Oracle Application Server : Internet-Firewall-DMZ-Firewall-Intranet

Oracle Application Server : Internet-Firewall-DMZ-Firewall-Intranet

All Internet Applications are generally deployed with the known accepted concept "Internet-Firewall-DMZ-Firewall-Intranet".

An overview of this concept is below;




What is a DMZ ?
A DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is a zone which is lies between the Internet and the Intranet seperated by Firewall at both the ends. The firewall between the DMZ Zone and the Internet is called as an Internet Firewall and the firewall between the DMZ Zone and the Intranet is called as an Intranet Firewall. In Oracle Application Server environment , the firewall between the DMZ Zone and the Infrastructure Metadata Database is know as Infrstructure Firewall.

In DMZ Architecture Configration the following holds;
- All incoming trafic first crosses and gets processed by the DMZ Hardware and no site resouces are directly connected to the internet.
- The internet to DMZ firewall does not allow any incoming trafic that has sender address of the DMZ Hardware.
- The internet to DMZ firewall allows IP and Ports that are related to the site applications.
- The DMZ to intranet firewall allows only trafic that has a DMZ sender address
- The DMZ to intranet firewall allows only restricted access to IP and Port based on specific protocols.


What must DMZ zone satisfy ?
All internet trafic that comes in must be processed by the DMZ HTTP Server connected to the Internet.
The below picture explains the Oracle Application Server components that must reside in the DMZ Zone
Oracle WebCache
Oracle HTTP Server
Oracle Single Sign-On Server
HTTP Loadbalancer
Secured HTTP ( HTTPs )
Oracle Internet Directory ( If required )

Direct Access to the HTTP Server CPU should be avoided. Hackers focus on these servers to make a path way into the Intra net site from the DMZ Zone.

Secured Deployment of Oracle Application Server
Oracle application server components should be distributed well on the web tier and the database tier. Web application components (Identity Management components such as HTTP Server , Single Sign-On and Delegated Administration Services )

should reside on the external DMZ and the database components ( Oracle Internet Directory and Directory Integration Platform) should reside behind the internal or the external DMZ.

I will be discussing on the same in details in the upcomming topics.

Oracle Application Server : Load Balancer

Oracle Application Server : Load Balancer

Load Balancing is a technique used to spread work between many computers , processors , disks and other resouces in order to get optimal resource utilization and decreasing computing time.

Load Balancing technique are used across various application and system which are 24/7 to accomodate world wide access. Failure of one particular resource will not affect the availability of the system , Failover of the system will also not affect the availability of the system and moreover Failback of the system will be invisible to the end users when the Load Balancer techniques are well in place.

A Load Balancer is a virtual server which consists of virtual IP Address and Port , which internally talks to the other available real IP Address and Ports. Internal mapping make the Virtual IP Access to get load balanced towards the available resources.

Persistance in a concept where once a server is selected , subsequent request to the server from the client will not change and hit the same server. There are cases where sometimes an application need to maintain client state on a particular server , there are other possibilities on the Persistance usage with the Load Balancer , once such is that when the data is cached on a particular server and the requirement is that the client needs to get always hit the server which has been used previously to get connected. This internally boosts the performance of the server not getting the cache generated again. There are more features of Load Balancer which varies with the vendor

Scalability with the Load Balancer
When large internet based applications are considered they need to scale automatically based on the load. Most of the firewall algorithm supports the same. Some of them are Round Robin , Squid Cache Server , PHP Scripts and more.

What about Multiple Providers
When your internet application gets loaded and your provider is not able to hold the load , the application will fail finally. With the help of Load Balancer it is easy to configure Multiple Provider where it helps the application to be available with several provider where by keeping the system up and available 24/7.

Response Timeout
It is the time configured which indicated the failure of the physical server to respond. The most common way to get the timeout monitored is by pinging or by checking the port is open and active.

Tested LoadBalancer: The following are the some of the tested firewall that are found to be working good with version 10.1.2 and 10.1.3.
F5
Radware
Juniper
CAI Networks
Nortel
Foundary
NetScaler
Crescendo Networks
Cisco

More information follow the link as the above information differ in future.

Oracle Application Server : Need of a Firewall

Oracle Application Server : Need of a Firewall

Rapid growth of application and operating system on internet has indirectly made network security a major concern. Network administrators need to spend more time on analysing the methods and ways to protect the network from threat.

What are the threats ?
Threats are to the confidential information and network resources.

Application Layer Attack
Some of the methods by which the application layer can be attacked are Sendmail , Postscripts , Telnet , File Transfer Protocol , HTML specifications, web browser functionality , HTTP protocols , Java Applets , ActiveX and more.

What is a firewall ?
A firewall is a hardware or software device which is configured to permit, deny, or proxy data through a computer network which has different levels of trust.

