Oracle 12c | Reports | Standalone server

On January 14, 2016July 24, 2022 By windows7bugsIn Oracle related, Weblogic, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.16 Comments

Hi guys

One of my close associates & a person I respect as a legend, Iudith said the following with one of her recent mails to me:

“Regarding all this WebLogic issue … I have a feeling that Oracle “used a cannon for killing a fly” ………
Maybe that complicated setup creates an environment which can support all kinds of other products,I really don’t know because I have mostly just heard about it.“

From Oracle’s perspectives, this approach may provide them better scalability, however how far such complexities will appease the developer crowd remains a big concern.

While the modernization of Oracle forms and reports, the maximum sought legacy development means remain a frequently sought and discussed topic, Oracle is definitely NOT doing enough to regain the confidence of mortals who spent decades developing, especially by making each and every newer versions difficult to install and setup.

Less said, let us go back to the topic, how to create and configure a standalone report server instance for 12c environment. This is my 3rd post in a row about installing and configuring 12c products related to Forms and Reports

I can’t exactly remember which document says “In-process reports server has better accountability against a standalone reports instance”. I have referred minimum couple of dozen 12c related documents and tens of blogs to setup stuffs. Without arguing whether in-process server or a standalone instance is better to cater the reports services, let me list the activities one have to perform in order to setup

Create a reports tools instance (Mandatory, if you are planning to use the same box for reports development)
Create a reports server instance (OPTIONAL, only if you want to host a standalone reports instance)

Start WLST(Weblogic Scripting Tool) console, and execute the below commands one after another (Make sure the node manager & the Weblogic admin server services are already started)

connect("weblogic","password", "localhost:7001")
createReportsToolsInstance(instanceName='rptools1', machine='AdminServerMachine')
createReportsServerInstance(instanceName='repsvr_MYMACHINENAME', machine='AdminServerMachine')
exit()

Once successfully completed, restart the WLS_REPORTS application using the weblogic admin console. Once bitten, twice shy…I always restart the weblogic admin server and other servers to make sure nothing is broken in between…(paranoid I must be)

Restarting the WLS_REPORTS server causes the weblogic server to configure the newly created instances of reports tools and reports instance. A successful completion let you

Start using the reports builder
Access the standalone reports server instance

You need minimal configurations for the standalone reports server instance. Just setup the reports (.rdf files) path, disable the security elements and you are online!

Assuming you have already configured the weblogic server components following the previous posts, switch to the reports instance configuration folder

eg: D:\Weblogic\Middleware\Oracle_Home\user_projects\domains\base_domain\
config\fmwconfig\components\ReportsServerComponent\repsvr_RAJESH-PC

Where repsvr_RAJESH-PC is the name of the reports instance I have created.

You need to modify the “rwserver.conf” file, please check the below image for details

Save the file and restart the WLS_REPORTS server, so that the last modifications are in place!

Now we have to start the reports instance.

Switch to DOMAIN_HOME\bin folder

eg: D:\Weblogic\Middleware\Oracle_Home\user_projects\domains\base_domain\bin

and run startComponent.cmd repsvr_RAJESH-PC

Please check the below image for details

Once the report server instance starts successfully, you are all set to.

Calling the new instance

http://rajesh-pc:7777/reports/rwservlet?usr&server=repsvr_RAJESH-PC&desformat=PDF&destype=cache&report=LIST_BANKS&paramform=Yes

That’s all folks, as you could see OHS automatically maps the new reports instance and directs the jobs to it.

for Windows7bugs

rajesh

Windows 8 | Wan miniport | device disconnected

On May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 By windows7bugsIn Windows 7, Windows 8Leave a comment

For unknown reasons, the Wan miniport(s) available with Windows 7/8 could start showing errors & giving the user no apparent solutions to fix them, including uninstalling them.

I had the same situation when all of a sudden one of my PPTP connections started giving errors like “Device disconnected”, properties for the PPTP connection not shown and not allowing me to delete the connection in the corrupt state.

