Oracle 11i E-Business Suite From the Front Lines ISBN:0849318610 by April J Wells (ed) CRC Press © 2004 (504 pages) This book details the steps in installing a new 11i environment, and explains the process of upgrading from a 10.7 or an 11.0.3 release; it also explores the techniques and results of migrating from one maintenance release of 11i to another Table of Contents Oracle 11i E-Business Suite From the Front Lines Introduction Chapter 1 - Introducing Apps 11i, 8i, and 9i New Chapter 2 Features The Surrounding Chapter 3 Environment Chapter 4 - Apache Chapter 5 - JServ Chapter 6 - Other Services Chapter 7 - Printing Chapter 8 - AD and Other Utilities Chapter 9 - Installation and Migration Chapter 10 - Patching Chapter 11 - Cloning Concurrent Managers and Chapter 12 Concurrent Programs AutoConfig, Oracle Chapter 13 - Application Manager, and Other Management Tools Chapter 14 - Odds and Ends Index List of Figures List of Tables Back Cover Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the Front Lines is the first book to compile the tips, techniques, and practical advice for administering Oracle E-Business Suite 11i The author examines Active Directory Utilities, patching, cloning, and the new features that 11i brings to the market The book benefits those with limited experience with Oracle Application but with more extensive background in Oracle Database Administration This volume is valuable to systems administrators or DBAs who have experience with older versions of Oracle Financials and want to expand their knowledge to include the changes inherent in 11i The book details the steps in installing a new 11i environment, and explains the process of upgrading from a 10.7 or an 11.0.3 release It also explores the techniques and results of migrating from one maintenance release of 11i to another This analysis offers you real-world hints and recommendations to help you with day-to-day tuning, troubleshooting, and maintenance and will help you deliver reliable service to your end users It is also a helpful tool for managers and co-workers to understand the daily challenges that Apps DBAs face Oracle 11i E-Business Suite From the Front Lines April J Wells AUERBACH PUBLICATIONS A CRC Press Company Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wells, April J Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the front lines / April J Wells p cm Includes index ISBN 0-8493-1861-0 Oracle (Computer file) 2 Oracle E-business suite Electronic commerce—Computer programs I Title HF5548.323.O73.W45 2003 005.75'65—dc22 2003062864 This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated A wide variety of references are listed Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 33431 Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe Visit the Auerbach Publications Web site at www.auerbachpublications.com Copyright © 2004 by CRC Press LLC Auerbach is an imprint of CRC Press LLC No claim to original U.S Government works International Standard Book Number 0-8493-1861-0 Library of Congress Card Number 2003062864 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Printed on acid-free paper ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There have been many people who have helped and encouraged me in bringing this book to life This is the book that I would have given anything to have been able to find when I was looking down the long road to go live To Tricia Maupin, I would like to say thank you for letting me learn the hard way and for standing behind me and standing up for me when it mattered most And to Arnie Goetz, thank you for saving me from my own good intentions I would like to thank Rich O'Hanley from CRC Press for giving me the chance to bring this dream to life You have given me my big break, a chance that I never thought I would get You have been there through all the questions I hope this is just the beginning of our relationship together Rachel Carmichael, thank you for being brutally honest, but I did it anyway! Mom, you told me I could do anything if I put my mind to it I did it Most of all, I would like to thank my husband, Larry, and my children, Adam and Amandya They have put up with me getting up early in the mornings and writing when no one else in the house was awake and going to sleep earlier than I needed to so I could get up and do it again You have put up with me putting in long hours on my days off and weekends writing and working on this book when I know you wanted me to do other things with you Larry, you have always encouraged me Even when I was not sure that I could do it, you never doubted me You pushed me when I did not think I could go on with it To Adam and Amandya, I would like to say, this book is proof that if you have a dream and you always hold onto that dream, no matter how long, it really can come true Never give up on your dreams and never let anyone make you believe that you cannot accomplish them Introduction When you are dealing with a product the size, complexity, and flexibility of the Oracle® E-Business Suite, Version 11i, the ideas of where to start, what to do (and what not to do), and where to turn for answers can be a daunting prospect Through the process of bringing this book to life, I have come to realize that much of what you deal