Friday, August 17, 2007

Upgrading Application with Forms Patchset 18

Action Plan for Forms Patchset 18 Upgrade (4948577)


1. Take a backup of the the Printer File.

If you have customized the printer configuration file located in ORACLE_HOME/guicommon6/tk60/admin/uiprint.txt with your printer definitions, you will have to redo the configurations after applying the Developer 6i patch. Your previous uiprint.txt is backed up as $ORACLE_HOME/guicommon6/tk60/admin/uiprint.txt.PRE_P4948577

cp $ORACLE_HOME/guicommon6/tk60/admin/uiprint.txt $ORACLE_HOME/guicommon6/tk60/admin/uiprint.txt.PRE_P4948577

2. Apply the Main Patch 4948577
3. Apply the Apps Interop Patch 4888294 ----11i Patch


Apply the Additional Patches

a. Apply the Patch 4968700

To apply this patch, please follow the steps below:

1) Stop your web listeners and Forms Server.

2) Make a patch directory for this bug, and put your patch files in it:
% cd $ORACLE_HOME
% mkdir bug5034714
% cd bug5034714
% cp bug5034714.zip to $ORACLE_HOME/bug5034714
% unzip bug5034714.zip

3) If you don't have genshlib in $ORACLE_HOME/bin directory then copy this
file over there.
% cp genshlib $ORACLE_HOME/bin
% chmod ug+x $ORACLE_HOME/bin/genshlib

4) Copy your original objects in case you ever need it:
% cd $ORACLE_HOME/lib
% cp libiffw.a libiffw.a.pre5034714
% cp libiwfw.a libiwfw.a.pre5034714

5) Archive objects into the libraries:
% ar rv libiffw.a $ORACLE_HOME/bug5034714/iftm.o
% ar rv libiwfw.a $ORACLE_HOME/bug5034714/iwit.o

6) Generate the shared libraries:
% cd $ORACLE_HOME/lib
% $ORACLE_HOME/bin/genshlib iwfw 0
% $ORACLE_HOME/bin/genshlib iffw 0

7) Generate forms executables
% cd $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/lib
% make -f ins_forms60w.mk install

Note: If you are an Oracle Applications customer, please also run adrelink.
E.g. to relink f60webmx for Oracle Applications:
% adrelink.sh force=y "fnd f60webmx"

8) Restart Forms server and Web listeners.


b. Apply the Patch 4261542.

Installation instructions for Apps customers
--------------------------------------------

[Part 1] Shut down the listeners and copy the patch files

1. Stop your web listeners and Forms Server.

2. Make a patch directory within your 6i ORACLE_HOME and unzip this file
within it to create a new subdirectory. You will be able to see the
folder 4261542 which contains the actual one-off files.

%cd $ORACLE_HOME
%unzip p4261542_600_GENERIC.zip


[Part 2] Unzip the java class files and regenerate your JAR files

3.Backup the Forms class files, i.e.$ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class
%cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class
$ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class.PRE_BUG4261542
%cp -r $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class
$ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class.PRE_BUG4261542



4. Inside folder 4261542 in step-2 has class files in oracle\forms\engine directory.
Copy this file into ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine
%cd $ORACLE_HOME/4261542/oracle/forms/engine
%cp Main.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/engine/Main.class
%cd $ORACLE_HOME/4261542/oracle/forms/handler
%cp AlertDialog.class $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/java/oracle/forms/handler/AlertDialog.class


5. Make sure that you have set up custom certificates for JAR file signing.
Run adadmin administration utility. Select the "Maintain Files" option
and then the "Generate JAR Files" sub-option.

6. Spot check that the JAR files have been generated by verifying the timestamp.

[Part 3] Restart the listeners

7. Restart the Forms Server.

8. Restart the web listener serving Forms Applets (e.g. Apache or WebDB 2.2).


c. Apply the Patch 5216496.

- Not Availbale for HP TRU64.


STEPS INVOLVED in PATCHING

STEPS Involved in patching
***************************

1. Install the Developer 6i Patch

2. Install the Additional Developer 6i Patches

3. Relink Applications Executables on UNIX Platforms


You can relink these executables by running adadmin
When the Main Menu appears select 'Maintain Applications Files Menu' and then select 'Relink Applications Program'
Answer the questions below as follows, in order to select the individual executables for relinking.

Enter list of products to link ('all' for all products)[all] : fnd
Generate specific executables for each selected product [No] ? y
Relink with debug information [No] ? n

(You will then be offered a list of executables that are available for relinking)

Enter executables to relink, or enter 'all' [all] : f60webmx ar60run ar60runb ar60rund *

* In a multi-node configuration, not all these executables exist on each node. The list of executables will show those that do exist on the node you are currently running on, and only those should be entered to avoid errors.

Refer to the Maintaining Oracle Applications manual for more information on how to use the AD Administration Utility or AD Relink Utility for relinking executables.


