Pro Oracle Fusion Applications

Installation and Administration

Tushar Thakker

Pro Oracle Fusion Applications

Tushar Thakker Param Labs Dubai, United Arab Emirates

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-0984-4 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-0983-7DOI 10.1007/978-1-4842-0983-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015949704

Copyright © 2015 by Tushar Thakker

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Dedicated to my parents, my beautiful wife Dipti and our beloved son Param.

Contents at a Glance

About the Author ...................................................................................................xvii

About the Technical Reviewer ................................................................................xix

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................xxi

Introduction ..........................................................................................................xxiii

■Part I: Introduction ............................................................................. 1

■Chapter 1: Introduction to Oracle Fusion Applications .......................................... 3

■Part II: Planning ................................................................................ 23

■Chapter 2: Planning an Installation ..................................................................... 25

■Chapter 3: Preparing the Hosts for Provisioning ................................................. 53

■Part III: Installation ........................................................................... 77

■Chapter 4: Preparing the Identity Management Database .................................. 79

■Chapter 5: Prepare for Identity Management Provisioning ............................... 107

■Chapter 6: Provision Identity Management Environment .................................. 139

■Chapter 7: Post-Provisioning IDM Confi guration ............................................... 165

■Chapter 8: Creating Fusion Applications Transaction Database ........................ 195

■Chapter 9: Preparing for Fusion Applications Provisioning .............................. 241

■Chapter 10: Provisioning Oracle Fusion Applications Environment .................. 287

v

■ CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

vi

■Part IV: Administration ................................................................... 343

■Chapter 11: Understanding Oracle Fusion Applications Interface ..................... 345

■Chapter 12: Getting Started with Fusion Applications Administration .............. 375

■Chapter 13: Managing Fusion Applications Security ........................................ 441

■Chapter 14: Monitoring Fusion Applications Environment ................................ 479

■Chapter 15: Diagnosing and Troubleshooting .................................................... 521

■Chapter 16: Patching and Ongoing Administration ........................................... 559

Index ..................................................................................................................... 609

vii

Contents

About the Author ...................................................................................................xvii

About the Technical Reviewer ................................................................................xix

Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................xxi

Introduction ..........................................................................................................xxiii

■Part I: Introduction ............................................................................. 1

■Chapter 1: Introduction to Oracle Fusion Applications .......................................... 3

Overview of Oracle Fusion Applications ........................................................................... 3

What’s New in Oracle Fusion Applications? ........................................................................................... 4

Oracle Fusion Applications Product Families.......................................................................................... 7

Fusion Applications Architecture ...................................................................................... 8

Overall Technical Architecture .............................................................................................................. 10

Understanding a Typical Oracle WebLogic Server Domain ................................................................... 10

Oracle Identity Management Infrastructure .......................................................................................... 11

Oracle Fusion Applications Infrastructure............................................................................................. 13

Key Technology Stack Components ................................................................................ 16

Oracle Fusion Middleware Components ............................................................................................... 16

Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure Components ........................................................................ 18

Oracle Database ................................................................................................................................... 19

Fusion Applications Interaction with Identity Management ........................................... 19

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 22

■ CONTENTS

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■Part II: Planning ................................................................................ 23

■Chapter 2: Planning an Installation ..................................................................... 25

Individual Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................................. 25

Fusion Applications Topologies ...................................................................................... 27

Single-Tier Topology ............................................................................................................................. 27

Two-Tier Topologies .............................................................................................................................. 29

Three-Tier or Enterprise Topologies ...................................................................................................... 30

High-Availability Topologies .................................................................................................................. 36

Fusion Applications Directory Structure ......................................................................... 36

Oracle Identity Management Directory Structure ................................................................................. 37

Oracle Fusion Applications Directory Structure .................................................................................... 38

Planning an Installation Topology ................................................................................... 41

Deciding the Product Offerings To Be Provisioned ............................................................................... 41

Deciding the Installation Topology ........................................................................................................ 42

Memory Sizing for the Servers ............................................................................................................. 42

Planning Network and Storage ............................................................................................................. 49

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 52

■Chapter 3: Preparing the Hosts for Provisioning ................................................. 53