with in the new versions of what used to be loosely thought of as Oracle Financials (Financials) is somewhat like dealing with a desert or the surroundings; Oracle EBusiness Suite 11i can look like a bleak, frightening, and desolate place But to those with a trained eye and an open mind, it can be seen for the thing of efficiency and beauty that it is All of the shapes, textures, pieces, and parts work together to create an environment that is perfectly suited to what it was created for And if you are patient enough, you will be able to see the bright shining beauty of the desert in springtime, in flower, in all its glory (sometimes you really have to look for it, but it will be there) Those are the times when you question less the sanity of the decision to exist in this environment and enjoy your surroundings That is not to say that things do not happen to radically change the landscape The winds of change blow endlessly in both environments Both are acted upon by their surroundings, and both are robust enough to be able to survive even the cruelest circumstances and come back to thrive Sometimes storms will alter the landscape in such a way that you are left trying to rediscover your navigation path Other times the path is clear and easily navigable This book is designed to help you to find your path through the sometimes bleak, sometimes beautiful, always inconsistent desert landscape that can be Oracle E-Business Suite 11i (11i) It will help you through your day-to-day adventures in administration and includes tips, techniques, and practical advice from someone who has had her share of cactus spines and exposure along the trail Included is information on AD (Active Directory) Utilities, patching, cloning, and several of the newer features that 11i brings to market It will assist you in finding your own path through the sometimes painful world that you now are walking through and hopefully will help you find the elegance in your surroundings Audience and Scope This book is intended for anyone facing the task of administering Oracle E-Business Suite 11i It is written primarily for those with limited experience with Oracle Applications but with some background in Oracle Database Administration It is, however, a good reference for anyone wanting to learn more about the technical ins and outs of Oracle Applications (Applications), how it runs and how to live the life of an Apps DBA (database administrator) From the newest person whose management just asked her if she thought she could take over as the administrator for the new Oracle Apps installation to the veteran of several years, we all have things we can learn, things that we can have refreshed in our minds Sometimes we just need a handy central reference to look to when a situation arises Much of the information will be of particular interest to those administrators who have some background in older versions of Financials in helping to bring their existing knowledge base the added depth of how things have changed in 11i How to Use this Book This book touches all aspects of what an Apps administrator does day to day We will look at what is involved in installing a new 11i environment, what goes into upgrading from a 10.7 or an 11.0.3 release, and what happens during a migration from one maintenance release of 11i to another Once you have it installed, what is entailed in patching, cloning, and exactly what are all of those AD Utilities that everyone is always talking about? What are all of the services that will be running on my middle tier and what do I do with these finicky Concurrent Managers? This book will provide you with real world hints and tips to help you with your day-to-day tuning, troubleshooting, and maintenance and will help you efficiently provide reliable service to your end users Managers, co-workers, and those who have to deal on a day-to-day basis with the Apps DBA will find this book helpful as a tool to understand what the Apps administrator is talking about and what that job looks like from the inside Chapter 1: Introducing Apps This introductory chapter explains what exactly this new suite of products (that have been packaged together and launched to be accessible through any browser anywhere) has to offer and what it means to the company and to the Apps DBA It discusses the technical architecture and gives the reader a background in the fundamental language of the Oracle E-Business Suite as well as the language of the corporate environment in which it is used It also touches on the responsibilities of the Apps DBA and how this role differs from that of a typical Oracle DBA Chapter 2: What Is New in 11i, 8i, and 9i This chapter discusses what new features not only the Oracle EBusiness Suite brought with it, but the features of 8i and 9i that it takes advantage of, as well as those features that an Apps DBA can take advantage of in daily dealings with the system Many of the new features Chapter 13: AutoConfig, Oracle Application Manager, and Other Management Tools Figure 13.1: Administration Navigation Choice Figure 13.2: Applications Manager Logon Screen Figure 13.3: Oracle Applications Manager Home Page Figure 13.4: Configuration Screen Top Figure 13.5: Configuration Screen Bottom Figure 13.6: System Activity Figure 13.7: Sample Search Screen for the Patches Search Figure 13.8: Results Returned by the Search in Figure 13.7 Figure 13.9: Details of the Patch from the Results Screen Figure 13.10: Site Map Figure 13.11: Concurrent Manager Advanced Search Figure 13.12: Workflow Main Page Figure 13.13: Applications Usage Choice Figure 13.14: Installed Products Figure 13.15: Applications Users per Module Chapter 14: Odds and Ends Figure 14.1: Metalink's Search Suggestions Figure 14.2: Top Tech Documents Figure 14.3: Forums Figure 14.4: Certify and Product Availablity Figure 14.5: iTAR Contact Information Figure 14.6: iTAR Minimal Detail Screen Figure 14.7: Knowledge Base Search Results Figure 14.8: iTAR Detailed Descriptions Figure 14.9: Bugs Search Screen Figure 14.10: News and Events Figure 14.11: eTRMs List of Tables Chapter 2: 11i, 8i, and 9i New Features Table 2.1: AFCHKCBO.sql Sample Output Table 2.2: Create Materialized View Example Table 2.3: Refresh Options for MVs Table 2.4: Partitioning Raw Data Table 2.5: Partition by Date Table 2.6: Partition by Date, Subpartition by Location Table 2.7: The GL_BALANCES Table Chapter 3: The Surrounding Environment Table 3.1: Vis Instance's apps.cmd file Table 3.2: Vis.cmd Table 3.3: Envshell.cmd Table 3.4: Adovars.cmd Table 3.5: Appsora.cmd Table 3.6: Output Interpretation of /usr/bin/getconf _SC_CPU_VERSION Chapter 4: Apache Table 4.1: Extended Status Directive Statuses Table 4.2: LogLevel Levels Available Table 4.3: English Interpretations LogFormat Variable Table 4.4: IndexOptions Options Table 4.5: Possible ProxyVia Settings Chapter 6: Other Services Table 6.1: Oracle Forms Executables Table 6.2: Reports Executables Table 6.3: DAD File Chapter 7: Printing Table 7.1: HP LaserJet Printers Common Escape Strings Table 7.2: Escape Character Translations Table 7.3: Printer Parameters Table 7.4: Environment Variables Table 7.5: fpd2_unix.ctl Table 7.6: SQL*Loader Output File Chapter 8: AD and Other Utilities Table 8.1: Most Common Utilities Table 8.2: AR Entry in the newprods.txt File Table 8.3: Description of Entries in the newprods.txt File Table 8.4: Output from ADRELINK Table 8.5: Output of Adrelink.sh Examples Table 8.6: Output of Adrelink Examples Filelist Table 8.7: FNDLOAD Parameters Table 8.8: Output if ADJKEY -l Is Unable to Find a Valid Key Table 8.9: Create a Key When One Is Available Table 8.10: Creation of Security Key Table 8.11: Adjkey -l Successfully Finding Key Chapter 9: Installation and Migration Table 9.1: Example Configuration File (Listing 1) Table 9.2: Services Shutdown Commands Table 9.3: Installed Minipack Levels Table 9.4: Init.ora Renamed Parameters Table 9.5: Obsolete Parameters Chapter 10: Patching Table 10.1: Portion of a Log File for a D Driver Table 10.2: Backup Directory Structure Table 10.3: OPATCH Parameter List Table 10.4: Rollback Parameters for OPATCH Table 10.5: Listing Installed Interim Patches Parameters Table 10.6: Patch Charting Spreadsheet Chapter 11: Cloning Table 11.1: ADCLONE Arguments and Their Meanings Table 11.2: Postclone Columns that May Need Altering Table 11.3: Software Necessary to Support Rapid Clone Table 11.4: Rapid Clone Tables to Check for Incorrect Values Chapter 12: Concurrent Managers and Concurrent Programs Table 12.1: Concurrent Manager Executable Descriptions Table 12.2: Concurrent Manager Phase/Status Combination Table 12.3: Report Optional Parameters Table 12.4: Alphabetic Listing of Barbara Mathews' Programs Table 12.5: Tables Used by Purge Concurrent Request Concurrent Program Table 12.6: Detailed List of Parameters Accepted by Purge Table 12.7: Running Concurrent Libraries at OS level, Windows Table 12.8: STARTMGR Command with 10 Optional Parameters Table 12.9: CONCSUB Parameters and Their Meanings Table 12.10: Include/Exclude Rule, Logical Equivalent, and Precedent Table 12.11: Includes/Excludes and Their Outcome Table 12.12: RUN_COAL.sql Table 12.13: Concurrent Program Executable Values for Run_Coal Table 12.14: Concurrent Program Definition Values Table 12.15: CMCLEAN.sql Source Chapter 13: AutoConfig, Oracle Application Manager, and Other Management Tools Table 13.1: AutoConfig Components Table 13.2: ADCHKCFG File Statuses and Ramifications Chapter 14: Odds and Ends Table 14.1: 1.sql SQL Script for Validating Invalid Objects Table 14.2: 3.sql SQL Script for Validating Invalid Objects Table 14.3: 5.sql SQL Script for Validating Invalid Objects Table 14.4: Calling Validation Scripts Table 14.5: Performance Problem Resolution Document Table 14.6: Applications Tuning Document ... Application Manager, and Other Management Tools Chapter 14 - Odds and Ends Index List of Figures List of Tables Back Cover Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the Front Lines is the first book to compile the tips, techniques, and practical... helpful tool for managers and co-workers to understand the daily challenges that Apps DBAs face Oracle 11i E-Business Suite From the Front Lines April J Wells AUERBACH PUBLICATIONS A CRC Press Company Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C... Wells, April J Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the front lines / April J Wells p cm Includes index ISBN 0-8493-1861-0 Oracle (Computer file) 2 Oracle E-business suite Electronic commerce—Computer programs