Added Security
Deploying a host firewall will be added security to the central firewall mechanism. This deployment will secure the server from the other hosted intranet servers. This is achived by denying and allowing ports between the servers.

Oracle Application Server is secured by itself. Customer running AS must check with Oracle on the CPUs that gets the vunlerability fixed. These CPUs are available on quaterly basis and it is the responsibilty of the Oracle Application Server Administrator to notify customer and apply it at the same quater as delaying will lead to huge backlogs of CPU Patches.

Tested Firewall: The following are the some of the tested firewall that are found to be working good with version 10.1.2 and 10.1.3.
Check Point FW1 NG [version 5.0 SP3]
Cisco Pix 520 [version 6.0(1)]

More information follow the link as the above information differ in future.

Oracle Application Server : Secure Deployment

Oracle Application Server : Secure Deployment

When we talk about Internet , the next question will be Security. Earlier applications were mostly maintained internal or in other terms Intra-net. The threat to the Intra-net system is very less and it is mostly the Intra-net users ( employees , administrators ). Present extensive increasing of internet usage has boosted more and more business applications on the internet.

Potential threat to Internet Applications are the attackers. Attackers are highly skilled and knowledged peoples where they probe into the system and cause damage. I am not going to walk through more on the attackers and how they attack.

Internet enabled applications must defend them-self from the threats by deploying well defined security mechanism , such as firewall or other measures. Oracle addresses security widely on two areas , software and hardware security.

Software Security: All Products are Security Vulnerability in some ways. Product companies tries to get rid of the vulnerability by recommending customer to get the version upgraded or by having a security patch applied on the existing environment. Oracle addresses the same with CPU. The term CPU used by Oracle means Critical Patch Update. CPU is bundles of patches released on quarterly basis to provide security fixes for Oracle Products. CPUs continue to be improved to minimize the cost and the risk of implementing a CPU.
I wanted to highlight a best practicer of CPUs , it is Oracle OnDemand. Oracle OnDemand takes up rapid and successful implementation of CPUs across all the hosted customers there by reducing the cost and downtime.

Hardware Security: Server hardware, especially production servers, are typically mounted on racks in server rooms. Server cabinets usually have lockable doors and other known advanced physical security mechanism. Servers which have applications running on the Internet are highly threat for vulnerability. Addressing Hardware Security is achieved by various deployment topology.

In the next few postings I will be discussing on some of the best practices and Oracle recommended topology which enables Oracle Application Server to become a key player on the Internet as an Internet Application with High Security.

Oracle Application Server : Business Intelligence and Forms

Oracle Application Server : Business Intelligence and Forms

This option installs and configures Business Intelligence and Forms Components. Before beginning this installation the Infrastructure Installation must have been completed.

Business Intelligence and Forms comes with the Oracle Application Server Product and it carries J2EE and WebCache as an additional components for self deployment.
Oracle Application Server Portal , Wireless , Personalization , Reports Services are the other optional components that can be selected at the installation time.

The below screen shot explains the options



The below screen shot explains the components



Portal and Wireless Ports on 10g Release 2 (10.1.2)

Business Intelligence , Forms and Reports are some of the application types that can be deployed.

Supported Programming Language/Methodology are Discoverer or BI Beans with Java , Forms Developer and Reports Developer

Supported Build Time Recommendation are Discoverer Plus OLAP/Relational; JDeveloper with BI Beans (included in Oracle Developer Suite); Portal with Discoverer Portlets

Study at Oracle
Oracle Business Intelligence
Oracle Business Solutions

Oracle Business Intelligence Products
Operational Business Intelligence Applications
Financial Performance Management Applications
BI Foundation and Tools
Data Warehousing

Oracle Business Intelligence Oracle by Example

Business Intelligence Discussion Forums

Oracle Application Server : Portal and Wireless

Oracle Application Server : Portal and Wireless

This option installs and configures Portal and Wireless Components. Before beginning this installation the Infrastructure Installation must have been completed.

Portal and Wireless comes with the Oracle Application Server Product and it carries J2EE and WebCache as an additional components for self deployment.

The below screen shot explains the options



The below screen shot explains the components



Portal and Wireless Ports on 10g Release 2 (10.1.2)


J2EE , Portal , Wireless , Portal with Discoverer Portlets are some of the application types that can be deployed.

Supported Programming Language/Methodology are ADF/SOA , Portal, portlets, omniportlet , Wireless applications , Discoverer Portlets

Supported Build Time Recommendation are JDeveloper , Portal, JPDK , Wireless SDK (part of OracleAS Developer Kits)

Study at Oracle
Portal Center
Portal Integration Solutions

Portal Oracle by Example

Portal Discussion Forums

Oracle Application Server : Infrastructure

Oracle Application Server : Infrastructure

Infrastructure Installation is not mandatory for the J2EE and Web Cache Installation type of the Oracle Application Server Product.
Infrastructure is mandatory for the other options available on the Oracle Application Server Product. Before Installing Portal or Business Intelligence , the Infrastructure Installation must be completed.

