Panic - Solution

From today, I will write some tips or workarounds or solutions to the panic situations that occur in our daily work in E-Business Suite. I will call this "Panic-Solution #" for now (later will think of changing the name ;) )



Panic-Solution 1:



I am migrating from one platform to another.

R12 Upgrade - Overview and Planning.

In this post we will be have an overview of an R12 upgrade. We will also be planning the activities, which one has to take before he/she prepares for an upgrade.

Upgrade Path:--
-----------------
Identifying a proper upgrade path very essential, while performing an upgrade. As of now, upgrade to R12 is supported only for the following Oracle Applications release 11.5.7, 11.5.8, 11.5.9 (base, CU1, CU2) and 11.5.10 (base, CU1, CU2).

If you are at Oracle Applications 11.0.3 or Oracle Applications 11.5.1 - 11.5.6, you need to first come to 11.5.10 and then proceed towards R12.

If you are Oracle Applications 11.5.7 - 11.5.10, you can directly upgrade to R12.


Database Upgrade:--
---------------------
In the process of Upgrading to R12, you will have to migrate/upgrade your database to Oracle 10g Database 2 (10.2.0.2).

If you are at 11.5.9 CU2 and 11.5.10 CU2, then you can upgrade your database before your Oracle Applications upgrade. If you are at 11.5.7, 11.5.8, 11.5.9 base, 11.5.9 CU1, 11.5.10 base, 11.5.10 CU1, then you need to upgrade your database during your Oracle Applications upgrade.


In general an R12 upgrade would involve the following section:--
-----------------------------------------------------------------

1. Planning the upgrade.

This post is particularly for this section.

2. Perparing the upgrade.

This section consists of steps, which needs to be performed as a pre-upgrade tasks like; applying the AD patchset, generating the TUMS report, running rapid install to lay the new techstack etc.

3. Upgrading to R12.

This sections of steps like; upgrading the database (if it was not done earlier), running the upgrade patch driver (u4440000.drv), etc.

4. Post-upgrade tasks.

This section consists of steps, which need to be performed to complete the upgrade and to prepare the instance for user logon.

Note, there will be functional steps which has to be performed after the upgrade, which the functional people must perform.

(This as well as all the other sections, will be covered in detail in the next few days.)

Best Practices

Best Practices for managing E-Business Suite

We shall be concentrating on the best pratices for managing Apps instances. If you come to know or would like to share the best practices you are most welcome to share.

Start/Stop Apps Instance.
This looks very simple, hah I know this is just run adstrtal.sh/adstpall.sh, addbctl.sh and addlnctl.sh. I used to think like this, then after gaining experience I came with my own steps.

In previous approach, Did I took adequate step for checking any running concurrent requests .. did I took enough precaution to check what critical happenings going on in database like hot backup.. Now we shall take care :-)

I assume you know the script location, I shall cover, if you still suggest me to include.

Starting is Simple.

1. addbctl.sh start
2. addlnctl.sh start SID
3. adstrtal.sh apps/password

Stoping is also fairly simple but small care needs to be taken to avoid critical issues. If you face critical issue, please continue to see our "Panic in Production" section to cover those areas.

I start my preparation sometime before the downtime scheduled, to let the concurrent request finish. Following are the steps to bring down middle-tier services

1. Bring down the concurrent manager before maintenance say 20 mins before.
   adcmctl.sh stop apps/Password
2. Check if any concurrent reqeust is running. if running, check what it is doing, like sql, session is active.
3. Check previous execution of similar program took how much time.
4. If it is affecting downtime then login from front-end and terminate the concurrent program, and make a note of request id(communicate to user who submitted this request so they can submit again)
5. Check the OS process id, whether it got terminated or not. If running then its a runaway process kill it. I dont like killings but...
   SQL> select oracle_process_id from fnd_concurrent_requests where request_id=&Request_id;

For bringing down database tier.

1. Check if hot backup is going on or not..
   To check, go to alert log file $ORACLE_HOME/admin/CONTEXT_NAME/bdump/alert_sid.log
   and also from sqlplus
   SQL> select distinct status from v$backup;
   If it returns row containing "ACTIVE" then hot back is in progress.
   Wait till it gets over.
   Otherwise next startup shall create problem.
2. Conditional - If you are using DR, pls take care of following steps
   
   1. Check which archive dest state refer for DR, enable it .
      From show parameter log_archive_dest.. you may come to know..
      say if you are using 3rd then run the sql
      SQL>alter system set log_archive_dest_state_3=enable;
   2. Check if standby is performing managed recovery.
      SQL> SELECT PROCESS, STATUS FROM V$MANAGED_STANDBY;
      
      PROCESS STATUS
      ------- ------------
      ARCH CLOSING
      ARCH CONNECTED
      MRP0 WAIT_FOR_LOG
      RFS WRITING
      RFS RECEIVING
      RFS RECEIVING
   3. Cancel managed recovery operations.
      SQL> ALTER DATABASE RECOVER MANAGED STANDBY DATABASE CANCEL;
   4. Shut down the standby database.
      SQL> SHUTDOWN IMMEDIATE;
3. Stop listener
   
4. Now stop the database.
5. If still it is not going down, check in alert log , what exactly is going on.
6. Check if any processes are running having local=n is running. If yes, kill..
   