4. Apply the Oracle Applications 11i Interoperability Patch


5. Verify your upgrade

Verify that the fndforms.jar and fndewt.jar JAR files have been rebuilt by checking the timestamp for both files in the $OA_JAVA/oracle/apps/fnd/jar directory. If the timestamp is not current and the previous steps completed successfully, run the AD Administration Utility (adadmin), select Maintain Applications Files, then select Generate Product JAR Files. Do not force the regeneration of all JAR files. Again, verify that the fndforms.jar and fndewt.jar JAR files have been rebuilt by checking their timestamps again.
If your JAR files are still not updated, verify all the prior steps, and the Known Issues section below.
If you have applied Developer 6i Patch 6 or above, verify that the PL/SQL version installed is 8.0.6.3.x. You can run '$ORACLE_HOME/bin/f60gen help=y' to display various component versions. (If the version shown is still 8.0.6.0.x please refer to Metalink Note 191573.1 )
For Microsoft Windows platforms, look under Control Panel - Services to see if additional Forms and Reports services were added. If so, disable the new ones by pressing the Startup button, and setting the Startup Type toDisabled.


6. Start the Forms, Reports, HTTP, Concurrent Manager Servers

a. Stop the Forms Server process.

b. Add the following environment variable to the 'Oracle Forms 6.0 environment variables' section of
your '$APPL_TOP/< SID >.env' file as;

FORMS60_RESTRICT_ENTER_QUERY="TRUE"
export FORMS60_RESTRICT_ENTER_QUERY

c. Source the environment, then restart the Forms Server process

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Platform Migration from Sun-Solaris to HP-UX PA RISC

Pre-requisites
***************

Source
-------

----> For Customer Specific patch

1. Apply the Platform Migration patch 3453499 (ADX.F)
2. Make sure you have zip2.3 installed on Source Machine
3. Generate and upload the manifest of customet specific files.
- Log into source as applmgr user and source the APPL_TOP environment file.
- Generate the customer specific file manifest by executing the below command.It
generates the file adgenpsf.txt under $APPL_TOP/admin/$TWO_TASK/out

- perl $AD_TOP/bin/adgenpsf.pl
4. Go to http://updates.oracle.com/PlatformMigration and use your metalink username
and password and follow the instructions on the screen to upload the manifest
file "adgenpsf.txt" which was created in step3.

----> Foe export / import

5. Apply the AD minipack F 2141471 (conditional).
6. Apply the Applications consolidated export/import utility patch 4872830.
7. If source is on 11.5.7, then apply the materialized views patch 2447246.
8. Apply latest Applications database preparation scripts patch 4775612.
9. Identify the Global_name
- select global_name from global_name;
10. create the export parameter file "exp_parameter.dat



Target
-------
1. Run the Rapid Install to create the 9.2.0 Home withour database portion.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Oracle APPS DBA Interview Questions

Q1. What is wdbsvr.app file used for? What's full path of this file? What's significance of this file ?

Ans: The wdbsvr.app is used by mod_plsql component of Apache to connect to
database. The File is located at $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/modplsql/cfg .

Q2. Where would i find .rf9 file, and what execatly it does ?

Ans: These files are used during restart of patch in case of patch failure because of some reason.

Q3. Where is appsweb.cfg or appsweb_$CONTEXT.cfg stored & why its used?

Ans: This file is defined by environment variable FORMS60_WEB_CONFIG_FILE This is usually in directory $OA_HTML/bin on forms tier. This file is used by any forms client session. When a user try to access forms , f60webmx picks up this file and based on this configuration file creates a forms session to user/client.

Q4. Can you clone from multi node system to single node system & vice versa ?

Ans: Yes.

Q5. What is .dbc file , there are lot of dbc file under $FND_SECURE, How its determined that which dbc file to use from $FND_SECURE ?

Ans: dbc as name says is database connect descriptor file which stores database connection information used by application tier to connect to database. This file is in directory $FND_TOP/secure also called as FND_SECURE

Q6. Whats things you do to reduce patch timing ?

Ans: # Merging patches via admrgpch
# Use various adpatch options like nocompiledb or nocompilejsp
# Use defaults file
# Staged APPL_TOP during upgrades
# Increase batch size (Might result into negative )

Q7. Can you apply patch without putting Applications 11i in Maintenance mode ?

Ans: Yes, use options=hotpatch as mentioned above with adpatch. from AD.I onwards we need to enable maintenance mode inorder to apply apps patches.

Q8. adident utility is used for what ?

Ans: adident utility in oracle apps is used to find version of any file . AD Identification.
for ex. "adident Header

Q9. How can you licence a product after installation ?

Ans: By using ad utility adlicmgr to licence product in Oracle Apps.

Q10. What is MRC ? What you do to enable MRC in Apps ?

Ans: MRC also called as Multiple Reporting Currency in oracle Apps. Default you have currency in US Dollars but if your organization operating books are in other currency then you as apps dba need to enable MRC in Apps.

Q11. What is access_log in apache , what entries are recored in access_log ? Where is default location of this file ?

Ans: access_log in Oracle Application Server records all users accessing oracle applications 11i. This file location is defined in httpd.conf with default location at $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs. Entries in this file is defined by directive LogFormat in httpd.conf Typical entry in access_log is
198.0.0.1 - - [10/Sep/2006:18:37:17 +0100] "POST /OA_HTML/OA.jsp?.... HTTP/1.1" 200 28035
where 200 is HTTP status code & last digits 28035 is bytes dowloaded as this page(Size of page).

