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Downtime and Apache Restricted Mode in Release 12
By prasad.akkiraju on March 25, 2008 2:47 AM
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.
Enabling Apache in Restricted Mode in Release 12
I. Creation of downtime schedule
1. Login to OAM as administrator and create a downtime schedule as follows.
Click on Sitemap --> Maintenance --> Maintain downtime schedules
Click on Schedule Downtime link
2. Enter the details in the page and click submit
The above step creates a downtime.html page that will be used as redirect page when
apache is started in restricted mode

3. The downtime schedule can be viewed, edited, or cancelled from the wizard.
II. Configuring and starting restricted mode Apache
Login to your applications tier and source the environment file so that all the environment
variables are set
Stop your application tier services by running adstpall.sh from
$ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME directory.
Run the command 'txkrun.pl -script=ChangeApacheMode' from the <FND_TOP>/bin
directory:
This prompts for the following inputs:
full path for the Applications Context file
Enter the mode for Apache. Type 'Restrict'
Confirmation of whether you have stopped your applications tier services
Once you enter the above details, the configuration script
sets the respective context variables in the context file required to configure the
Restricted mode
instantiates the configuration files for the HTTP Server and OC4J in the <INST_TOP>.
Restart the services on the applications tier upon successful completion of the above
command.
During the configuration, the utility makes a copy of your context file in case you hit any
issues. This backup file can always be restored and autoconfig be run to restore to the
original state.

Now, you are ready to use the restricted mode of Apache and plan your downtime
activities!!.

When the users try to access the Applications home page, they get redirected to the
downtime page generated when you schedule downtime.

The URL for the down time page is:

http://host:port/OA_HTML/oam/nonUix/launchMode/restricted/downtime.html

Sample downtime page:

Access to OAM
For system administrators, a user named ad_monitor is available to access OAM during
the restricted mode. Login from this user provides access to the maintenance wizards and
status pages in the Oracle Applications Manager.
Disabling Restricted Mode of Apache
Once you are done with your downtime activities, Restricted mode of Apache can be
disabled i.e., switching back to NORMAL mode by running the following steps:
Login to your applications tier and source the environment file so that all the environment
variables are set
Stop your application tier services by running adstpall.sh from
$ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME directory.
Run the command 'txkrun.pl -script=ChangeApacheMode' from the <FND_TOP>/bin
directory:
This prompts for the following inputs:
full path for the Applications Context file
Enter the mode for Apache. Type 'Normal'
Confirmation of whether you have stopped your applications tier services
Once you enter the above details, the configuration script sets the respective context
variables in the context file required to reset the mode back to Normal
Restart the services on the applications tier upon successful completion of the above
command.
You are all set for normal user activity now.
References
Chapter 6 'Patching and Maintenance with Oracle Applications Manager', Section
'Managing downtime in Restricted Mode' of Oracle Applications System Administrator's
Guide - Maintenance, Release 12 (Part Number B31454-01)

Tags:
best practices
maintenance
Filed under: EBS Release 12 , Patching • Comments (10) • Share
Comments (10)
Tianhua Wu:
What is the URL to access OAM during maintenance?
Posted by Tianhua Wu | March 25, 2008 11:09 AM
Posted on March 25, 2008 11:09
NewSunSEO:
Good to see another update. I look forward to testing it out in the near future.
Posted by NewSunSEO | March 25, 2008 1:52 PM
Posted on March 25, 2008 13:52
Ram:
Too good a functionality to ignore while patching.
Posted by Ram | March 25, 2008 4:40 PM
Posted on March 25, 2008 16:40
Shyamal:
Click on sitemap-->monitoring-->maintain downtime schedules
--Correct Navigation Path is
Click on sitemap-->Maintenance-->maintain downtime schedules
-Thanks a lot for all your hardwork and keeping us Up-To-Date
Shyamal
Posted by Shyamal | March 26, 2008 12:35 PM
Posted on March 26, 2008 12:35
Tianhua Wu:
But I am sorry, Shyamal, you will be redirected to downtime.html when you try to login.
The reason I asked is that the URL provided in "Oracle Applications System
Administrator's Guide - Maintenance, Release 12" did not work for me.
Here is the URL in the book:
http://host:port/servelets/weboamLocal/oam/oamLogin
Actually, I could not find oamLogin.jsp on file system at all. I did find oamLogin.class
and oamLogin.uix files.
Posted by Tianhua Wu | March 27, 2008 10:55 AM
Posted on March 27, 2008 10:55
Prasad Akkiraju:
Thanks Shyamal for pointing out the correct navigation. Corrected and reposted.
Posted by Prasad Akkiraju | March 28, 2008 12:10 AM
Posted on March 28, 2008 00:10
Yury Velikanov:
Hi,
Just a short question: What is the difference in that functionality comparing with 11i?
Are there any improvements? IMHO 11i was a bit buggy and kind of beta release for that.
Thank you in advance for you answer,
Regards,
Jurijs
Posted by Yury Velikanov | March 28, 2008 4:50 AM
Posted on March 28, 2008 04:50
Prasad Akkiraju:
In 11i, there is no utility to configure Apache in restricted mode. It has to be done by
editing the context file and running autoconfig. The wizard is pretty much the same for
downtime scheduling. I will be writing up the procedure for 11i soon.
Posted by Prasad Akkiraju | March 28, 2008 10:42 AM
Posted on March 28, 2008 10:42
Tianhua Wu:
Sorry Shyamal, I thought you were trying to answer my question.
Prasad, since you mention OAM can be accessed via ad_monitor user during the
restricted mode, could you please let me know what the URL should be? The one in my
previous post does work.
Thanks,
T Wu
Posted by Tianhua Wu | March 28, 2008 1:01 PM
Posted on March 28, 2008 13:01
Prasad Akkiraju:
Remember in Release 12, there is a single entry point for apps. HEnce, login through the
main login page as ad_monitor. This works for me.
Posted by Prasad Akkiraju | March 28, 2008 10:11 PM
Posted on March 28, 2008 22:11
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About This Entry
This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on March 25, 2008 2:47 AM.
The previous post in this blog was New Sun Java JRE Plug-In Certification Policy for
Apps 11i & 12.
The next post in this blog is Oracle Database 11g Release 1 (11.1.0.6.0) Certified With E-
Business Suite Release 11i.
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