Oracle E-Business Suite 11i Certification (OCP)

Oracle certifications are credentials, which helps one to have the required skills to succeed in the IT sector. It enhances your chances of winning in a competative environment and increases your market value. Its true validation and an acknowledgment of the technical skills one has.

I am quite sure for the past few years all the people working with Oracle Applications would have dreamt of an having an certification track like we have for Oracle Database. The good news is the wait is almost over. Oracle has come up with an certification track for E-Business Suite 11i .

The following are the certification paths available for E-Business Suite 11i :--
Oracle 11i Financials Certified Professional Consultant.
Oracle 11i Supply Chain Certified Professional Consultant.
Oracle 11i Applications Technology Certified Professional Administrator.

Certification exams are for Oracle Applications technical, Financial and Supply Chain.

Oracle 11i Financials Certified Professional Consultant consists of the following exams:--
1Z0-200 Oracle E-Business Fundamentals.
1Z0-211 Oracle General Ledger 11i Fundamentals.
1Z0-212 Oracle Payables 11i Fundamentals OR 1Z0-213 Oracle Receivables 11i Fundamentals.

Oracle 11i Supply Chain Certified Professional Consultant consists of the following exams:--
1Z0-200 Oracle E-Business Fundamentals.
1Z0-221 Oracle Inventory Management 11i Fundamentals.
1Z0-222 Oracle Purchasing 11i Fundamentals OR 1Z0-223 Oracle Order Management 11i Fundamentals.

Oracle 11i Applications Technology Certified Professional Administrator consists of the following exams:--
1Z0-231 Implement Oracle Workflow 11i.
1Z0-232 Oracle 11i System Administration.
1Z0-233 Oracle 11i Install, Patch and Maintain Applications.

You must also complete a Hands-on (instructor-led training) course related to one of the topics in your Certification track, if you are giving the exam after 31st May, 2007. Most of these papers are avaliable in their beta version now and few are already in processing for the production release.

Hi Folks !!!

Some time back I have mentioned about Release 12. Many changes have been done in this new release of Oracle Application.

Here are some of the features of Release 12

-Login screen has undergone most of the changes. It s blue colour and cool look.

-Self Service and OAM has got more or less the same look as of 11.5.10

-When you connect through the form login, Java 2 Installation will get start on your PC !!!
Whats this ?? ...Exactly Jinitiator is gone .....Now it will be quick.

-After that User interface is again almost same as previous Oracle releases.

- Technology Stack has undergone major changes in Release 12. Your 8.0.6 Oracle Home (also known as C Home, Forms and Reports Home, Developer Home) has gone and is changed to 10.1.2 Oracle Home.

-Earlier with Oracle Application 9iAS 1.0.2.2.2 comes which will be left there and now with Release 12 Application Server version is 10.1.3

-mod_plsql has been replaced by OC4J (Oracle Containers for Java)

-Also Jserv was used in earlier releases for running servlets, Java Server Pages (JSP), and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) which has been replace d by OC4J

-Apache version 1.3.34

-Database Oracle Home will be 10g Release 2

-Oracle Forms and Reports will be 10.2 Home

- No Report Server is used furthur.

So now you will get new version of almost everything.

New environment variables and new file system has been introduced in Release 12.
Stay tuned will give details soon !!!!!!!!!!!

Interview Questions

Many friends and collegues preparing for an interview asks me lot of questions while preparing for interview so thought of adding quality questions to our site, I am writing them here with the best answer I could think of, may be you can come up with better reply.. Lets make an attempt for Apps DBA's looking for better option to shape their future for their Dreams.

What is the difference between different releases of Oracle Applications like 11i7,11i8,11i9,11i10.?
Every new release has their own new functionality and fix of bugs in earlier version. This is what I observed while working on different releases. If you find one do share to let this help our folks. Tech stack that comes with fresh installation is as follows

11i Release Versions
Product	11.5.7	11.5.8	11.5.9	11.5.10
Database Server	8.1.7.3	8.1.7.4	9.2.0.3	9.2.0.5
Forms Patchset	9	9	12	15
Reports	9	9	12	15
Client Tier
Jinitiator	1.1.8.16	1.1.8.16	1.1.8.16	1.3.1.18
Web Server	Apache 1.3.19	Apache 1.3.19	Apache 1.3.19	Apache 1.3.19
Jserv	1.1.2	1.1.2	1.1.2	1.1.2
JRE	1.1.8	1.1.8	1.1.8	1.4.2_04-b05
JDK	1.3.1_02	1.3.1_02	1.3.1_02	1.4.2
Self Service Framework	5.5.2.E	5.6E	5.7H	5.1O
Discoverer	4.1.41	4.1.41	4.1.46	4.1.48
Portal	3.0.9.8.1	3.0.9.8.1	3.0.9.8.4	3.0.9.8.4

11.5.7

• Autoconfig enabled. Prior to this release, manual changes to all the configuration files were required.