What are the components on the Infrastructure Installation ?
Infrastructure has two major components the first one is the Oracle Application Server Metadata Repository and the other is the Oracle Identity Management.

What is Oracle Application Server Metadata Repository ?
Metadata Repository is a pre-defined schema on a database that help in supporting application server products. The product which requires the Metadata Repository are Identity Management , Portal , Wireless , Reports , Forms and Business Intelligence.

Ways to build Metadata Repository
Metadata Repository can be build in two ways. One that comes with the Infrastructure Installation. This option creates a database and installs the repository on top of it. The other method is to install the repository on an existing database using the OracleAS Metadata Repository Creation Assistance. This option helps to build the metadata repository on a High Availability System.

Other useful related document for Metadata Repository with Repository Creation Assistance.
Troublesooting OracleAS Metadata Repository Creation Assistant
Deregistering and Removing OracleAS Metadata Repository

What is Oracle Identity Management ?
Oracle Identity Management allows enterprises to manage end-to-end life cycle of user identities across all enterprise resources both within and beyond the firewall. It is a member of Fusion Middle Ware Family.

The following are the Components which are available on the Oracle Identity Management option.
Oracle Internet Directory
Oracle Application Server Single-SignOn
Oracle Application Server Delegated Administration
Oracle Application Server Directory Integration
Oracle Application Server Certificate Authority
High Availability and Replication

Oracle Application Server Infrastructure Detailed

There are three option available on the Installation and the below screen shot explains the options



First option is Identity Management and Metadata Repository. This option enables to install both the components on a single server. The first step installs Database , installs the metadata repository to top of the database and then installs the Identity Management Server.

The below screen shot explains the components



Second option is Identity Management alone. This option enables to configure and install Oracle Internet Directory and Certificate Associates. Before starting with the Installation , Oracle Application Server Metadata Repository must be installed prior. This option is widely used to install Identity Management on a separate Resource.

The below screen shot explains the components



Third option is Metadata Repository alone. This option installs a database and then installs the metadata repository. There are no additional components with this installation type. This options is used to install metadata repository on a separate resource.

The below screen shot explains the component

Infrastructure Ports on 10g Release 2 (10.1.2)

Next I will be targeting on the Portal,Wireless,BI,Forms and Reports Topology

Oracle Application Server : J2EE and WebCache

Oracle Application Server : J2EE and WebCache Installation

This option installs and configures HTTP Server , OC4J Container for J2EE , Web Services and Web Cache.
Oracle Installation recommends atleast 512 MB of Memory. This Installation type does not require a Database.

The below screen shot explains the option



The configuration screen comes with additional option for the Installation.

HTTP Server and OC4J are mandatory components for this installation.
Whereas WebCache , Farm Repository and Identity Managment Access (SSO Enable option) are optional.

The below screen shot explains the option




J2EE and OracleAS Web Cache Ports on 10g Release 2 (10.1.2)

For the URL refer to setupinfo.txt in the install directory of the Oracle Home.

Some of the Application that can be developed for Deployment in Oracle Application Server are
Java and J2EE
Web Services
XML
PL/SQL

Programming Language/Methodology : JSP, Swing, Applets

Build Time Recommendation : JDeveloper

Study at Oracle
Oracle Containers for Java EE

Oracle by Example
Design, Develop, and Deploy J2EE Applications
Cache Web Applications Using OracleAS Web Cache

J2EE and WebCache Discussion Forums

Oracle Application Server Installation

Oracle Application Server Installation

There are four types of edition available to meet the middleware need.
Enterprise Edition , Standard Edition , Standard Edition One and Java Edition.

Detailed description of the editions are discussed in detail at Application Server Family

Also the URL has a detailed map of what and which product is available in which edition.

Let me start with the Installation

The following are the different kinds of Installation that could be performed

Java Developer Topology :
J2EE and Webcache makes this Topology. On this deployment we can have any desired application which falls within the J2EE Technology.
Oracle Application Server provides a fully integrated J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) compliant platform to develop and deploy Internet applications, Web sites, portals, or browser-based applications.

Portal,Wireless,BI,Forms and Reports Topology :
Portal helps in building a browser based environment for building and deploying summaried version of application and web contents in defined regions of the page.

Wireless helps in building interfaces for mobile users

Business Intelligence helps in building intelligent reports and data that helps the day to day business activity.

Forms helps in building interfaces that enables user work with data like adding new information and editing the same.

Reports helps in building reports and delivering in different format with features like scheduling and emailing.

The most important component for the above installation is the Infrastructure Database. It comes with a new database and a new Oracle Internet Directory

Once the Infrastructure Database is setup we can deploy the other toplogy on top of it. The components are optional and it can be choosen during the installation.

Most of the setup has the combination like portal with wireless or Business Intelligence with Forms & Reports.