Introduction to the Provisioning Process ........................................................................ 53

Understanding Installation Orchestration ............................................................................................. 53

Classifi cation of Hosts for an Installation ............................................................................................. 54

Supported Component Versions ........................................................................................................... 55

Selected Topology for the Installation ................................................................................................... 56

Fusion Applications Provisioning Steps .......................................................................... 57

Provisioning Steps for Identity Management Components ................................................................... 57

Provisioning Steps for Fusion Applications Components ...................................................................... 61

Dependencies Between IDM and FA Provisioning Steps ...................................................................... 62

Creating the Installation Repository ............................................................................... 63

Directory Structure of the Installation Repository ................................................................................ 63

■ CONTENTS

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Preparing the Hosts Operating System .......................................................................... 68

Preparing Network and Name Resolution ............................................................................................ 69

Preparing Storage ................................................................................................................................. 70

Installing Required Operating System Packages .................................................................................. 70

Creating Operating System Users and Groups ..................................................................................... 72

Confi guring Required Kernel Parameters ............................................................................................. 72

Preparing Operating System for the Remaining Nodes ........................................................................ 74

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 75

■Part III: Installation ........................................................................... 77

■Chapter 4: Preparing the Identity Management Database .................................. 79

Installing the Database for IDM ...................................................................................... 79

Installing the Latest Version of the OPatch Utility ................................................................................. 88

Apply a Database Patch Set Update ..................................................................................................... 88

Apply Database Patches ....................................................................................................................... 90

Edit Recommended Database Parameters ........................................................................................... 91

Create XA Views as Prerequisites of the Repository Creation Utility .................................................... 92

Running the IDM Repository Creation Utility .................................................................. 92

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 105

■Chapter 5: Prepare for Identity Management Provisioning ............................... 107

Installing the IDM Provisioning Framework .................................................................. 107

Understanding the Directory Structure ............................................................................................... 114

Creating an IDM Provisioning Response File ................................................................ 116

Modify the IDM Provisioning Response File for Fusion Applications .................................................. 137

Copy Credentials Wallet File to DMZ Hosts (Optional) ......................................................................... 138

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 138

■Chapter 6: Provision Identity Management Environment .................................. 139

Identity Management Provisioning Interfaces .............................................................. 139

Identity Management Provisioning Phases .................................................................. 140

Possible States of an IDM Provisioning Phase.................................................................................... 141

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Provisioning Identity Management Using the Wizard ................................................... 142

IDM Provisioning Wizard Layout During the Provisioning Phases ....................................................... 146

Provisioning Using the Command-Line Interface (CLI) ................................................. 158

Run Preverify Phase ........................................................................................................................... 159

Run Install Phase ................................................................................................................................ 159

Run Preconfi gure Phase ..................................................................................................................... 160

Run Confi gure Phase .......................................................................................................................... 160

Run Confi gure Secondary Phase ........................................................................................................ 160

Run Post Confi gure Phase .................................................................................................................. 161

Run Startup Phase .............................................................................................................................. 161

Run Validate Phase ............................................................................................................................. 162

Restarting After a Failed Installation ............................................................................ 162

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 164

■Chapter 7: Post-Provisioning IDM Confi guration ............................................... 165

Validating the Oracle Identity Management Installation ............................................... 165

Validating the OID and OVD ................................................................................................................. 165

Validating the Oracle HTTP Server ...................................................................................................... 166

Validating the Oracle Directory Service Manager ............................................................................... 167

Validating Admin and Managed Servers ............................................................................................. 172

Validating the Oracle Identity Manager .............................................................................................. 177

Validating the Oracle Access Manager ............................................................................................... 177

Validating the Oracle SOA Instance .................................................................................................... 178

Performing the Post-Provisioning Confi guration .......................................................... 180

Correcting the Data Source Confi guration .......................................................................................... 180

Updating the Oracle HTTP Server Runtime Parameters ..................................................................... 184

Backing Up the IDM Confi guration File ............................................................................................... 184

Post-Provisioning Steps for the Oracle Identity Manager ................................................................... 185

Post-Provisioning Steps for Oracle Access Manager .......................................................................... 188

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 194

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■Chapter 8: Creating Fusion Applications Transaction Database ........................ 195