In 11.5.10

• we do not have APPS_MRC schema as such, now its functionalities are maintained in the product based schemas.
  

• It comes with AD.I, so maintenance mode feature comes with it. This feature is used for optimal performance and reduces downtime while applying patch as it shuts down Workflow business event system and sets function security thereby Apps functions are not available to users.

• OATM(Oracle Applications Tablespace Migration )

• AutoConfig Integration with AutoPatch- AutoPatch automatically calls AutoConfig to instantiate and run new templates contained in a patch. When AutoPatch is run in test mode, AutoConfig
  also runs in test mode

Log files location

Log files and their location

Installation Log file
Cloning Log file
Autoconfig log files
Rolling back autoconfig configuration files
Apache/Jserv configuration files
Apache/Jserv Logs
Forms Server
Adodfcmp
fdfcmp/fndfvgn/gndmdgen
User Exits
Concurrent Manager
Internal Manager
Concurrent Program logs
Sql*net, net8 listener
ssp5(iProcurement)

Installation Log file
Database log files $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/log/CONTEXT_NAME/
Applications log files $APPL_TOP/admin/CONTEXT_NAME/log/

Cloning Log file
perl adcfgclone.pl dbTier $ORACLE_HOME(9i)/appsutil/log/CONTEXT_NAME/ApplyDBTier_TIMESTAMP.log
perl adcfgclone.pl appsTier $APPL_TOP/admin/CONTEXT_NAME/log/ApplyAppsTier_TIMESTAMP.log

Autoconfig log files
Application Tier $APPL_TOP>/admin/CONTEXT_NAME/log/MMDDhhmm
Database Tier $/appsutil/log/CONTEXT_NAME/mmddhhmm

Rolling back autoconfig configuration files
Application Tier $APPL_TOP/admin//out/
Database Tier $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/out//

Apache/Jserv configuration files
jserv.properties $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/etc/
jserv.conf $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/etc/
zone.properties $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/etc/
httpd.conf $APACHE_TOP/Apache/conf/
httpds.conf $APACHE_TOP/Apache/conf/
oracle_apache.conf $APACHE_TOP/Apache/conf/
apps.conf $APACHE_TOP/Apache/conf/

Apache/Jserv Logs
error_log $APACHE_TOP/Apache/logs/
access_log $APACHE_TOP/Apache/logs/
mod_jserv.log $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/logs/
jserv.log $APACHE_TOP/Jserv/logs/

Forms Server
When starting forms server we can specify a log file name.
Examples:
WIN/NT
f60srv32 log=c:\temp\f60srv.log
Unix
f60ctl start log=/temp/f60srv.log
f45ctl start port=9000 log=/temp/forms.log

Adodfcmp
adodfcmp.log $/admin/odf/
or
$PROD_TOP/patch//odf/

fdfcmp/fndfvgn/gndmdgen
L.req $APPL_TOP/admin or $APPL_TOP/install/log,

User Exits
userexit.log User exits from forms generate log file under directory from where the forms server is
started if variable FDUDEBUG is set to ON

Concurrent Manager
Concurrent Manager w.mgr Two methods to see concurrent manager logs
Directly from Oracle Applications:
System Administrator responsability
Navigator: Concurrent =>
Requests,
choose a request ...
menu: Special => Manager Log
OR

Navigator: Concurrent =>
Manager => Administer,
button Processes (Concurrent Processes window)
=> button Manager Log

Retrieve Manager log files under:
$FND_TOP/$APPLLOG
or if you have defined common directory :
$APPLCSF/$APPLLOG

Internal Manager
Internal Manager .mgr
(mgrname which figures
in startmgr file is 'std' by
default) Two methods to see internal manager log:
Directly from Oracle Applications:
System Administrator responsability
Navigator:
Concurrent =>
Manager =>
Administer, button Processes (Concurrent Processes window) =>
button Internal Manager Log

Retrieve Internal Manager log file under:
$FND_TOP/$APPLLOG
or if you have defined common directory :
$APPLCSF/$APPLLOG

Concurrent Program logs
Concurrent Program logs l.req Two methods to see concurrent program logs:

Directly from Oracle Applications:
System Administrator responsability (for own and other users requests) :
Navigator: Concurrent =>
Requests, button View Log...

Other responsabilities (for own requests), menus could be different:
Navigator: Requests, button View Log...
Navigator: Other => Requests, button View Log...
Navigator: Other => Requests => View, button View Log...
Navigator: Control => Requests => View, button View Log...