I am going to cover the enterprise edition installation.

Version Used : AS 10.1.2.0.2

There are two important installation screens , Product and Installation Type

Product Screen :

This is the first screen which prompts to select the product. There are three products available.
1. Oracle Application Server 10g which is also know as the middle tier. With this option we can have the components like HTTP Server , OC4J , WebCache , Portal , Wireless , Reports , Forms and Discoverer.

2. Oracle Application Server Infrastructure , with this option we can have Identity Managment services and Metadata Repository for Oracle Application Server. This option creates a new database and a new OID. Other components included are Single SignOn Server and Certificate Authority.

3. Oracle Application Server Developer Kit , with this option we can have API's and Developer Kit.

Below you can see a screen shot of the Product Screen.



Further I will be discussing on the different types of Installation

J2EE and WebCache
Infrastructure Database and OID Setup
Portal and Wireless
Business Intelligence and Forms

Overview of Oracle Application Server

Overview of Oracle Application Server

It is a part of Oracle's Fusion Middleware technology stack.Oracle HTTP Server and OC4J Containers make up the Application Server.

Detailed explanation for Application Server from Oracle

"Oracle Application Server is a completely standards-based application server that provides a comprehensive and fully integrated platform for running Web sites, J2EE applications, and Web services. It addresses all the challenges that you face as you refine your business processes to become an e-business."

"Oracle Application Server provides full support for the J2EE platform, XML, emerging Web services, and grid standards. With Oracle Application Server you can simplify information access for your customers and trading partners by delivering enterprise portals, which can be customized and accessed from a network browser or from wireless devices. It allows you to redefine your business processes, and integrate your applications and data sources with those from your customers or partners. You can deliver tailored customer experiences via real-time personalization, and assess and correlate customer navigation, purchasing, ratings, and demographic data."

"Oracle Application Server allows you to save on Web site infrastructure by deploying your fast, scalable Internet applications through built-in Web caching, load balancing and clustering capabilities. "

Further I will be covering on the Installation Part and then go in detail with some tips , tricks , scripts and examples that I have come across.

Oracle Fusion Middleware

Oracle Fusion Middleware is a portfolio of leading, standards-based and customer-proven software products that spans a range of tools and services from J2EE and developer tools, to integration services, business intelligence, collaboration, and content management.

This comprehensive and well-integrated family of products offers complete support for development, deployment, and management of Service-Oriented Architecture. Oracle Fusion Middleware's hot-pluggable architecture allows you to leverage your investments in any existing application, system, or technology. And because maximum uptime is good for business, the unbreakable qualities of Oracle Fusion Middleware's core technology minimize the disruption of planned or unplanned outages.

My further posting will be covering some of the key components of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Family

EBS : Concurrent Queue Analysis

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Queue and the total number of requests processed. Also this report has an hourly map of the top three requests.



SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

EBS : Concurrent Request's High Impact Concurrent Programs

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Request's High Impact Concurrent Programs

Sample Data :



SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

EBS : Concurrent Request's High Frequency Concurrent Programs

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Request's High Frequency Concurrent Programs

Sample Data :



SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

EBS : Concurrent Request Daily Run Analysis

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Request Daily Run Analysis View.

Sample Output:


SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

EBS : Concurrent Request Map View

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Request Map View.

Sample Output:



SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

EBS : Concurrent Request with highest average run times

This script will help Application Database Administrator to get Concurrent Request with highest average run time.

Sample Output:


SQL Script with HTML Formated Output download here

10gGrid : Oracle On Demand Grid

"As Oracle pushes the boundaries of grid computing, the Austin Data Center remains a unique test bed for the industry as a whole. But the real beneficiaries are Oracle customers, who end up with better products as a result of Oracle's experience." .... readmore

"Oracle OnDemand ADC - Largest Dell/Linux installation on earth" ....read what netapp says

10gGrid : Explained @ OBE

Came across few links related to Grid at Oracle By Example

Using Patch Wizard to Patch 10.2.0.1.0 Management Agents to 10.2.0.3.0

Provisioning and Patching your Oracle Environment with Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g

New Features in Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 2 based Patching

Monitoring Hosts using Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 3

Managing Host Configuration using Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 3

10gGrid : Oracle EBusiness Suite Application Pack , Features & Key Benefits

Reference : Oracle EBusiness Suite Application Pack , Features & Key Benefits

FEATURES

CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

* Configuration Management Database
* Automatic Discovery
* System Modeling
* Service Modeling
* Configuration Snapshot
* Change Audit Trail
* Configuration Compare
* Topology Visualization


APPLICATION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

* Thresholds
* Alert Notifications
* Metric History
* SARM Analysis / Transaction Tracing
* Event Log Analysis
* Root Cause Analysis
* End-User Performance Monitoring
* Enterprise Dashboard


SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT

* Service Level Objective
* Business Process Service Level Monitoring
* Service Metrics
* Service Test
* Service Level Reports

GRID AUTOMATION

* Step-by-step cloning interview process to guide system administrators through the cloning process New cloning dashboard to monitor the enterprise-wide status of clone jobs
* Automated clone process that includes the capability to customize clone process and to obfuscate sensitive data

Key Benefits:
With Oracle Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite,
you get the tools that help you achieve the required application performance and availability, improve your management productivity, better utilize your resources, and drive down costs. You may also plan, organize and execute enterprise-wide clone jobs from a single location, maintain mirror systems at the same patch level and data, and have the flexibility to adapt to an enterprise custom clone process.