Current Status of Provisioning ...................................................................................... 195

Install Fusion Applications Provisioning Framework .................................................... 197

Preparing Fusion Applications Database ...................................................................... 203

Install JDK ........................................................................................................................................... 205

Installing Fusion Applications Transaction Database .......................................................................... 205

Running Fusion Applications Repository Creation Utility .................................................................... 217

Fusion Applications Schemas and Tablespaces ........................................................... 237

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 239

■Chapter 9: Preparing for Fusion Applications Provisioning .............................. 241

Installing Provisioning Framework ............................................................................... 241

Fusion Applications Provisioning Framework Directory Structure ..................................................... 242

Install JDK ........................................................................................................................................... 243

Copy Required Libraries to WebGate Installer Directory ..................................................................... 243

Creating the Fusion Applications Response File .......................................................... 245

Update an Existing Provisioning Response File .................................................................................. 282

Creating a New Response File for Extending an Existing Environment .............................................. 285

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 286

■Chapter 10: Provisioning Oracle Fusion Applications Environment .................. 287

Current Status of the Provisioning Process .................................................................. 287

Fusion Applications Provisioning Phases ..................................................................... 289

Important Input Files Used During Provisioning ................................................................................. 292

Important Output Files Created During Provisioning .......................................................................... 298

Provision Fusion Applications Environment ................................................................. 302

Provisioning Through the Graphical interface ..................................................................................... 303

Provisioning Through the Command-Line Interface ........................................................................... 303

Multi-Host Installation of Fusion Applications .................................................................................... 304

Begin the installation .......................................................................................................................... 306

Manually Validating the Installation .................................................................................................... 338

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 341

■ CONTENTS

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■Part IV: Administration ................................................................... 343

■Chapter 11: Understanding Oracle Fusion Applications Interface ..................... 345

Getting Started with Fusion Applications Interface ...................................................... 345

Fusion Applications User Interface Layout ......................................................................................... 347

Logging into Oracle Fusion Applications ...................................................................... 349

Common Features Across Fusion Applications ............................................................ 350

Settings and Actions Menu ................................................................................................................. 350

Help .................................................................................................................................................... 351

Dashboards ......................................................................................................................................... 353

Navigator ............................................................................................................................................ 355

Watchlist ............................................................................................................................................. 356

Worklist and Notifi cations ................................................................................................................... 357

Personalization ................................................................................................................................... 358

Favorites and Recent Items ................................................................................................................ 363

Search ................................................................................................................................................ 366

Analytics/Reports ............................................................................................................................... 367

ADF Desktop Integration ..................................................................................................................... 368

Collaboration....................................................................................................................................... 368

Scheduled Processes ......................................................................................................................... 371

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 374

■Chapter 12: Getting Started with Fusion Applications Administration .............. 375

Starting Fusion Applications Environment ................................................................... 375

Starting Identity Management Database ............................................................................................ 377

Starting Identity Management Middle Tier Components .................................................................... 386

Starting Fusion Applications Transaction Database ............................................................................ 400

Starting Fusion Applications Middle Tier Components ....................................................................... 403

Stopping Fusion Applications Environment .................................................................. 415

Stopping Fusion Applications Middle Tier Components ...................................................................... 416

Stopping the Fusion Applications Transaction Database .................................................................... 419

Stopping Identity Management Middle Tier Components ................................................................... 420

Stopping Identity Management Database........................................................................................... 423

■ CONTENTS

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Overview of the Fusion Functional Setup Manager ...................................................... 424

Navigating Through the Functional Setup Manager ........................................................................... 424

Fusion Applications Implementation Overview ................................................................................... 425

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 440

■Chapter 13: Managing Fusion Applications Security ........................................ 441

Components Involved in Common Security Setup ....................................................... 441

Oracle Internet Directory .................................................................................................................... 441

Oracle Directory Service Manager ...................................................................................................... 441

Oracle Identity Manager ..................................................................................................................... 442

Fusion Functional Setup Manager ...................................................................................................... 442

Authorization Policy Manager ............................................................................................................. 442

Fusion Applications Roles ............................................................................................ 442