Q12. What is session time out parameter & where all you define these values ?

Ans: In order to answer first you have to understand what kind of seesions are in Apps 11i and what is Idle timeout ?
In Apps there are two broad categories of session
- Self Service Application Session ( Server by Web Server iAS Apache & Jserv, like iRecruitment, iProcurement)
-Forms session ( served by your form session, like system Administrator)

What is Session Idle time ?
If Oracle Apps client is not doing any activity for some time (when application user goes for coffee or talks over phone) session during that time is called as Idle Session & because of security reason, performance issues and to free up system resource Oracle Applications terminates client session( both forms & self service) after idle time value is reached to the one mentioned in configuration file.

From FND.G or 11.5.9 or with introduction of AppsLocalLogin.jsp to enter into application, profile option "ICX Session Timeout" is used only to determine Forms Session Idle timeout value . This might be confusing as earlier this profile option used to control forms as well as self service application(with session.timeout) session.timeout is used to control Idle session timeout for Self Service Applications ( Served by Jserv via JVM )

From where ICX : Session Timeout & session.timeout get values ?

Autoconfig determines value for profile option "ICX: Session Timeout" and "session.timeout" from entry in context file ( $APPL_TOP/admin/SID_hostname.xml ) with parameter s_sesstimeout where value mentioned is in milliseconds so profile option ICX: Session Timeout value should be s_sesstimeout/ (1000 * 60) which means here its 10 Minutes. This value is also set in zone.properties in $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Jserv where number mentioned is in milli second i.e. 600000 ( equal to 10 Minutes)session.timeout = 600000

session.timeout mentioned in zone.properties is in milli secondsICX Session Time out mentioned in profile option ICX: Session Timeout is in minutes so ICX session timeout=30 & session.timeout= 1800,000 are same 30 minutes

P.S. ICX Session time out was introduced in FND.D so if your FND version is below D you might not see this variable.

Important Things Apps DBA should consider while setting session timeout value ?
1.. If you keep session.timeout value too high , when some oracle application user accessing Self service application terminates
his session, so longer idle session will drain JVM resource & can result in Java.Lang No Memory available issues .
2. If you keep it too low, users going out for tea or sitting idle for some time have to login again into application & can be
annoying .

Thumb rule is session time out usually set to 30 minutes.

Q13. Where is applications start/stop scripts stored ?

Ans: $COMMON_TOP/admin/scripts/$CONTEXT_NAME


Q14. What are main configuration files in Web Server (Apache) ?

Ans: Main configuration files in Oracle Apps Web Server are

# httpd.conf, apps.conf, oracle_apache.conf, httpd_pls.conf
# jserv.conf, ssp_init.txt, jserv.properties, zone.properties
# plsql.conf, wdbsvr.app, plsql.conf

Q15. How to check if Apps 11i System is Autoconfig enabled ?

Ans: Under $AD_TOP/bin check for file adcfginfo.sh & if this exists use
adcfginfo.sh contextfile= show=enabled

If this file is not there , look for any configuration file under APPL_TOP if system is Autoconfig enabled then you will see entry like
# AutoConfig automatically generates this file. It will be read and .......

Q16. How to check if Oracle Apps 11i System is Rapid Clone enabled ?

Ans: For syetem to be Rapid Clone enabled , it should be Autoconfig enabled (Check above How to confirm if Apps 11i is Autoconfig enabled). You should have Rapid Clone Patches applied , Rapid Clone is part of Rapid Install Product whose Family Pack Name is ADX. By default all Apps 11i Instances 11.5.9 and above are Autoconfig & Rapid Clone enabled.

Q17. What is plssql/database cache?

Ans: In order to improve performance mod_pls (Apache component) caches some database content to file. This database/plssql cache is usually of type session & plsql cache
# session cache is used to store session information.
# plsql cache is used to store plsql cache i.e. used by mod_pls

Q18. How to determine Oracle Apps 11i Version ?

Ans: select RELEASE_NAME from fnd_product_groups;

You should see output like
RELEASE_NAME
-----------------------
11.5.9 or 11.5.10.2

Q19. What is RRA/FNDFS ?

Ans: Report Review Agent(RRA) also referred by executable FNDFS is default text viewer in Oracle Applications 11i for viewing output files & log files. As most of apps dba's are not clear about Report Server & RRA.

Q20. What is PCP in Oracle Applications 11i ? In what scenarios PCP is Used ?

Ans: PCP stands for parallel Concurrent processing.Usually you have one Concurrent Manager executing your requests but if you can configure Concurrent Manager running on two machines (Yes you need to do some additional steps in order to configure Parallel Concurrent Processing) . So for some of your requests primary CM Node is on machine1 and secondary CM node on machine2 and for some requests primary CM is on machine2 & secondary CM on machine1.