Retrieve Concurrent Program log files under:
$PROD_TOP/$APPLLOG
or if you have defined common directory :
$APPLCSF/$APPLLOG


Sql*net, net8 listener
You can specify LOG_DIRECTORY_ and LOG_FILE_ specific values for theses parameters
in listener.ora. You can set LOG_FILE and TRACE_FILE variables from a lsnrctl session.
There are also LOG_DIRECTORY_SERVER and LOG_FILE_SERVER parameters in sqlnet.ora.

ssp5(iProcurement)
Apache and Jserv logs are useful to check for iProcurement (SSP5), you can also
add these lines in ssp_init.txt (should be under $ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Jserv/etc)
to generate specific SSP5 log file:

DebugOutput=Directory(preferably under $APACHE_TOP/logs)
DebugLevel=5
DebugSwitch=ON

OID - Oracle Internet Directory

In this writing, I will tell you about OID - acronym for Oracle Internet Directory. Guys, it is a bit tough and confusing in understanding OID in the start but once OID is understood its a childs play. Oracle does have complex products and OID is one of them but I bet it is the best among the LDAP implementations.

Let us share our views about OID first as FAQs. We will then look into the configuration of 10g and then 9i (I dont give preference in configuring the older versions but dont worry we will have writing on that too - ;) )

1. What is OID ?

OID is a LDAP implementation by Oracle Corporation. It is more than a just mere LDAP server. It can store all the user details, organization details and object details in some cases. It can be used via standard LDAP commands like ldapsearch, ldapadd to search the entities within it.

Oracle always goes with the Standards as it did with OID. Oracle Internet Directory helps in better organization of data and the resources. It can be implemented in an organization as a single source of truth.

Other major competitors to OID are Microsoft's Active Directory, Sun's SunOne Directory and others.

2. Whats the use of OID ?

When a company needs a database which holds all the user information and can act as a single source of truth, LDAP can be implemented. OID is the best choice as it is very easy to configure, manage and work.

3. Why only OID ?

i) OID is built as a hierarchical tree which is easy to understand and navigate.

ii) OID is created in Java from scratch. So, can run on any of the platforms with same look and feel.

iii) OID data is stored in Oracle database and due to the fact of Oracle Database capabilities, it can handle enormous amounts of data,

iv) OID can retrieve data within seconds due to enterprise search inbuilt in the database.

v) OID can be integrated with any other LDAP implementations and also can be implemented with any of the Oracle Applications seemlessly.

vi) OID can be managed locally as well as remotely i.e., via both Web and also via a client software.

4. How can I install OID (or) from where do I start from ?

There is a catch here.

For Oracle 9i:

OID (both server and client software) by default comes with Oracle Database 9i Enterprise Software disks. We need to choose Enterprise option while installing OID or choose Custom select OID.

Oracle 10g (9.0.4 and above):

From Oracle 10g (9.0.4 and above versions are called 10g versions), OID server is no longer shipped with Database instead it is shipped with 10g iAS.

When we install Oracle 10g database, we do get a directory called ldap but they are only supporting files for LDAP i.e., we get the JAR files to launch the Swing UI - the local client (Swing UI) thait s shipped with Oracle 10g database software disks. We dont get the OID server with 10g Database disks.

In order to install OID 10g, we need to install from 10g iAS CDs.

5. I have Oracle 10g IAS CDs and trying to install OID. Which option do I choose for installing OID ?

We need to choose OracleAS Infrastructure 10g option and choose Identity Management and Metadata repository inorder to install the OID server.

6. Which port does OID run at ?

OID runs at two ports by default : non-SSL : 389 and SSL : 636


Hang on, still some more of the questions .. coming on your way.

Apps Unlimited - Easy to Define .. Easy to Learn. What say ? :)

Hi Guys !!!!

As all you know Oracle is coming with the new release of Oracle Application Release 12 (R12). In my next post I will be throwing some light on that.

So stay tuned .......

Translation Synchronization Patches.

The Translation Synchronization patch feature provides a quick way to bring files of all the active languages in your instance in sync with the files of American English language, by just applying one patch for each language.

The basic concept involved is to create a manifest file for your instance, which indicates the language software content for all the active languages on instance. You need to apply one patch to get the tool, which would create the manifest file. This feature is every easy to use and reduces a lot of time and complexities as compare to the earlier method.

The only pre-requisite is you should be at 11i.AD.I.2 or later.


Benefits of this feature:--
-------------------------

1. Maintain language software.

This is a quick way to bring files of all the active languages in your instance in sync with the files of American English language, by just applying one patch for each language. This means, you can apply n number of American English (US) lannguage patch on your instance and then request and apply one translation patch for each active language in your instance; rather applying the corresponding NLS versions of all the patches of all the active languages.

2. Add New Language.

You can use Translation Synchronization patch and install/implement a new language. Earlier to install a new language we had to use the corresponding NLS software Media (use NLS driver file) for that language. Once the new langauage is installed, we need to apply all NLS patches of that language corresponding to all the US patches which has been applied on the instance. Needless to say, it requires a lot of time and effort.

3. Get Latest Translations.

In addition to bringing files of all your active languages in sync with the files of American English language, you can also get the latest translations to bring your translations up-to-date. You can achieve this by checking the "Get Latest Translations" checkbox, while requesting the Translation Synchronization patch by submitting the manifest file.

For more information, check our article "Implementing a new language".

Implementing a new language.