After few attempts, I came across a workable solution, posted with Microsoft support site. Unfortunately, this time I forgot to bookmark the page, however, still remember the entire steps. Please find them listed below

View – > Show hidden devices

Right click the Wan Miniport device with yellow exclamation mark

(Enlarge the images for more details)

Now force install the driver. Once the installation is over, you can safely uninstall this device. Follow the same for all the Miniport devices those are showing the exclamation mark. Once you are done with the uninstall processes, don’t do anything else. Just restart the computer and start creating the VPN connections once again.

The above exercises must have fixed the Wan miniport issues for you.

Regards,

rajesh

Weblogic Server 10.3.6 64Bit on Windows | Difference between 32Bit Installation(s)

On January 24, 2015 By windows7bugsIn Weblogic, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1Leave a comment

Install & Configure Oracle Weblogic Server 10.3.6 & Forms & Reports 11g on Windows8/Windows 2008 R2

Was one of our maximum sought posts & recently I decided to go for a fresh installation of Weblogic 10.3.6 64Bit installation + Forms & reports 11g R2 64Bit. We repeat one of the best articles explain how to is available here and what we are going to provide you additional is few of the things those are different from a typical 32Bit installation.

JDK 8 is not supported (Or my two attempts didn’t bring any fruits)

Node Manager Windows service installation is not offered during the normal/custom installations. That means you MUST install the node manager service by running the .cmd file provided. Default location for the .cmd file is …\wlserver_10.3\server\bin and the file name is “installNodeMgrSvc.cmd”. You should execute this .cmd file from an elevated command prompt!

If you prefer to install a service for Admin server, we have altered the script a little bit and please find it below.

[code language=”text” gutter=”false”]
echo off

SETLOCAL

set DOMAIN_NAME=ClassicDomain

set USERDOMAIN_HOME=D:\WebLogic\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain

set SERVER_NAME=AdminServer

set WL_HOME=D:\WebLogic\wlserver_10.3

set WLS_USER=weblogic

set WLS_PW=pass123

set PRODUCTION_MODE=true

set MEM_ARGS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m

call "%USERDOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd"

call "%WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

ENDLOCAL

[/code]

I really hope the above tips will make your Weblogic installation more enjoyable.

regards,

rajesh

How to get a computer by computer view of installed software using the MAP toolkit

On November 23, 2014 By windows7bugsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As an Administrator maintaining Windows domains, one of the herculean tasks usually one run into is to make a software asset inventory. There are plenty of excellent software to do the job for you, obviously for some cost.

Here we are suggesting you a cheaper alternative, using Microsoft’s own MAP toolkit. Be ready to sweat a bit, and we are sure you would love the outcome.

The entire write up is copied from Microsoft blog and tested by us for assuring, if you follow the instructions as given, within few hours of time you will have a neat software inventory list.

The original link is here

One of the most frequent questions we get at MAPFDBK@microsoft.com is how to get a list of the software discovered by the MAP toolkit on a computer by computer basis. Most of the users who ask are using this to help them answer a licensing question but it can be used in a number of other scenarios as well for example Software Asset Management or user profiling for VDI (see http://blogs.technet.com/b/mapblog/archive/2012/07/09/planning-for-desktop-virtualization-with-the-map-toolkit-7-0-4-of-4.aspx).

In MAP 7.0, provided this information through a database view and Microsoft Excel. The name of the view is InstalledProducts_view.

In MAP 8.0, this view has been renamed to [UT_WinServer_Reporting].[InstalledProductsView].

This view contains several key pieces of information that you can use to do a number of things including:

Understand what applications and versions are installed throughout your organization
See the Operating Systems on which these apps are running and whether the machine is physical or virtual
See who is using the machines on which the apps are running
Get important license related information such as processor counts, total cores and logical processor counts

To get started, you will need to open Excel and connect to your local SQL Server database that is storing the MAP data that you want to view. There are two different ways to connect, depending on the version of SQL Server that you are using.

Using your own SQL Server instance

If you are using your own instance (the non-default MAP install), you will select the Data option on the Excel ribbon and select the ‘From other sources’ option. Then select ‘From SQL Server’.

Enter your server name and instance name and click ‘Next’.

Select the database that contains the data you want and then pick InstalledProducts_view row under ‘Name’ for databases created with MAP 7.0.

For MAP 8.0, use [UT_WinServer_Reporting].[InstalledProductsView].