Scenario
********
Well If you are running GL Month end reports or taxation reports annually these reposrts might take couple of days. Some of these requests are very resource intensive so you can have one node running long running , resource intensive requests while other processing your day to day short running requets.
another scenario is when your requests are very critical and you want high resilience for your Concurrent Processing Node , you can configure PCP. So if node1 goes down you still have CM node available processing your requests.

Q21. Output & Logfiles for requests executed on source Instance not working on cloned Instance?

Ans: Here is exact problem description - You cloned an Oracle Apps Instance from PRODBOX to another box with Instance name say CLONEBOX on 1st of August. You can any CM logs/output files after 1st of August only becuase these all are generated on CLONEBOX itself, But unable to view the logs/output files which are prior to 1st August. What will you do & where to check ?
Log , Output file path & location is stored in table FND_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS. Check

select logfile_name, logfile_node_name, outfile_name, outfile_node_name from fnd_concurrent_requests where request_id=&requestid ;
where requestid is id of request for which you are not able to see log or out files. You should see output like
/u01/PRODBOX/log/l123456.req, host1,/u01/PRODBOX/out/o123456.out, host1 Update it according to your cloned Instance Variables.

Q22. How to confirm if Report Server is Up & Running ?

Ans: Report Server is started by executable rwmts60 on concurrent manager Node & this file is under $ORACLE_HOME/bin .execute command on your server like
ps -ef | grep rwmts60
You should get output like
applmgr ....... rwmts60 name=REP60_VISION
where VISION is your Instance name.
Else you can submit a request like "Active Users" with display set to PDF, check output & log file to see if report server can display PDF files.

Q23. What is difference between ICM, Std Managers & CRM in Concurrent Manager ?

Ans: # ICM stand for Internal Concurrent Manager, which controls other managers. If it finds other managers down , it checks & try to restart them. You can say it as administrator to other concurrent managers. It has other tasks as well.
# Standard Manager These are normal managers which control/action on the requests & does batch or single request processing.
# CRM acronym for Conflict Resolution Manager is used to resolve conflicts between managers & request. If a request is submitted whose execution is clashing or it is defined not to run while a particular type of request is running then such requests are actioned/assigned to CRM for Incompatibilities & Conflict resolution.

Q24. What is use of Apps listener ? How to start Apps listener ? How to confirm if Apps Listener is Up & Running ?

Ans: Apps Listener usually running on All Oracle Applications 11i Nodes with listener alias as APPS_$SID is mainly used for listening requests for services like FNDFS & FNDSM.

Start
******
In Oracle 11i, you have script adalnctl.sh which will start your apps listener. You can also start it by command
- lsnrctl start APPS_$SID (Replace sid by your Instance SID Name)

Confirm
********
execute below command
lsnrctl status APPS_$SID (replcae SID with your Instance Name)
so If your SID is VISION then use lsnrctl status APPS_VISION out put should be like
Services Summary...
FNDFS has 1 service handler(s)
FNDSM has 1 service handler(s)
The command completed successfully

Q25. What is Web Listener ?

Ans: Web Listener is Web Server listener which is listening for web Services(HTTP) request. This listener is started by adapcctl.sh & defined by directive (Listen, Port) in httpd.conf for Web Server. When you initially type request like http://becomeappsdba.blogspot.com:80 to access application here port number 80 is Web Listener port.

Q26. How will you find Invalid Objects in database ? How to compile Invalid Objects in database ?

Ans: using query
SQLPLUS> select count(*) from dba_objects where status like 'INVALID';

Compile
********
- using ADADMIN
- using utlrp.sql which is shipped with Oracle.

Q27. How to compile JSP in Oracle Apps ?

Ans: Using ojspCompile.pl perl script shipped with Oracle apps to compile JSP files. This script is under $JTF_TOP/admin/scripts. Sample compilation method is
perl -v ojspCompile.pl --compile --quiet

Q28. What is difference between adpatch & opatch ? Can you use both adpatch & opatch in Apps ?

Ans: Yes , we can use both adpatch and opatch in Apps. adpatch is an ad utility used for applying apps patches, whereas opatch is a utility used to apply rdbms patches.

Q29. Where will you find forms configuration details apart from xml file ? What is forms server executable Name ?

Ans: Forms configuration at time of startup is in script adfrmctl.sh and appsweb_$CONTEXT_NAME.cfg (defined by environment variable FORMS60_WEB_CONFIG_FILE) for forms client connection used each time a user initiates forms connection.
- f60srvm is the forms executable name.

Q30. What are different modes of forms in which you can start Forms Server and which one is default ?

Ans: There are two modes in which we can start forms.
- Socket Mode
- Servlet Mode.

By Default forms are configured to start in socket mode.


Q31. How you will start Discoverer in Oracle Apps 11i ?

Ans: In order to start dicoverer you can use script addisctl.sh under $OAD_TOP/admin/scripts/$CONTEXT_NAME
or startall.sh under $ORACLE_HOME/discwb4/util (under Middle/Application Tier)

Q32. How many ORACLE HOME are Oracle Apps and whats significance of each ?