Types of Fusion Applications Roles ..................................................................................................... 443

Accessing the Roles from Multiple Interfaces .................................................................................... 445

Looking Up Users and Roles in Database Tables ................................................................................ 447

Setting Up Users and Roles Synchronization ............................................................... 450

Oracle Identity Manager LDAP Reconciliation Jobs ............................................................................ 451

Fusion Applications LDAP Synchronization Tasks ............................................................................... 455

Fusion Applications Initial Security Setup .................................................................... 458

Update Fusion Applications Administration Super User ..................................................................... 459

Setting Up the IT Security Administrator Role .................................................................................... 459

Creating the IT Security Administrator User ....................................................................................... 464

Run User and Roles Synchronization Process .................................................................................... 471

Creating Implementation Users .......................................................................................................... 472

Create Data Roles for Implementation Users ...................................................................................... 473

Assign Roles to Implementation Users ............................................................................................... 475

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 477

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■Chapter 14: Monitoring Fusion Applications Environment ................................ 479

Understanding the Role of Cloud Control ..................................................................... 479

Installing and Confi guring Cloud Control ...................................................................... 481

Installing Oracle Database for Cloud Control ...................................................................................... 481

Installing Enterprise Manager Cloud Control ...................................................................................... 483

Confi guring Fusion Applications with Cloud Control ........................................................................... 488

Monitoring the Fusion Applications Environment ......................................................... 503

Understanding the Fusion Applications Product Family Homepage ................................................... 503

Fusion Applications Product Homepage ............................................................................................. 508

Monitoring Fusion Middleware ..................................................................................... 509

Monitoring Enterprise Scheduler ........................................................................................................ 511

Monitoring a Database ................................................................................................. 513

Confi guring Common Monitoring Features .................................................................. 514

Setting Up Notifi cations ...................................................................................................................... 514

Using EM Blackouts ............................................................................................................................ 516

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 519

■Chapter 15: Diagnosing and Troubleshooting .................................................... 521

Troubleshooting Tools and Features ............................................................................. 521

Important Files Related to the Topology ............................................................................................. 521

Problems and Incidents ...................................................................................................................... 523

Log Viewer .......................................................................................................................................... 525

QuickTrace .......................................................................................................................................... 528

Diagnostic Dashboard ......................................................................................................................... 531

Tracing Fusion Applications Issues at Database Level ................................................. 535

Tracing Fusion Applications Sessions ................................................................................................. 536

Tracing Scheduled Job Sessions ........................................................................................................ 539

Troubleshooting Enterprise Scheduler ......................................................................... 541

Understanding Enterprise Scheduler Jobs execution ......................................................................... 541

Enterprise Scheduler Health Check .................................................................................................... 546

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Troubleshooting JVM Performance .............................................................................. 548

Enabling JVM Diagnostics .................................................................................................................. 548

Accessing JVM Diagnostics Homepage .............................................................................................. 550

Troubleshooting Using JVMD Features ............................................................................................... 552

Live JVM Thread Analysis ................................................................................................................... 554

JVM Thread Dumps ............................................................................................................................. 555

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 557

■Chapter 16: Patching and Ongoing Administration ........................................... 559

Understanding Patching Fundamentals ....................................................................... 559

Types of Patches ................................................................................................................................. 559

Patching Methods ............................................................................................................................... 561

Applying Technology Stack Patches ............................................................................. 562

P4FA (Patches for Fusion Applications) Directory Structure ............................................................... 562

FASPOT Utility Directory Structure ...................................................................................................... 564

FASPOT (P4FA) Patching Steps ........................................................................................................... 565

Applying Applications Patches ..................................................................................... 578

Using Fusion Applications Patch Manager ......................................................................................... 579

Manually Applying Patches .......................................................................................... 592

Manual Patching Using AutoPatch (adpatch.sh) ................................................................................. 592

Manual Patching Using OPatch ........................................................................................................... 594

Performing Maintenance Tasks .................................................................................... 595

Using AD Administration Utility ........................................................................................................... 595

Backup and Restore ..................................................................................................... 599

Types of Files to Be Backed Up........................................................................................................... 600

Backing Up the Fusion Applications Environment .............................................................................. 602