Earlier to install a new language we had to use the corresponding NLS software Media for that language. Once the new langauage is installed, we need to apply all NLS patches of that language corresponding to all the US patches which has been applied on the instance. Needless to say, it requires a lot of time and effort.

Now, we have something called as "Translation Synchronization Patch" via which we can implement a new language by the application of one single patch, for each new language you want to install.

Prerequisites:--
----------------
11i.AD.I.2 or later.


Prepare the instance for the generation of the Manifest file:--
--------------------------------------------------------------

1. Apply Patch 5668199.

This patch delivers the tool required to the generation of the manifest file. You can apply the patch using the adpatch option hotpatch (You don't need to bring the instance down).

Refer Oracle Applications Maintenance Utilities for more details.

2. License the new languaage.

If you have not yet licensed the new language, then you will have to do it now. You can do this via Oracle Applications Manager (OAM) License Manager.

Refer Oracle Applications Maintenance Procedures document.

3. Using adadmin, run maintain multilingual tables from the Maintain Application database objects menu.

4. Run Maintain Snapshot Information.

Run Maintain Snapshot Information on all the nodes. If you have done this already done this, then you don't need to repeat it.

Refer Oracle Applications Maintenance Utilities for more details.

To perform these 4 steps you don't need any downtime.


Generate the Manifest file:--
--------------------------------------------------

1. Log on to your Applications' administration node as the APPLMGR user and source the APPL_TOP environment file.

2. Run the following command to generate the manifest file.

perl $AD_TOP/bin/adgennls.pl

Snapshot of the output-

Please enter the APPS User [APPS]:
Please enter the APPS password: tr5Ue5yV
Manifest file generation is in progress...
Manifest generated in: /visappl/applmgr/11510/admin/VISAPPL/out/adgennls.txt

As seen the manifest file will be generated in the format $APPL_TOP/admin/$TWO_TASK/out/adgennls.txt.

The manifest contains all of your active languages. You do not need to run the tool for each individual languages.

The contents of the manifest file, will be as follows--


# Release: 11i
# Active languages: E, PT, US
# Manifest generated by adgennls.pl 115.6

abm admin/import/US abmactwk.dis 115.1 E:115.1:0 PT:MISS
abm admin/import/US abmcowk.dis 115.1 E:115.1:0 PT:MISS
........................
........................

As you see above, the active languages are US, E (Spanish) and PT (Portuguese). PT was the language which was getting added in this case. The manifest file lists out the missing files for the new language (with the keyword "MISS") in your file system and also lists out any missing files for other active languages, along with version information.


Request the Translation Synchronization Patch:--
--------------------------------------------------

Once the manifest file (adgennls.txt) is generated, login to the following using your metalink username and password, http://updates.oracle.com/TransSync.

Follow the instructions in front of you and upload the file. A Translation Synchronization Patch will be generated for each of your active language, wrt to the manifest file uploaded. The Translation Synchronization Patch will be specific to your instance. This patch will bring the files of all your languages in sync with your corresponding American English language files.

Note, if you select the option to get latest translations, the patch will also bring your translations to the latest levels.

Once the Translation Synchronization Patch is generated you will receive a email indicating how you can down the patch. The release of the patch would take approximately 7-8 hours.

Apply Translation Synchronization Patch:--
--------------------------------------------

1. Take a cold backup of the instance.

2. Enable Maintainance Mode and put the database in No Archive log mode to avoid generation of unnecessary archives.

3. Download the Translation Synchronization Patch and apply it using adpatch. Do follow the readme. Once the patch is applied, do check the patch log file to confirm whether it was applied successfully. Application of the patch might take around 8 hours, depending upon your hardware configuration for each language.

Refer Oracle Applications Patching Procedures guide.

4. Translation Synchronization Patch doesn't deliver iHelp files. We need to download and apply the iHelp patches depending upon the apps version of the instancefor NLS version of the language that is being installed.

For 11.5.10 and later, apply patch 3275245.
For 11.5.9, apply patch 2662802.
For 11.5.8, apply patch 2400604.

5. Once the iHelp patch is applied, put the database in Archive log mode and disable Maintainance mode.

6. Bring the instance up and login as sysadmin user.

7. Submit the concurrent request ‘Rebuild Help Search Index’.

8. Once the ‘Rebuild Help Search Index’ request is completed, submit the request ‘Gather Schema statistics for APPS schema’.

9. Login as the sysadmin user by selecting the language which you have just installed and validate the forms and menus are getting displayed in the new installed language.

The new language is successfully installed!!

You may refer to metalink note 252422.1. Write to us if you have any further queries.

11i Upgrading Oracle Applications - Section 5: Final tasks and release of the instance.

1. Verify invalid objects.

Compare the present list of invalid objects with the one before the upgrade.

select owner, object_type, object_name from dba_objects A where status='INVALID' and not exists (select null from apps.invalids_before_upgrade B where a.object_name = b.object_name);

2. Run autoconfig.

Do run first adchkcfg.sh (check section 1, step 7) and take care of the customizations first before running autoconfig. Review Note 165195.1.