Ans: There are three $ORACLE_HOME in Oracle Apps, Two for Application Tier (Middle Tier) and One in Database Tier.
# ORACLE_HOME 1 : On Application Tier used to store 8.0.6 techstack software. This is used by forms, reports & discoverer.
ORACLE_HOME should point to this ORACLE_HOME which applying Apps Patch.
# ORACLE_HOME 2: On Application Tier used by iAS (Web Server) techstack software. This is used by Web Listener &
contains Apache.
# ORACLE_HOME 3: On Database Tier used by Database Software usually 8i,9i or 10g database.


Q33. Where is HTML Cache stored in Oracle Apps Server ?

Ans: Oracle HTML Cache is available at $COMMON_TOP/_pages for some previous versions you might find it in $OA_HTML/_pages

Q34. Where is plssql cache stored in Oracle Apps ?

Ans: sually two type of cache session & plssql stored under $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/modplsql/cache

Q35. What happens if you don't give cache size while defining Concurrent Manager ?

Ans: Lets first understand what is cache size in Concurrent Manager. When Manager picks request from FND CONCURRENT REQUESTS Queues, it will pick up number of requests defined by cache size in one shot & will work on them before going to sleep. So in my views if you don't define cache size while defining CM then it will take default value 1, i.e. picking up one request per cycle.

Q36. What are few profile options which you update after cloning ?

Ans: Rapid clone updates profile options specific to site level . If you have any profile option set at other levels like server, responsibility, user....level then reset them.

- Site Name

Q39. How to retrieve SYSADMIN password ?

Ans: If forgot password link is enabled and sysadmin account is configured with mail id user forget password link else you can reset sysadmin password via FNDCPASS.

Q40. If you have done two node Installation, First machine : Database and concurrent processing server. 2nd machine: form,web Which machine have admin server/node?

Ans: Admin server will always reside on machine where Concurrent Processing Resides.

Q41. What is GWYUID, Where GWYUID defined & what is its used in Oracle Applications ?

Ans: GWYUID , stands for Gateway User ID and password. Usually like APPLSYSPUB/PUB
GWYUID is defined in dbc i.e. Database Connect Descriptor file . It is used to connect to database by think clients.

Q42. Whats is TWO_TASK in Oracle Database ?

Ans: TWO_TASK mocks your tns alias which you are going to use to connect to database. Lets assume you have database client with tns alias defined as PROD to connect to Database PROD on machine teachmeoracle.com listening on port 1521. Then usual way to connect is sqlplus username/passwd@PROD ; now if you don't want to use @PROD then you set TWO_TASK=PROD and then can simply use sqlplus username/passwd then sql will check that it has to connect to tnsalias define by value PROD i.e. TWO_TASK

Q43. What is difference between GUEST_USER_PWD (GUEST/ORACLE) & GWYUID ?

Ans: GUEST_USER_PWD(Guest/Oracle) is used by JDBC Thin Client where as GWYUID is used by Thick Clients like via Forms Connections.

Q44. How to check number of forms users at any time ?

Ans: Forms Connections initiate f60webmx connections so you can use
ps -ef | grep f60webmx | wc -l

Q45. What is 0 & Y in FNDCPASS, FNDLOAD or WFLOAD ?

Ans: 0 & Y are flags for FND Executable like FNDCPASS & FNDLOAD where
0 is request id (request ID 0 is assigned to request ID's which are not submitted via Submit Concurrent Request Form.
'Y' indicates the method of invocation. i.e. it is directly invoked from the command-line not from the Submit Request Form.

Q46. In a Multi Node Installation, How will you find which node is running what Services ?

Ans: You can query for table FND_NODES and check for column , SUPPORT_CP ( for Concurrent Manager) SUPPORT_FORMS ( for forms server) , SUPPPORT_WEB (Web Server), SUPPORT_ADMIN( Admin Server), and SUPPORT_DB for database tier.
You can also check same from CONTEXT File (xml file under APPL_TOP/admin)


Q47. If your system has more than one Jinitiator, how will the system know, which one to pick. ?

Ans: When client makes a forms connection in Oracle Applications, forms client session uses configuration file defined by environment variable FORMS60_WEB_CONFIG_FILE also called as appsweb config file. These days this file is of format appsweb_$CONTEXT.cfg The initiator version number defined by parameter jinit_ver_name in this file will be used

Q48. While applying Apps patch using adpatch, if you want to hide the apps password, how will that be possible ?

Ans: using flags=hidepw

Q49. What is importance of IMAP Server in Java Notification Mailer ?

Ans: IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol and Java Notification mailer require IMAP server for Inbound Processing of Notification Mails.

Q50. What is difference between Socket & Servlet Mode in Apps Forms ?

Ans: When forms run SOCKET Mode these are dedicated connection between Client Machine & Form Server (Started by adfrmctl.sh). When Forms run in servlet mode the forms requests are fulfilled by Jserv in Apache . There will be additional JVM for Forms Request in that case and you won't start form via adfrmctl.sh.