Restoring Fusion Applications Environment ....................................................................................... 605

Summary ...................................................................................................................... 607

Index ..................................................................................................................... 609

About the Author

Tushar Thakker is a Senior Oracle Architect and an avid technology blogger. He is a Certified Oracle Apps DBA and Project Management Professional (PMP). He has more than 13 years of experience working on various Oracle products with some of the top technology giants, including Oracle and EMC as well as government organizations in India and UAE. Tushar is the founder of a technology startup called Param Labs and the well-known Oracle education blog OraTraining.com , where he writes a number of step-by-step guides for various Oracle products and their new releases. He also runs a free Oracle troubleshooting portal named OraSupport.com , where he resolves any Oracle-related issues faced by users. Tushar believes in spreading Oracle knowledge to as many people as possible, hence creating a larger Oracle user community.

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About the Technical Reviewer

Dhananjay Papde has extensive IT experience on Oracle databases, the E-Business Suite, and BI. He is a lead specialist and Oracle Technical Architect at SITA in the UK. He is the author of Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Administration Cookbook and was also the technical Reviewer of the book entitled Pro Oracle Fusion Applications: Installation and Administration. He is an Oracle ACE Associate and won the Oracle Fusion Middleware Innovation Award at Oracle Open World 2011. He has been a speaker at various events, including Oracle Open World 2013, 2014, UKOUG Annual Conferences in 2012, Tech13, Apps14 and SIG, and Oracle Data Innovation Forum in London and Dublin.

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Acknowledgments

This book couldn’t have been conceptualized without the overwhelming support from the users of my blog OraTraining.com , who recognized my efforts in bringing Oracle Fusion Applications knowledge to everyone at the time when there were limited online resources available. The feedback from my blog users, along with their success stories, encouraged me to spread the knowledge to a larger audience through this book.

I would like to thank my friend Anil Passi (founder of apps2fusion.com and author of several Oracle Applications books) for encouraging me to write this book. I sincerely thank the entire Apress Editorial team, especially Jonathan Gennick who gave me an opportunity to write this book, Douglas Pundick who guided me in every aspect of this project by providing best practices for authors, Jill Balzano who has been tremendously helpful throughout the book by answering all my queries in detail, and Dhanajay Papde who carefully reviewed all the chapters and provided accurate technical suggestions from an existing Oracle Applications Administrator’s point of view. I must also thank all those who have helped directly or indirectly in my career to reach this stage, including but not limited to Raj Adigal, Palani Ramasamy, Banakar Basavaraj, Gautam Thakkar, Dr. Sabri Al Azazi, Jose Jayapal, and Rochak Puri.

Last but not the least, this book would not have been complete without exceptional support from my dear wife Dipti and our little son Param, who allowed me to spend countless days focusing on Oracle Fusion Applications when it was in its early stages as well as while writing this book despite the constant humming of the servers at home which hosted the Fusion Applications instance for this book. At the same time, the constant encouragement from my parents to learn from failure helped me stay strong through a number of challenges while installing initial versions of Fusion Applications on modest hardware.

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Introd uction

Oracle Fusion Applications is an evolving product and at present has matured enough for Oracle customers to start implementing it or plan their applications roadmap accordingly. Lately there have been many new projects kicking off and the curiosity toward Oracle Fusion Applications is constantly increasing. Since Oracle is investing heavily in Oracle Fusion Applications development and marketing, having this essential installation and administration book with practical tips will boost your confidence when building an on-premise implementation of Fusion Applications. This book will prove to be a must-have handbook for anyone planning an implementation of Oracle Fusion Applications.

How This Book Came About I started working on Oracle Fusion Applications installation since its early releases and I can assure you that the installation process has evolved and improved a lot since then. After successfully completing the Fusion Applications installation on various releases, I noticed that a large number of users were facing difficulties in the provisioning process due to the complexity involved as well as because there was no step-by-step handbook available at that time. I started helping a large number of Fusion Applications aspirants through my blog and it was fulfilling to see a number of blog users successfully completing the tedious process of Fusion Applications installation using my step-by-step guides. Based on their success stories, I decided to share my experiences with a large number of readers using this comprehensive book.

