctl.sh
FND_NODES From R12 all nodes will have Y against all services (For multi Node) in
FND_NODES table.
Additional New Feature in R12
Rapid install
- Store Base Configuration in Database
- No need to copy config.txt

Multiple Domain Support for Database and Middle Tier

- Rapid Install supports deploying the database node and the middle tier node into
different domains.

Shared File System Support

- Rapid install allows you to select if app servers are using shared APPL_TOP

No hardcode apps password on Unix file system

- FNDCPASS Utility New Feature: Enhance Security With Non-Reversible Hash
Password (enhance FND_USER password security)

Improved Forgot password feature

– Retrieve user_name and password
– no workflow inbound process needed

New environment variables e.g. FORMS_TRACE_DIR

FORMS_ environment variables replace FORMS60_

Delivers native runtime executables for Forms (frmweb) (11i: frmwebx)

Forms Trace in addition to Forms Runtime Diagnostics (FRD) record both built-in Forms
data and performance data in a single output (profile: Forms Runtime Parameters)

Reports Only available through Concurrent Manager

Reports Server is not used

Reports executable rwrun is used directly

APPS Password change made easy, no need to change the password in any files as in
11i.

How to change Oracle Applications Products/Schema Password including APPS ?

As most of you might already be aware that you use FNDCPASS utility on Concurrent
Manager Node to change the password.

FNDCPASS logon 0 Y system/password mode username new_password

Where MODE is SYSTEM/USER/ORACLE/ALLORACLE (Introduced with patch
4745998)

Changing APPS Password using FNDCPASS

example FNDCPASS apps/apps 0 Y system/manager SYSTEM APPLSYS

WELCOME

In 11i we need to change the passwords in the below files as it was used and hard coded,
in R12i there is no files where the password is stored, so we need not worry about
changing the passwords in any file, this is due to the security reason,

Only recommended is to run the autoconfig on the Middle Tier after changing the APPS
Password.

In 11i files to change after changing Apps Password ?

Once you change apps password you need to change apps password stored in file
wdbsvr.app at $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/modplsql/cfg

--In some instances you might have to change in CGIcmd.dat at

$ORACLE_HOME/reports60/server

--You also have to change in any custom concurrent manager start up script (If you have
any)

-- After changing Apps password bounce Concurrent Managers.

--If you have configured E-Business Suite with 10g Application Server SSO/OID then
after changing APPS password, update provisioning profile with new apps password

oidprovtool operation=modify \
ldap_host={OID Server hostname} ldap_port={OID SERVER PORT } \
ldap_user_dn="cn=orcladmin" ldap_user_password={orcladmin Password} \
application_dn=" {The LDAP distinguished name of the application}" \
interface_connect_info={E-Business Suite connect info of the format,
host:port:Sid:username:password}

Related
Following Metalink Notes are useful & related to Oracle Applications or Apps Password
--303621.1 How to Change and Which Apps Database Users Passwords Can Be Changed
in a Multi - Node Apps Installation?
--159244.1 How To Use FNDCPASS to Change The Oracle Users, APPS, APPLSYS
and Application Module Passwords (INV, AR, AP, etc.) For Applications 11.5 in UNIX.
-- 437260.1 - How to Change Oracle Applications Release 12 Passwords using Oracle
Applications Schema Password Change Utility (FNDCPASS)
Configuration Files in 12i
<apps_base>/inst/apps/<context_name>/ora/10.1.3/
<context_name>.env
- Apache/Apache/conf
apps.conf, httpd.conf, oracle_apache.conf, ssl.conf
dms.conf, mod_oc4j.conf, security.conf, url_fw.conf
- Apache/Apache/conf/config
ias.properties (used by EM agent)
- /opmn/conf/opmn.xml
- /j2ee/oacore/config
applications.xml, default-web-site.xml, global-web-application.xml
j2ee-logging.xml, jms.xml, oc4j-connectors.xml, oc4j.properties,
rmi.xml, server.xml, system-application.xml, system-jazn-data.xml
- /j2ee/oacore /application-deployments/oacore
orion-application.xml
- /j2ee/oacore /application-deployments/oacore/html
orion-web.xml

Jserv.conf & Jserv.properties in 11i are replaced with

Oc4j.properties : defines basic Apps directory aliasing
Server.xml : defines J2EE applications and their shared libraries for runtime OC4J and
points to other XML configuration files (rmi.xml,jms.xml, application.xml, global-web-
application.xml, default-web-site.xml and etc)
Orion-application.xml : defines location of Java classes of all J2EE web modules
deployed under J2EE application
Orion-web.xml : defines servlet level parameters for J2EE web modules

LOG Files in 12i

$LOG_HOME/ora/10.1.3
Apache
error_log.1226534400, access_log.1226534400, ssl_engine_log
Opmn
opmn.log
OC4J~forms~default_group~1.log
OC4J~oafm~default_group~1.log
OC4J~oacore~default_group~1.log
> oacore_default_group_1
oacorestd.err , oacorestd.out
> forms_default_group_1
formsstd.err formsstd.out
> oafm_default_group_1
oafmstd.err oafmstd.out

j2ee
> oacore
oacore_default_group_1 (application.log global-application.log jms.log
log.xml rmi.log server.log system-application.log)
> Forms
forms_default_group_1(application.log global-application.log jms.log log.xml
rmi.log server.log system-application.log)
> Oafm
oafm_default_group_1 (application.log jms.log rmi.log
ascontrol-application.log log.xml server.log global-application.log mapviewer-
application.log system-application.log)

Miscellaneous Challenges
R12 Cloning considerations
- Dependency on AutoConfig as a post step to everything - increased downtime
might be needed.

Note: 603104.1 Troubleshooting RapidClone issues with Oracle Applications R12

Note: 406982.1 Cloning Oracle Applications Release 12 with Rapid Clone Patch
6776948 : R12 RAPIDCLONE CONSOLIDATED FIXES JUL/2008

Problem with starting web services if web server crashed

- Need start, stop,start

- Delete the lock file under persistence folder

$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/forms/persistence/forms_default_group_1/jms.state.lock,

$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/oacore/persistence/oacore_default_group_1/jms.state.lock

$ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/j2ee/oafm/persistence/oafm_default_group_1/jms.state.lock

Mod_plsql

- If you have custom development on mod_plsql, you should migrate your Web pages to
Oracle Application Framework

Oracle Reports Server Reports

- Convert the reports to Oracle XML Publisher (some automated tools are available to
help you)
- Convert the reports to Oracle Application Framework ( no automate tool to help you)
- Run the reports through the Concurrent Manager (rewrite any charts using the Oracle
Reports Charting tool (BI Chart Bean), this method will not be supported in Oracle
Fusion Applications)

Oracle Graphics Integrations with Oracle Forms

- Convert both the form and the chart to an Oracle Application Framework-based
application.
- Convert the chart to an Oracle Application Framework-based page that can be launched
from Oracle Forms. (it will not be supported in Oracle Fusion Applications )

This paper is submitted for the convenience of the Oracle Applications DBA’s by
Syed Samiullah
Sierra Atlantic
Syed.samiullah@sierraatlantic.com