Q51. a. How to find OUI version ?
b. How to find Database version ?
c. How to find Oracle Workflow Cartridge Release Version ?
d. How to find opatch Version ?
e. How to find Version of Apps 11i ?
f. How to Discoverer Version installed with Apps ?
g. How to find Workflow Version embedded in Apps 11i ?
h. How to find version of JDK Installed on Apps ?

Ans: OUI
***
OUI stands for Oracle Universal Installer. In order to find Installer version you have to execute ./runInstaller -help ( From OUI location)
You will get output like
Oracle Universal Installer, Version 10.1.0.4.0 Production Copyright (C) 1999, 2005, Oracle. All rights reserved.
That means OUI version in above case is 10.1.0.4
OUI location is $ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin

DB
**
select * from v$version;

Oracle Workflow
***************
Log in to the database as the owf_mgr user and issue
select wf_core.translate('WF_VERSION') from dual;

Opatch
*******
$ORACLE_HOME/OPatch/opatch version

Apps
****
select RELEASE_NAME from fnd_product_groups;

Discoverer
**********
Discoverer with Apps installed in ORACLE_HOME same as 806 is usually 3i or 4i. To find Version login to Application Tier & go to $ORACLE_HOME/discwb4/bin and execute
strings dis4ws | grep -i 'discoverer version'

Workflow embedded in 11i
************************
Run following SQL from apps user ;
SQL>select TEXT from WF_RESOURCES where NAME='WF_VERSION';

You should see output like
TEXT
-----------------------
2.6.0
Which means you are on Workflow Version 2.6.0

You can also use script wfver.sql in FND_TOP/sql to find version of workflow in Apps.

JDK in Apps
***********
There might be multiple JDK installed on Operating System . Like JDK 1.3.1, 1.4.2 or 1.5 but in order to find which Version of JDK your Apps is using
Open your Context File $SID_$HOSTNAME.xml under $APPL_TOP/admin and look for variable
JDK_TOP oa_var="s_jdktop" what so ever value assigned against that parameter go to that directory & cd bin & execute command
./java -version so lets assume entry above is /usr/jdk then cd /usr/jdk/bin & ./java -version , you will see output like

java version "1.4.2_10"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_10-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_10-b03, mixed mode)
Which means you are using JDK 1.4.2 in Oracle Applications 11i.

Q52. If by mistake you/someone deleted FNDLIBR can this executable be restored if Yes, How & if no, what will you do ?

Ans: Yes, you can restore FNDLIBR executables
Run adadmin on concurrent manager node
select option 2. Maintain Applications Files menu
then select 1. Relink Applications programs
when prompts for
Enter list of products to link ('all' for all products) [all]
select FND
when prompt for
Generate specific executables for each selected product [No] ? YES
select YES
& from list of executables select FNDLIBR
This will create new FNDLIBR executables.

Q53. What is .pls files which you see with apps ?

Ans: pls file stands for plsql files. In apps patch these files contain code to create package spec or package body or both.

Q54. What are .ldt & .lct files which you see in apps patch or with FNDLOAD ?

Ans: .ldt & .lct stands for Loader datafile & Loader configuration files, used frequently in migrating customization, profile options, configuration data, etc.. across Instances.

Q55. What are .odf file in apps patch ?

Ans: odf stands for Object Description Files used to create tables & other database objects.

Q56. What to find Form Server log files in forms ?

Ans: Form Server Start up log file default location is $OAD_TOP/admin/log/$CONTEXT_NAME/f60svrm.txt
Forms Run Time Diagnostics default location is $ORACLE_HOME/forms60/log/$CONTEXT_NAME

Q57. How to convert pll to pld file or pld file to pll ?

Ans: Pll->Pld f60gen module=MSCOSCW3.pll module_type=library userid=apps/ module_access=file output_file=MSCOSCW1.pld script=yes

Pld -> pll f60gen module=MSCOSCW3.pld userid=apps/ module_type=library module_access=file output_file=MSCOSCW1.pll parse=y batch=yes compile_all=special

Q58. Is APPS_MRC Schema exists for MRC in 11.5.10 and higher ?

Ans: No , apps_mrc schema is dropped with 11.5.10 Upgrade & 11.5.10 new Install. This is replaced by more Integrated Architecture.

Q59.If APPS_MRC schema is not used in 11.5.10 and higher then How MRC is working ?

Ans: For products like Payable, Recievables which uses MRC and if MRC is enabled then each transaction table in base schema related to currency now has an assoicated MRC Subtables.

Q60. When you apply C driver patch does it require database to be Up & Why ?

Ans: Yes , database & db listener should be Up when you apply any driver patch in apps. even if driver is not updating any database object connection is required to validate apps & other schema and to upload patch history information in database tables.

Q61. Can C driver in apps patch create Invalid Object in database ?

Ans: No , C driver only copies files in File System. Database Object might be invalidated during D driver when these objects are created/dropped/modified.

Q.62 Why does a worker fails in Oracle Apps Patch and few scenarios in which it failed for you ?

Ans: This question sounds stupid but this is asked quite often in Apps DBA Interview. Apps Patch worker can fail in case it doesn't find expected data, object, files or any thing which driver is trying to update/edit/modify. Possible symptoms may be underlying tables/objects are invalid, a prereq patch is missing , login information is incorrect, inconsistency in seeded data...