Most of the examples in this book are from actual installations. I have been supporting a very large number of Fusion Applications aspirants during their Fusion Applications installation and helping them with various issues reported by them during provisioning process.

What You Will Learn • Understand the Fusion Applications architecture and how it maps to your physical

infrastructure

• Design network and storage topologies to support your installation

• Provision Identity Management to control and manage the applications access

• Provision an Oracle Fusion Applications environment

• Manage those environments on an ongoing basis

• Identify, diagnose, and resolve the day-to-day problems

• Understand types of Fusion Applications patches and various methods to apply them on a regular basis

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■ INTRODUCTION

xxiv

Who This Book Is For Oracle Fusion Applications is one of the most anticipated knowledge upgrades for most professionals in the Oracle Applications domain. Pro Oracle Fusion Applications is aimed at following the audience as well as all those who are involved in the technical aspects of standing up an on-premise installation of Oracle Fusion Applications. This includes:

• Oracle Database Administrators and Applications DBAs

• WebLogic Administrators

• Oracle Identity Management Administrators

• System Architects

• Technical consultants

• Application Implementers and Administrators

• Oracle Partners and System Integrators

• End-user clients planning to implement Oracle Fusion Applications

How This Book Is Structured Pro Oracle Fusion Applications is organized into 16 chapters divided in four main sections. The book begins with an introduction to Oracle Fusion Applications followed by planning for the installation. Later it explains the end-to-end installation process followed by the day-to-day administration of the installed environment. In order to maintain the logical flow of the content, it is strongly recommended that you read the chapters in the given order.

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1 : Introduction to Oracle Fusion Applications We will begin with introducing Oracle Fusion Applications and the product families included in the

suite along with their adoption options for new as well as existing Oracle customers. Later we will explain the Fusion Applications architecture along with explaining the key components or building blocks of the Fusion Applications instance, including the Oracle Identity Management infrastructure and how they interact. We will also look at the standard-based business process model and security model of Oracle Fusion Applications.

Part II Planning

Chapter 2 : Planning an Installation We begin this chapter with roles and responsibilities of various individuals involved in the entire

process of planning, provisioning, and managing an Oracle Fusion Applications environment. We look at various possible topologies for Oracle Fusion Applications and learn how to choose the best suitable topology and required hardware for a specific installation. You also learn how to plan the required hardware, network, and storage configuration based on your business requirements. You also learn how to calculate the memory requirement for your installation based on the selected product configurations.

Chapter 3 : Setting Up the Hosts for Provisioning In this chapter, we first discuss the concepts of end-to-end Fusion Applications provisioning process.

We will explore the role of each physical host of the selected topology and learn how to group them among Identity Management nodes and Fusion Applications nodes. We will discuss the steps involved in the provisioning process along with the dependencies among the steps. Later you will learn how to prepare the selected hosts for provisioning, including required operating system, network, and storage.

■ INTRODUCTION

xxv

Part III Installation

Chapter 4 : Creating Identity Management Database This chapter deals with various options for preparing the Oracle Database to host Identity Management

components. We look at installing the Identity Management database, applying required database patches, as well as creating the required schemas using the Repository Creation Utility for Identity Management.

Chapter 5 : Preparing for Identity Management Provisioning In this chapter, we discuss the structure of the Identity Management Provisioning framework and

discuss how to install it on all Identity Management hosts of the selected topology. Later we look at the importance of the Identity Management provisioning response file and explore step-by-step instructions on creating them. We look at the importance of each of the parameters being stored while going through the relevant screens during the response file creation.

Chapter 6 : Provisioning Identity Management Environment This chapter provides a step-by-step guide on provisioning an Oracle Identity Management

environment, which is a prerequisite for the Fusion Applications installation. We will explore the various graphical as well as command-line interfaces available to provision the Identity Management components. This chapter also explains how to deal with failed Identity Management installations and restart them manually.

Chapter 7 : Post-Provisioning Configuration for Identity Management Nodes This chapter concludes the Identity Management provisioning section by explaining how to validate

the installed Identity Management components and perform the post-provisioning configuration for each of these components. These post-provisioning configuration steps prepare the Identity Management environment to be used with any fresh installation of Fusion Applications.