10gGrid : Discovery of Oracle Application E-Business Suite on Management Grid

Discovery of Oracle Application E-Business Suite on Management Grid

Overview:
1. Login to the Grid
2. Select Oracle Application Tab
3. Select ADD and add the Oracle Application E-Business Database Target
4. Click on Start Discovery to discover the Instance
5. Select the Instance and explore Oracle Application on the Grid.

Detailed:





Summary : We have added Oracle Application EBusiness Suite Instance as a Target to the Grid.

10gGrid : Patching Management Agent Plug In for Oracle Application E-Business Suite

Patching Management Agent Plug In for Oracle Application E-Business Suite

Overview:
1. Export ORACLE_HOME as the oracle home of the managment agent
2. Unzip the Patch 5489352 and Start the RunInstaller /Disk1/runInstaller
3. Select the Option Management Agent Plug-in for Oracle Application 2.0.0.0.0
4. Select the Agent10g Home
5. Complete the Installation
6. The Installer would bounce the Agent for the Change to take place.

Detailed:



Summary : We have seen how to Patch the Management Agent Plug In for Oracle Application E-Business Suite.

10gGrid : Patching Management Service for Oracle Application E-Business Suite

Patching Management Service for Oracle Application E-Business Suite

Overview:
1. Stop the Management Service Completely
2. Export ORACLE_HOME as the oracle home of management service
3. Unzip the Patch 5489352 and Start the RunInstaller /Disk1/runInstaller
4. Select the Option Grid Control Plug-in for Oracle Application 2.0.0.0.0
5. Select the OMS10g Home
6. Specify the Repository Database SYS authentication.
7. Complete the Installation.

Detailed:

























Summary : We have seen how to Patch the Management Service for Oracle Application E-Business Suite

10gGrid : Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite

Application Management Pack Version 2.0 for Oracle E-Business Suite

Overview:
The Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite provides extensions for the Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control management service, repository, and agent.
This pack introduces target types for both Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i as well as Release 12.

Some of the Target Types for R12/R11i System are below;
Oracle E-Business Suite
Oracle Applications Service
Oracle Applications Infrastructure Service
Concurrent Processing Service
Forms Applications Service
Self Service Applications Service
Workflow Service
Order Management Service
Oracle Applications JVM Usage
Oracle E-Business Suite Custom Objects
Oracle E-Business Suite Patch Information

This pack also provides new pages within Grid Control, which helps you to monitor the performance, availability and configuration changes of your Oracle E-Business system and also to provision your E-Business Suite application.
Grid Control provides a complete view of your enterprise, allowing you manage all of your Oracle E-Business Suite systems from a single console.



Grid Control allows you to monitor multiple Oracle E-Business systems (both 11i & 12) from the outside. From within Grid Control, you can drill down into Oracle Applications Manager, which is built directly into the Oracle Applications system itself. Grid Control and Oracle Applications Manager combine together to provide a comprehensive Oracle Applications system management solution.


System Requirement :
Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control 10.2.0.3
The Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite installs into the Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control management service, repository, and agent.
Before installing this pack, you must first apply the Enterprise Manager 10.2.0.3 patch set to the management service, repository, and agent.

I had a test instance on R12 so will go with the following patching.
Patch 5489352 - EM PLUGIN V2 FOR ORACLE APPLICATIONS



Installation:
Download the Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite Patch 5489352 from OracleMetaLink to the Enterprise Manager Oracle Management Server.
The Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite is installed using Oracle Universal Installer.
To install this pack, you must have an existing Grid Control installation.
The pack must be installed into each existing Grid Control Management Service and Management Agent that will be used for Oracle E-Business Suite.

Step 1: Patching the Management Service

1. Stop the Management Service Completely
2. Export ORACLE_HOME as the oracle home of management service
3. Unzip the Patch 5489352 and Start the RunInstaller /Disk1/runInstaller
4. Select the Option Grid Control Plug-in for Oracle Application 2.0.0.0.0
5. Select the OMS10g Home
6. Specify the Repository Database SYS authentication.
7. Complete the Installation.