3. Change password policy control.

If you had change the profile option SIGNON_PASSWORD_HARD_TO_GUESS in the pre update tasks to 'N', then set it to 'Y' again.

4. Place the database in archive log mode.

sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
Shutdown immediate;
startup mount
alter database archivelog;
archive log list
alter database open;

5. Disable Maintenance mode, using adadmin.

6. Bring all the Oracle Applications services and perform health-checks.

Troubleshoot any issues, which you would encounter. If you encounter an issue which existing even before the upgrade, then upgrade shouldn't have brought that issue.

7. Backup.

Once you have satisfied with the health-checks, then you can bring the instance down and take a backup. Normally it is a practice to take a backup after the upgrade, to have a state of the instance (just after the upgrade) in hand.

8. Release the instance.

Bring up the services and release the instance.

All the other steps given below can be performed after the instance is released.

9. Drop MRC Schema .

The schema for Multiple Reporting Currencies (MRC) is no longer used. AutoPatch and the AD Administration utility recognize this fact and no longer maintain it. You can safely drop the MRC schema at your convenience, even after users have returned to the system.

Remove it by entering the following commands:

cd $APPL_TOP/admin
sqlplus SYSTEM/ @addrpmrc.sql SAFE

Depending on your configuration, this script may run for two or three hours.

10. Run the "Gather schema statistics" concurrent request.

11. Apply latest consolidated online help patch.

Apply the US version of the Patch 3275245, followed by the NLS (which you are using) version of the patch. NLS version of Patch 3275245. is only required, if you require online help in that language.

12. Run the "Rebuild Help Search Index" concurrent request.

You have now completed all the steps related to upgrade. You should now monitor and attack any issues, which the users are reporting. If this is a test upgrade, you should note down all the issues encountered and try to tackle them proactively during the next iteration of the upgarde or while doing it on PROD instance. Once you get a confirm from the testing team that everything is good, you can remove all the patches downloaded and log files.

11i Upgrading Oracle Applications - Section 4: Product-specific Tasks.

Once you have applied the Maintenance Pack and completed all the Post-update tasks you have take care of the Product specific steps. You have to take care of only those product which you are using (Licensed).

1. Workflow .

If you are using workflow Notification Mailer and not yet updated to Java based version, you must do that now.

Review Configuring the Oracle Workflow 2.6/11i.OWF.H Java-based Notification Mailer with Oracle Applications 11i (Note 268085.1).

2. Discoverer End User Layer .

11.5.10.2 supports the use of Discoverer 10g and 4i End User Layers (EULs).
If you are using any of the following products, you must perform the Discoverer EUL implementation steps.

The products are--

ABM, AMS, AMW, BEN, BIS, BIX, CE, CN, ENI, FII, HRI, IBE, ISC, MRP, MSC, OKC, OKI, OPI, OZF, PAY, PER, PJM, PJR, PMI, POA and PSB.

Review documents--

Using Discoverer 10g with Oracle Applications 11i (257798.1).
Discoverer 4i End User Layer (EUL) Maintenance for Oracle Applications 11i (182106.1).

3. The following task needs to be performed only if you are using the corresponding product.

e-Commerce Gateway
Payables and Receivables
iProcurement
Advanced Planning and Scheduling
Human Resources
Payroll
Time and Labor
Labor Distribution
Oracle Training Administration/Learning Management
Activity Based Management
Embedded Data Warehouse
Product Lifecycle Management
Order Capture/Quoting
Sales
Marketing
Service/Install Base
Enterprise Install Base
Mobile Field Service

Go through metalink Note 316365.1, Section 4: Product-specific Tasks.
If you have any queries, get back to us.

11i Upgrading Oracle Applications - Section 3: Post-Update Tasks.

This comprises of few steps which has to be performed to meet the best practices and to complete the successful application of MP.

1. Apply interoperability patches for 10g.

For database 10g Release 1, apply patch 4332078.
For database 10g Release 2, apply patch 4653225.

2. Review Security Practices.

Review and follow document Best Practices for Securing Oracle E-Business Suite - v2.1 (Note 189367.1). In particular, you must explicitly grant access to any machine that requires direct access to the RDBMS, and is not a registered node in AutoConfig.

3. Register new products.

The product added in section 1 doesn't get licensed automatically. If you want to use them, you have to do it using License Manager. Review Oracle Applications Maintenance Procedures (Note 289791.1).

11i Upgrading Oracle Applications - Section 2: Applying the Maintenance Pack.

1. Download the US version of the Maintenance Pack 3480000 and unzip it. Your unzip utility should be of version 5.41 (or later).

2. If you using other languages along with your US langauage, download the corresponding NLS version of the patch 3480000. If you are using 2 or more NLS languages, you can merge all the NLS version of the Maintenance Pack and applied it at one go.

References:

Oracle Applications NLS Release Notes (Note 316804.1).
Oracle Applications Maintenance Procedures (Note 289791.1).

The above 2 steps should be done, before the downtime starts.

3. Shut down application tier server processes or services.
Bring down all the Oracle Applications services down, only your database and database listener should be up.