Chapter 8 : Creating Fusion Applications Transaction Database This chapter explains how to prepare the Fusion Applications Transaction database using the

provisioning framework provided with the installation repository. We begin with learning how to install the Fusion Applications provisioning framework on the database nodes followed by how to use it to create a fresh transaction database with required patches and updates pre-installed. You also see how to run the Repository Creation Utility to prepare Fusion Applications-related schemas.

Chapter 9 : Preparing for Fusion Applications Provisioning This is a very important chapter before we look at the actual provisioning process since it deals with

preparing the Fusion Applications provisioning response file. During the response file creation we explore all the important parameters required for setting up an Oracle Fusion Applications environment. We begin with understanding the directory structure and various options available with the provisioning framework. We prepare a response file based on the selected topology. We also have a look at updating an existing response file as well as creating one for extending an existing Applications environment.

Chapter 10 : Provisioning Fusion Applications Environment In this final chapter of the Fusion Applications installation, we look at the automated installation

orchestration using the graphical wizard as well as the command-line interface. We look at the important input files used by the provisioning process as well as various output files, logs, and flags created during the installation which aids us while troubleshooting the installation issues. We also learn how to restart a failed or aborted installation using automated or manual cleanup/restore procedures.

Part IV Administration

Chapter 11 : Understanding Fusion Applications Interface After the installation is complete, we will have a bird’s eye view of the applications interface. We learn

how Fusion Applications differs from existing Applications Suites in Oracle as well as other vendors and how it provides the most efficient way to perform various tasks from a single consolidated interface. After reading this chapter, you will be able to identify and use many aspects of the interface, including dashboards, navigation icons, and personalization tools. You will also quickly look the Enterprise Scheduler, including learning how it maps with traditional applications suites and how to submit an example scheduled request.

■ INTRODUCTION

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Chapter 12 : Getting Started with Administration From this chapter onward, we begin looking at Fusion Applications administration. First we explore the

various methods for starting up or stopping the complete Fusion Applications environment, including the Identity Management components. Later we look at Fusion Applications Functional Setup Manager and how it is one of the most important components for Administrators as well as Application Implementers.

Chapter 13 : Managing Fusion Applications Security Fusion Applications Security Setup is one of the first administration tasks you may need to perform

before business users can start using the applications modules. We look at the role-based access control model of Fusion Applications along with various functional and data roles available. This chapter also explains how the roles are stored and synchronized between various Identity Management components. This chapter provides a step-by-step guide to setting up initial IT security-related roles and users.

Chapter 14 : Monitoring Fusion Applications Environment This chapter explains the importance of Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control in managing a

complete Fusion Applications environment, which replaces a number of individual Enterprise Managers and dashboards using a single consolidated interface. We look at the steps involved in installing Cloud Control software and it with all the components of Fusion Applications environment. We explore how we can leverage the consolidated interface of Cloud Control for monitoring every layer of Fusion Applications, including database, middleware and web tier. We also see how it compares to traditional monitoring interfaces used in earlier versions of Fusion Applications.

Chapter 15 : Diagnosing and Troubleshooting In this chapter, we discuss some of the most important Fusion Applications’ administrative tasks,

including diagnosing and troubleshooting various issues. Troubleshooting applications or database issues may involve liaising with multiple teams, including system administrators, network teams, core DBAs, and Identity Management specialists. We look at various steps involved in diagnosing and troubleshooting, including tracing the applications issues at the database level as well as troubleshooting them at the JVM level. This chapter also explains troubleshooting issues with Enterprise Scheduler jobs.

Chapter 16 : Patching and Ongoing Administration This chapters begins by explaining the various types of patches that are available for Fusion

Applications environment, including applications and middleware artifacts. We look at the different patching mechanisms or each of these patch types including manual patching as well as patch automation utilities. Later we look at ongoing administration of Fusion Applications, including maintenance of the applications file system as well as database objects. We conclude the chapter by looking at the recommended practices for backing up and restoring the entire Fusion Applications environment.

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Contacting the Author If you have any questions regarding the book, please feel free to contact me directly at the following email address: tushar@paramlabs.com or at Twitter@tusharthakker .