Step 2: Pathing the Management Agent Plug-in

1. Export ORACLE_HOME as the oracle home of the managment agent
2. Unzip the Patch 5489352 and Start the RunInstaller /Disk1/runInstaller
3. Select the Option Management Agent Plug-in for Oracle Application 2.0.0.0.0
4. Select the Agent10g Home
5. Complete the Installation
6. The Installer would bounce the Agent for the Change to take place.

Step 3: Discovering Oracle Application in the Grid.

Summary: We have seen a brief introduction of Application Management Pack for Oracle E-Business Suite.
The readme of the Patch contains full detailed report with good screenshots.

10gGrid : Manual and Automatic Discovery of Target Database

By default all the Targets on the host where the agent is installed gets configured to the grid.
If any of the targets are not discovered then the following procedure can be used



Now I have added TEST01 which runs on lab01.testserver.com
When I added the second node lab02.testserver.com , database TEST02 got automatically discovered.



Summary : We have seen Automatic Discovery and Manual Discovery on Database Instance.

10gGrid : Deploying Agents

I have Installed Release 2 and Upgraded to Release 3 in my earlier blog.
Now we have to deploy the agents. I have deployed agents on two nodes.

Step by Step Instructions for Installing Agent



Note : The Agent automatically contacts the Managment Server and gets registered.
No user intervention is required. Listing below the status of the agent from one of the host.

[oragent@lab01]$ emctl status agent
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 3 Grid Control 10.2.0.3.0.
Copyright (c) 1996, 2007 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Agent Version : 10.2.0.3.0
OMS Version : 10.2.0.3.0
Protocol Version : 10.2.0.2.0
Agent Home : /home/oragent/agent10g
Agent binaries : /home/oragent/agent10g
Agent Process ID : 3250
Parent Process ID : 3224
Agent URL : https://lab01.testserver.com:3872/emd/main/
Repository URL : https://managementserver.grid.com:1159/em/upload
Started at : 2007-04-21 21:03:32
Started by user : oragent
Last Reload : 2007-04-21 21:03:32
Last successful upload : 2007-04-21 21:05:36
Total Megabytes of XML files uploaded so far : 7.62
Number of XML files pending upload : 0
Size of XML files pending upload(MB) : 0.00
Available disk space on upload filesystem : 79.42%
Last successful heartbeat to OMS : 2007-04-21 21:05:39
---------------------------------------------------------------
Agent is Running and Ready
[oragent@lab01]$

Summary : Installed Agent and Configured with the Management Server.

10gGrid v10.2.0.1.0 : Upgrading to Release 3 on Oracle Enterprise Linux

Upgrading the Existing 10.2.0.1.0 Enterprise Manager Grid Control installations to Enterprise Manger 10g Grid Control Release 3

Requirement : Running 10g Grid v10.2.0.X. In my case the version is 10.2.0.1.0

Software Requirement for Upgrade:
Download GridControl_10.2.0.3_Linux.zip
URL: http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/oem/index.html

Step by Step Instructions for Upgrading

[root@managementserver 10..3]# unzip GridControl_10.2.0.3_Linux.zip
Archive: GridControl_10.2.0.3_Linux.zip
extracting: 3731596.zip
extracting: 3822442.zip
creating: doc/
inflating: doc/BugList_EMGC_10.2.0.3.pdf
inflating: doc/BugList_EMGC_10.2.0.3.html
inflating: doc/ReleaseNotes_EMGC_10.2.0.3.html
inflating: doc/ReleaseNotes_EMGC_10.2.0.3.pdf
extracting: p3731593_10203_linux.zip
extracting: p4329444_10104_LINUX.zip
extracting: p4329444_10105_LINUX.zip
inflating: README.txt
[root@managementserver 10..3]# cat README.txt
Table of Contents
1.General
2.Fresh Installation of Enterprise Manger 10g Grid Control Release 2 and upgrading it to Release 3
3.Upgrading any existing 10.2.0.X.0 Enterprise Manager Grid Control installations to Enterprise Manger 10g Grid Control Release 3.
4.Upgrading an existing 10.1.0.4.0 or a higher 10.1.0.X.0 Enterprise Manager Grid Control installation to the latest Enterprise Manger 10g Grid Control Release 3


Here I will be doing an upgrade to R3 from 10.2.0.1.0 with option 3 on the Readme
To know the current version access the aboutApplication URL

http://managementserver.grid.com:4889/em/console/aboutApplication
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 10.2.0.1.0

em_grid_102010_version:

Upgrading any existing 10.2.0.X.0 Enterprise Manager Grid Control installations to Enterprise Manger 10g Grid Control Release 3.