4. Maintenance mode.
Place the instance in maintenance mode using adadmin and selecting option 5.

5. Deinstall application tier services (Windows only).

MP changes the way few services are defined and started on windows. We have to manually deinstall the services, once the Oracle Applications services are down.

Apache Server:
%COMMON_TOP%\admin\install\\adsvapc.cmd -deinstall

Forms Server:
%COMMON_TOP%\admin\install\\adsvfrm.cmd -deinstall

TCF Socket Server:
%COMMON_TOP%\admin\install\\adsvtcf.cmd -deinstall

Fulfillment Server:
%COMMON_TOP%\util\OamkSvc.exe -sr "Oracle Fulfillment Server"

iProcurement Server:
%COMMON_TOP%\admin\install\\icxblksvc.cmd -deinstall

ICSM:
%IEO_TOP%\admin\scripts\\ieontics.cmd unregister

6. Upgrade the database.

This is a conditional step. The minimum version of database required to go to 11.5.10.2 is Oracle9i Release 2. If you want to go to datbase 10g, then you must be atleast at 11.5.9.2 or 11.5.10.2. There is a bug assciated with this issue. We cannot upgrade your database to 10g, which you are at 11.5.9 or prior or if you are at 11.5.10.

Review the documnets Oracle Applications Release 11i with Oracle9i Release 2 (9.2.0) (Note 216550.1) or Oracle Applications Release 11i with Oracle10g Release 1 (10.1.0) (Note 282038.1).

As mentioned in the pre-update section, database upgrade is invariably done as one of the first step, well before this point.

7. Apply the maintenance pack.

Apply patch 3480000. You need to applying first of the admin node, then apply it on other Oracle applications nodes. If Shared APPL_TOP is implemented, then you need to apply it only once from the admin node, immaterial of how many nodes you have.

If you are applying from 11.5.4 or earlier, you need to run Maintain multi-lingual tables from the admin node, using adadmin.

Once the MP is completed review the log file for any errors and confirm that 3480000 went through successfully.

Once US version of the MP is applied successfully, you can apply the NLS/merged NLS version of MP. You have to apply on admin node first.

Review note Oracle Applications Maintenance Procedures (289791.1).

Prior to Release 11.5.9, you were required to run AD Administration to:

Recreate grants and synonyms for APPS schema(s)
Compile APPS schema(s)
Compile flexfield data in AOL tables
Maintain Multiple Reporting Currencies schema(s)
Generate message files
Compile Java Server Pages

The above is not required now. Autopatch will do it automatically.

With this we conclude this section.

You are at 11.5.10.2 now.You can confirm the same by running the following query--

select RELEASE_NAME from FND_PRODUCT_GROUPS;

11i Upgrading Oracle Applications - Section 1: Pre-update Tasks.

In this section, we prepare the system for the application of the Maintenance patch. We can also proactively upgrade/configure few of the components before the applications of the MP. The versions of the Technology Stack components are validated during the Technology Stack validation utility run. The very first step in this section would be take a complete cold backup of your Oracle Applications instance, followed by putting the database in archivelog mode. It is a general practice to upgrade your database first up and proceed with the other steps.

Note:-- If your are planning to upgrade your Oracle Database to 10g, it is important that your are already at 11.5.10.2. This is required because of few bugs associated with this senario. As a result, the upgradation of your database to Oracle Database 10g is done after the application of the MP.

1. Verify space.

Verify that you have at 10-15GB free space under your APPL_TOP, ORACLE_HOME and DATA_TOP.

2. Pre-upgrade health checks.

Perform health-checks and make a note of what is working and what is not, before you proceed with the upgade. This is important, since if you encountered some issues after the upgrade you can make sure whether upgrade has brought those issues or not. If you encountered any issues during the health checks, do try to trouble shoot those as much as possible.

3. Verify the free space in the SYSTEM tablespace.

select sum(bytes)/1024/1024/1024 "free_space" from dba_free_space where tablespace_name ='SYSTEM';

The free space in the SYSTEM tablespace must be atleast 1GB.

4. Take a list of invalid objects before the upgrade.

create table apps.invalids_before_upgrade as (select object_name, object_type, owner from dba_objects where status='INVALID');

5. Bring down the instance and take a cold backup.

6. Place the database in NOARCHIVELOG mode and bring the listener up.

While bringing the database up, put it in NOARCHIVELOG mode to avoid the generation of unnecessary archive logs.

sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
startup mount
alter database noarchivelog;
archive log list
alter database open;
exit

At this point I would say, you can be sure that you have taken care of most the activities which has to be done before the upgrade. As best practices there are few database init.ora parameters which can be modified. I talk about it later.

7. Identifying customizations (If your instance is already autoconfig enabled).

Take a backup of the context file (xml file).

Run adchkcfg.sh.
eg. $AD_TOP/bin/adchkcfg.sh contextfile=$APPL_TOP/admin/<>_<>.xml appspass=

The above command will execute the adconfig command in test mode and generate the report containing the differences.

cd $APPL_TOP/admin/_/out/
ls x_*

8. Run TUMS.

The Upgrade Manual Script for the Maintenance Pack (TUMS-MP) examines your present environment configuration and create a report. The report lists out, all the required steps and the steps which can be ignored. This report is very specific to your instance and is unique.