Q63. What is dev60cgi & f60cgi ?

Ans: cgi stands for Common Gateway Interface and these are Script Alias in Oracle Apps used to access forms server . Usually Form Server access directly via http://hostname:port/dev60cgi/f60cgi

Q64. What is difference between mod_osso & mod_ose in Oracle HTTP Server ?

Ans: mod_osso is Oracle Single Sign-On Module where as mod_ose is module for Oracle Servlet Engine.
mod_osso is module in Oracle's HTTP Server serves as Conduit between Oracle Apache Server & Singl Sign-On Server where as mod_ose is also another module in Oracle's HTTP Server serves as conduit between Oracle Apache & Oracle Servlet Engine.

Q65. What is difference between COMPILE_ALL=SPECIAL and COMPILE=ALL while compiling Forms ?

Ans: Both the options will compile all the PL/SQL in the resultant .FMX, .PLX, or .MMX file but COMPILE_ALL=YES also changes the cached version in the source .FMB, .PLL, or .MMB file. This confuses version control and build tools (CVS, Subversion, make, scons); they believe you've made significant changes to the source. COMPILE_ALL=SPECIAL does not do this.

Q66. What is ps -ef or ps command in Unix ? for work ex < 1 yr

Ans: ps is unix/linux utility or executable to find status of process. Used mainly to find if services/process is running or not.

Q67. What is GSM in Oracle application E-Business Suite ?

Ans: GSM stands for Generic Service Management Framework. Oracle E-Business Suite consist of various compoennts like Forms, Reports, Web Server, Workflow, Concurrent Manager ..
Earlier each service used to start at their own but managing these services (given that) they can be on various machines distributed across network. So Generic Service Management is extension of Concurrent Processing which manages all your services , provide fault tolerance (If some service is down ICM through FNDSM & other processes will try to start it even on remote server) With GSM all services are centrally managed via this Framework.

Q68. What is FNDSM ?

Ans: FNDSM is executable & core component in GSM ( Generic Service Management Framework discussed above). You start FNDSM services via APPS listener on all Nodes in Application Tier in E-Business Suite.

Q69. What is iAS Patch ?

Ans: iAS Patch are patches released to fix bugs associated with IAS_ORACLE_HOME (Web Server Component) Usually these are shiiped as Shell scripts & you apply iAS patches by executing Shell script. Note that by default ORACLE_HOME is pointing to 8.0.6 ORACLE_HOME and if you are applying iAS patch export ORACLE_HOME to iAS . You can do same by executing environment file under $IAS_ORACLE_HOME

Q70. If we run autoconfig which files will get effected ?

Ans: n order to check list of files changes during Autoconfig , you can run adchkcfg utility which will generate HTML report. This report will list all files & profile options going to change when you run AutoConfig.

Q71. What is difference between .xml file & AutoConfig ?

Ans: Autoconfig is Utility to configure your Oracle Application environment. .xml file is repository of all configuration from which AutoConfig picks configuration and polulates related files.

Q72. What is .lgi files ?

Ans: gi files are created with patching along with .log files . .lgi files are informative log files containing information related to patch. You can check .lgi files to see what activities patch has done. Usually informative logs.

Q73. How will you skip worker during patch ?

Ans: f in your adctrl there are six option shown then seventh is hidden option.(If there are seven options visible then 8th option is to Skip worker depending on ad version).

Q74. Which two tables created at start of Apps Patch & drops at end of Patch ?

Ans: FND_INSTALLED_PROCESSES &AD_DEFFERED_JOBS are the tables that get updated while applying a patch mainly d or unified driver.

Q75. How to compile an Oracle Reports file ?

Ans: Utility adrepgen is used to compile Reports. Synatx is given below

adrepgen userid=apps\ source = $PRODUCT_TOP\srw\filename.rdf dest=$PRODUCT_TOP\srw\filename.rdf stype=rdffile dtype=rdffile logfile=x.log overwrite=yes batch=yes dunit=character

Q76. What is difference between AD_BUGS & AD_APPLID_PATCHES ?

Ans: AD_BUGS holds information about the various Oracle Applications bugs whose fixes have been applied (ie. patched) in the Oracle Applications installation.
AD_APPLIED_PATCHES holds information about the "distinct" Oracle Applications patches that have been applied. If 2 patches happen to have the same name but are different in content (eg. "merged" patches), then they are considered distinct and this table will therefore hold 2 records.

Q77. What exactly happens when you put an Oracle Apps instance in maintenance mode ?

Ans: Maintenance mode provides a clear separation between normal runtime operation of Oracle Applications and system downtime for maintenance. Enabling the maintenance mode feature
a) shuts down the Workflow Business Events System and
b) sets up function security so that no Oracle Applications functions are available to users.

Used only during AutoPatch sessions, maintenance mode ensures optimal performance and reduces downtime when applying a patch. (Source Metalink Note: 233044.1)

Q78. What is profile options, What are various type of profile options ?

Ans:

Q79. If users complaining Oracle Applications 11i system is running slow , what all things you will check at broad level ?