3.1 Roll-back patch 5191377 if it has been applied to the Oracle Management Service (OMS)
Not executing Step 3.1 as in my case the inventory does not have 5191377

[orgrid@managementserver ~]$ export ORACLE_HOME=/home/orgrid/oms10g
[orgrid@managementserver ~]$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/OPatch
[orgrid@managementserver OPatch]$
[orgrid@managementserver OPatch]$ ./opatch lsinv | grep -i 5191377
[orgrid@managementserver OPatch]$
SQL> select 1 from dba_indexes where index_name=upper('mgmt_current_violation_idx_05');

no rows selected

SQL>

3.2 Apply patches if required
In the case of Grid Control environment installed via "Enterprise Manager using New Database" option or "Enterprise Manager using an existing Database " option with 10.1.0.4 or 10.1.0.5 Database, apply the patch for bug 4329444 on the Database Home. In order to apply this patch for the Linux platform:

In my case it was done using the option "Enterprise Manager using New Database"


[orgrid@managementserver 10..3]$ ls -rlt *4329444*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 70783 Jan 31 21:34 p4329444_10105_LINUX.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 70431 Jan 31 21:34 p4329444_10104_LINUX.zip
[orgrid@managementserver 10..3]$

Database version is 10.1.0.4.0

[root@managementserver 10..3]# unzip p4329444_10104_LINUX.zip
Archive: p4329444_10104_LINUX.zip
creating: 4329444/
creating: 4329444/files/
creating: 4329444/files/lib/
creating: 4329444/files/lib/libserver10.a/
inflating: 4329444/files/lib/libserver10.a/qerix.o
creating: 4329444/etc/
creating: 4329444/etc/config/
inflating: 4329444/etc/config/inventory
inflating: 4329444/etc/config/actions
creating: 4329444/etc/xml/
inflating: 4329444/etc/xml/GenericActions.xml
inflating: 4329444/etc/xml/ShiphomeDirectoryStructure.xml
inflating: 4329444/README.txt
[root@managementserver 10..3]#

[orgrid@managementserver ~]$ export ORACLE_HOME=/home/orgrid/db10g
[orgrid@managementserver ~]$ export ORACLE_SID=emrep
[orgrid@managementserver ~]$ cd /stage/Grid/10..3/4329444/
[orgrid@managementserver 4329444]$

Before proceeding with the Patching SHUTDOWN Services
$OMS_ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/opmnctl stopall
$EMAGENT_ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl stop agent
Shutdown Database and Listener

[orgrid@managementserver 4329444]$ opatch apply
Invoking OPatch 10.2.0.1.0

Oracle interim Patch Installer version 10.2.0.1.0
Copyright (c) 2005, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved..


Oracle Home : /home/orgrid/db10g
Central Inventory : /home/orgrid/oraInventory
from : /home/orgrid/db10g/oraInst.loc
OPatch version : 10.2.0.1.0
OUI version : 10.2.0.1.0
OUI location : /home/orgrid/db10g/oui
Log file location :
/home/orgrid/db10g/cfgtoollogs/opatch/opatch-2007_Apr_21_10-01-38-IST_Sat.log

ApplySession applying interim patch '4329444' to OH '/home/orgrid/db10g'
Invoking fuser to check for active processes.
Invoking fuser on "/home/orgrid/db10g/bin/oracle"
OPatch finds following executables active:
/home/orgrid/db10g/bin/oracle
Before you proceed, stop all active processes. Press when ready.
Do you want to proceed? [y|n]
y
User Responded with: Y

OPatch detected non-cluster Oracle Home from the inventory and will patch the local system only.


Please shutdown Oracle instances running out of this ORACLE_HOME on the local system.
(Oracle Home = '/home/orgrid/db10g')

Is the local system ready for patching?

Do you want to proceed? [y|n]
y
User Responded with: Y
Backing up files and inventory (not for auto-rollback) for the Oracle Home
Backing up files affected by the patch '4329444' for restore. This might take a while...
Backing up files affected by the patch '4329444' for rollback. This might take a while...

Patching component oracle.rdbms, 10.1.0.4.0...
Updating archive file "/home/orgrid/db10g/lib/libserver10.a" with "lib/libserver10.a/qerix.o"
Running make for target ioracle
ApplySession adding interim patch '4329444' to inventory

The local system has been patched and can be restarted.
OPatch succeeded.
[orgrid@managementserver 4329444]$

3.3 Install Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 3
Follow step 2.3 above.

2.3 Install Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 3

2.3.1 Copy the p3731593_102030_.zip patch set installation archive from the DVD to any directory on the host which has the Oracle Management Service running on it.

2.3.2 Perform the installation
- Enter the following command to unzip and extract the installation files from the downloaded image described in section 1.2:
$ unzip p3731593_102030_.zip
This extracts the files to the "3731593" directory.
- Navigate to the 3731593/Disk1 subdirectory
$ cd 3731593/Disk1
- Set the ORACLE_HOME variable to the Oracle Management Service(OMS) oracle home.
- Execute the runInstaller (setup.exe for Windows)
$ ./runInstaller
The upgrades process then upgrades the Oracle Management Service (OMS), Oracle Management Repository and the Management Agent on the same host as the OMS to the latest Enterprise Manager 10g release 3 version.
Important: The same Patch Set can be used for patching OMS,Repository, and Management Agent. For more detail on installing the patchset, refer to the release note.