The Upgrade Manual Script is available via patch 4238286, do follow the readme while applying the patch.

Run TUMS:--

cd $AD_TOP/patch/115/sql
sqlplus APPS/#APPS_PWD# @adtums.sql $APPLCSF/logcp $APPLCSF/log/tumsmp.html $OA_HTML

The following link takes you through a sample TUMS report.

9. Apply AD Minipack.

The latest AD patchset level is AD.I.4. It is always recommended to be at the latest AD patchset level. You will have to be Autoconfig enabled to apply AD.I. Please refer metalink Note 165195.1 for all the information about autoconfig.

If you are not at AD.I.2 (4337683), then you can apply AD.I.4 (4712852) directly.
If you are already at AD.I.2, then apply patch 4605654. It will bring you to AD.I.4.

10. Apply Patch 4104924 TXK (FND) AUTOCONFIG TEMPLATE ROLLUP PATCH K (July 2005).

Apply patch 4104924, with options=noautoconfig.
Defer the autoconfig run now. You can run it once when the upgrade is completed.
Do, run adchkcfg.sh and make a note of all the customizations the new autoconfig template files will bring in.

11. Run Technology Stack Validation Utility.

This is one of the most important pre-upgrade task along with the application of AD.I patchset. Technology Stack Validation Utility generate a report via which we can verify whether our individual Technology Stack is at the required versions. If they are not, it will also suggest you what the required level. You might then be required to upgrade those components before you proceed further. It is mandatory that the Technology Stack Validation Utility report shows an "ALLPASS".

Technology Stack Validation Utility is available via patch 4318672.

To run the Utility on each Application Tier Nodes:

On UNIX or Linux:

$ADPERLPRG $FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/TXKScript.pl
-script=$FND_TOP/patch/115/bin/txkVal11510MP.pl
-txktop=$APPLTMP -appspass=
-outfile=$APPLTMP/txkVal11510MP.html

To run the Utility on Database Server Nodes:

UNIX or Linux:

$ADPERLPRG $ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/bin/TXKScript.pl
-script=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/bin/txkVal11510MP.pl
-txktop=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil
-appspass=
-outfile=$ORACLE_HOME/appsutil/temp/txkVal11510MP_DB.html

The above command are taken from the readme of patch 4318672.
Do go through the readme for the complete instructions for applying the patch and for each and every step as to how you should run the Technology Validation Utility.

You can proactively bring the technology stack components to your required levels before you run Technology Validation Utility. Database, JDK, IAS, jInitiator, Developer 6i, Discoverer,etc. are few of the components which are in general proactively upgraded.

12. Convert database to new tablespace model.

This is an optional step. Oracle Applications uses a new tablespace model based on database object type rather than product affiliation. Earlier Oracle Applications normally has to tablespace for each product, eg. GLD (for data) and GLX (for indexes). with this new tablespace mode you will have only 12 tablespaces; including your system, undo and temp tablespaces. The result is simpler to manage and requires far fewer tablespaces and operating system files.

We would be coming up with a separate Oracle Applications Tablespace Migration utility (Note 269291.1). article soon.

13. Configure database for new products and new tablespace requirements.

Apply patch 3180164. It provides scripts and instructions for adding and updating the necessary products and tablespaces. Go through the readme of this patch carefully, failure to do so can result in many failures during the application of MP.

14. Prepare AuditTrail shadow tables for update.

If you are using the AuditTrail feature, then you need to rename the associated shadow table before any new columns can be added. (All HRMS and Payroll customers using AuditTrial are affected.) Apply patch 3872242 to determine which shadow tables must be modified. Do go through the readme.

15. Install Planner libraries.

This is a conditional step. If any of the products that rely on ILOG Planner libraries have an installation status of "Installed" or "Shared," apply patch 4297568 on the concurrent processing server node, even if you don't use those products. The patch contains version 5.1.9 of the libraries. Products which require ILOG Planner libraries are END, MSO, MSR. MST, WIP and WPS.

16. Product specific steps.

The following task needs to be performed only if you are using the corresponding product.

Prepare Payables for update
Prepare Service for update
Migrate Oracle Service Contract rules and time values
Prepare Shipping for update
Prepare Oracle Depot Repair for update
Review Interaction Center certifications
Synchronize data for Mobile Field Service
Prepare Process Manufacturing for update
Prepare Marketing and Sales for update
Migrate Leads Management Data
Prepare TCA for Human Resources update
Update Oracle Applications Desktop Integrator client

Go through metalink Note 316365.1, Section 1: Pre-Update Tasks .
If you have any queries, get back to us.

17. Change password policy control (conditional).

If the profile option SIGNON_PASSWORD_HARD_TO_GUESS exists with a value of Y, set it to N. You can restore this value to Y after the application of the MP.

This concludes the pre-update tasks, we would now proceed to apply the Maintenance Pack.