Ans:

Q80. Why appsutil directory under Database ORACLE_HOME used for ?

Ans: All the template files, startup scripts , XML files are maintained here .

Q81. How to create User in Oracle Applications 11i ? Can you delete a User ?

Ans: New User can be created using security-->Define-->User menu. No , user cannot be deleted but can be end-dated.

Q82. What is Single Sign On ? ( If you are using portal 3.0.9 or 10G )?

Ans: As name says Single-Sign On Server is set of services (Software) which enables login to Application once which will allow you to login to Ppartner Applications with no need to login again. Lets assume I have configured single SSO Server for Portal , E-Business Suite, Collaboration Suite plus some other other applications, Now if I login to any one of them & after that if I wish to login to other applications I should be able to login without supplying passwords again.


Q83. How to configure portal with 11i ? ( If you are using portal 3.0.9 or 10G )?

Q84. What is content of dbc file & why its important ?

Ans: DBC file is quite important as whenever Java or any other program like forms want to connect to database it uses dbc file. Typical entry in dbc file is
GUEST_USER_PWD
APPS_JDBC_URL
DB_HOST

Q85. There are lot of dbc file under $FND_SECURE, How its determined that which dbc file to use from $FND_SECURE ?

Ans: This value is determined from profile option "Applications Database ID".
The name can be picked from s_dbc_file_name in XML file.

Q86. Info Regarding Inventory.

Ans: What is oraInventory ?
oraInventory is repository (directory) which store/records oracle software products & their oracle_homes location on a machine. This Inventory now a days in XML format and called as XML Inventory where as in past it used to be in binary format & called as binary Inventory.
There are basically two kind of Inventory Global Inventory (also called as Central Inventory) and Local Inventory also called as Oracle Home Inventory.

Global Inventory ?
Global Inventory holds information about Oracle Products on a Machine. These products can be various oracle components like database, oracle application server, collaboration suite, soa suite, forms & reports or discoverer server . This global Inventory location will be determined by file oraInst.loc in /etc (on Linux) or /var/opt/oracle (solaris). If you want to see list of oracle products on machine check for file inventory.xml under ContentsXML in oraInventory (Please note if you have multiple global Inventory on machine check all oraInventory directories)

You will see entry like
HOME NAME="ORA10g_HOME" LOC="/u01/oracle/10.2.0/db" TYPE="O" IDX="1"/
...
...

Local Inventory ?
Inventory inside each Oracle Home is called as local Inventory or oracle_home Inventory. This Inventory holds information to that oracle_home only.

Can I have multiple Global Inventory on a machine ?
- Quite common questions is that can you have multiple global Inventory and answer is YES you can have multiple global Inventory but if your upgrading or applying patch then change Inventory Pointer oraInst.loc to respective location. If you are following single global Inventory and if you wish to uninstall any software then remove it from Global Inventory as well.

What to do if my Global Inventory is corrupted ?
- No need to worry if your global Inventory is corrupted, you can recreate global Inventory on machine using Universal Installer and attach already Installed oracle home by option
-attachHome

./runInstaller -silent -attachHome -invPtrLoc $location_to_oraInst.loc
ORACLE_HOME="Oracle_Home_Location" ORACLE_HOME_NAME="Oracle_Home_Name"
CLUSTER_NODES="{}"

Do I need to worry about oraInventory during oracle Apps 11i cloning ?
- No, Rapid Clone will update both Global & Local Inventory with required information , you don't have to worry about Inventory during Oracle Apps 11i cloning.

Q87. What is the database holding Capacity of Oracle ?

- database holding capacity of oracle 9i is 512 pb(peta bytes)
- database holding capacity of oracle 10 g is 8 trillion tera bytes

Q88. How to find Operation System Version (Unix/Linux) ?

For solaris use command
uname -a
You will see output like
For Solaris SunOS servername 5.8 Generic_117350-23 sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240
For RedHat Linux use command
cat /etc/*release*
You will see output like
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS release 3 (Taroon Update 6)

Which means you are on Solaris 5.8 or Linux AS 3 resp.

Q89. How to find if your Operating System is 32 bit or 64 Bit ?

For solaris use command
isainfo -v
If you see out put like
32-bit sparc applications
That means your O.S. is only 32 bit but if you see output like

64-bit sparcv9 applications
32-bit sparc applications
above means your o.s. is 64 bit & can support both 32 & 64 bit applications

Q90. Can I run 64 bit application on 32 bit Operating system ?

You can run 32 bit application (like oracle application server, web server, all oracle application server are 32 bit ) on both 32 /64 bit operating system but a 64 bit application like 64 bit database can run only on 64 bit operating system.

Q91. How to find if your database is 32 bit or 64 bit(Useful in applying Patches) ?

execute "file $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oracle" , you should see output like

/u01/db/bin/oracle: ELF 64-bit MSB executable SPARCV9 Version 1
which means you are on 64 bit oracle
If your oracle is 32 bit you should see output like
oracle: ELF 32-bit MSB executable SPARC Version 1
Now you know what should be bit of patch to download