[root@managementserver 10..3]# ls -lrt *3731593*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 554291128 Feb 1 15:45 p3731593_10203_linux.zip
[root@managementserver 10..3]#

[root@managementserver 10..3]# unzip p3731593_10203_linux.zip

- Navigate to the 3731593/Disk1 subdirectory
$ cd 3731593/Disk1
- Set the ORACLE_HOME variable to the Oracle Management Service(OMS) oracle home.
- Execute the runInstaller (setup.exe for Windows)
$ ./runInstaller

10g_grid_upgrade_all:

[orgrid@managementserver~]$ emctl getversion
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Release 3 Grid Control
Copyright (c) 1996, 2007 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Enterprise Manager 10g OMS Version 10.2.0.3.0
Enterprise Manager 10g AS Control Version 10.2.0.0
Enterprise Manager 10g Agent Version 10.2.0.3.0
[orgrid@managementserver~]$

Summary : Installed 10g Grid Release 2 and Upgraded to Release 3 on Oracle Enterprise Linux

10gGrid v10.2.0.1.0 : Installation on Oracle Enterprise Linux

Hardware Requirement :
One Node with Linux Operating System
I downloaded Oracle Enterprise Linux from edelivery.oracle.com

Software Requirement :
Oracle Enterprise Manager Downloads
Version Used : Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control Release 2(10.2.0.1.0)

Documentation :
http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B16240_01/welcome.html


Introduction:
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control (Oracle Grid Control) delivers centralized management functionality for the complete Oracle IT infrastructure, including systems running Oracle and non-Oracle technologies. With a broad set of administration, configuration management, provisioning, end-to-end monitoring, and security capabilities, Oracle Grid Control reduces the cost and complexity of managing grid computing environments. Robust service-level management functionality within Oracle Grid Control dramatically improves service levels through rich transaction and end-user performance monitoring and deep diagnostics for multi-tier Internet applications. Oracle Grid Control also offers a comprehensive extensibility framework for management of custom applications and integration with other management tools. These capabilities allow companies to deliver superior performance for their systems and applications, while continually reducing management complexity and costs.

After installing and deploying the Oracle Enterprise Manager components, you can use Grid Control to:

* Simplify deployment of Oracle solutions by cloning fully patched and tested Oracle homes to multiple hosts.
* Quickly identify available patches for the components in your enterprise and bring those components up to the latest patch level with just a few clicks.
* Apply consistent, proactive management practices across your enterprise using policies and management templates.
* Automatically assess the security vulnerabilities in your enterprise using the Critical Patch Facility, which provides notifications and a direct link to Oracle Support.
* Enhanced security rules harden the infrastructure database and host. Violation score reporting helps administrators prioritize security operations.
* Schedule and run multi-task jobs across multiple targets using the more powerful, feature-rich job system.
* Create groups to monitor heterogeneous or homogeneous target groups using enhanced group management pages.

Installation Procedure:



Summary : Installed 10g Grid Release 2 version 10.2.0.1.0 on Oracle Enterprise Linux

Discoverer : Role of Administrator

Role of Discoverer Administrator

As the Discoverer administrator, one should:

* Identify user requirements
* Choose the database tables that best meet the requirement
* Build useful and robust business areas
* Create meaningful names for business areas, folders, and items
* Control user access to business areas
* Create a usable relational structure in the EUL with joins and complex folders
* Create calculations, conditions and drills that support end-user analysis
* Create summary tables to improve performance

Discoverer : Summary Management

Summary Management
The Summary Management feature in Discoverer uses native features in the Oracle DBMS, and is therefore only available when running against the Oracle database. This feature uses the same highly scalable and reliable processing procedures within the kernel as the workbook scheduling capability and the setup for both features is similar. These procedures use standard packages in the DBMS called "DBMS_JOB".

Privileges
The user ID that you intend to use to create the Summary Folders must have the following database privileges:
CREATE TABLE
CREATE VIEW
CREATE PROCEDURE
SELECT ON V_$PARAMETER
ANALYZE ANY (ASM)
CREATE/DROP/ALTER ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW (8.1.6+)
GLOBAL QUERY REWRITE

We will be looking on the following

* Defining Privileges Required
* Open a Business Area and Access Summary Wizard
* Running the Wizard to have Discoverer recommendation and best summaries.
* Running the Wizard to have Discoverer Administration to it him/her self.



Defining Privileges Required



Open a Business Area and Access Summary Wizard



Running the Wizard to have Discoverer recommendation and Best Summaries














Running the Wizard to have Discoverer Administration to it him/her self





Summary : Ran Summary Wizard with two options. One with Oracle Discoverer Recommendation and Implementing the Best Practise. Other option with Self Management which an Administrator can perform on his/her own.