You can also add some additional information to help describe the connection. Then click ‘Finish’ and select the location where you want the query results to populate.

Using the default (LocalDB) instance

In MAP 7.0, the default database installed moved to SQL Server 2012 LocalDB. There are a couple of steps that are different than those used in other versions of SQL Server.

First, make sure that you have the SQL Server 2012 Native Client installed. You can get it from

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29065.

With Excel open and the Data ribbon highlighted, select the ‘From other data sources’ option and select ‘From Data Connection Wizard’

Select the ‘Other/Advanced’ option.

Then select the option for SQL Server Native Client 11.0 as highlighted below. If this option is not available, make sure that you have the native client installed – http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29065.

Next, you enter in the server name. If you are using the default install the server name will be: (localdb)\maptoolkit.

Set the option in #2 to Use Windows NT Integrated Security

Hit ‘Test Connection’

If you’ve done it correctly, you will get a success message!

Then follow the same steps as above where you select the database name and the InstalledProducts_view for 7.0. For 8.0, use [UT_WinServer_Reporting].[InstalledProductsView].

Populate the results in your spreadsheet!

What do I do next?

Well – that is entirely up to you. One thing that we like to do is to create a pivot table and drill down into this information. Here is one that I created. I filtered down the application name to include only those that had SQL Server components. I could look at this by physical/virtual and by operating system.

Pretty cool – huh!

As a reminder, here is a link to some valuable MAP community supported content.

Enjoy!

Linux shell script file for Start/Stop Weblogic Services

On April 23, 2014April 23, 2014 By windows7bugsIn Linux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Oracle related, Weblogic, Windows 7, Windows 8Leave a comment

This time we are sharing a shell script for starting/stopping Weblogic services. This shell script can

Start Weblogic Admin Server (after starting Node Manager)
Once the Admin server started, you can start the forms and reports services using the Admin Console
Unless conflicts, you should able to access the Oracle enterprise manager console as well

Copy the content below in plain text file first, change the extension to .sh and set the execute permissions

[sourcecode language=”bash” gutter=”false” wraplines=”true”]
#!/bin/sh

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo "You must supply either start or stop command while calling this script! correct usage: weblogic_start_stop.sh start|stop"
exit
fi

bold=`tput bold`
normal=`tput sgr0`

case "$1" in
‘start’)
echo "Starting Management Node & Weblogic Server 10.3.6"

echo "Starting NodeManager"

nohup $WLS_HOME/server/bin/startNodeManager.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &

sleep 10

output=`ps -ef | grep -i nodemanager.javahome | grep -v grep | awk {‘print $2’} | head -1`

set $output

pid=$1

echo "Weblogic NodeManager Service was started with process id : ${bold}$pid${normal}"

echo "Starting WebLogic Domain"

nohup $MW_HOME/user_projects/domains/ClassicDomain/bin/startWebLogic.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &

# Sleep until exiting
sleep 60
echo "All done, exiting"
exit
esac

################################Stopping the services##################################

case "$1" in
‘stop’)
echo "Stopping Weblogic Server & Node Manager"

nohup $MW_HOME/user_projects/domains/ClassicDomain/bin/stopWebLogic.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &

sleep 30

# echo "Killing Nodemanager process now"

output=`ps -ef | grep -i nodemanager.javahome | grep -v grep | awk {‘print $2’} | head -1`
set $output
pid=$1
echo "Killing Weblogic NodeManager Service Process : ${bold}$pid${normal}"

kill -9 `ps -ef | grep -i nodemanager.javahome | grep -v grep | awk {‘print $2’} | head -1`

echo "All done, exiting"
exit
esac

[/sourcecode]

If you have queries, please ask them using comments section.

for Windows7bugs

rajesh

Oracle Reports Developer 10g starts, remains minimized

On March 20, 2014 By windows7bugsIn Oracle related, Weblogic, Windows 7, Windows 819 Comments

(Not tested on Windows XP)

We came across a small annoyance with Oracle product Reports developer 10g. We are yet to pin point the exact reasons, however, if you are experiencing the same issue which is as elaborated below:

Start Reports Developer 10g

Flash Screen appears

Then gets automatically minimized to the taskbar (Windows 7/8/8.1), and pointing the mouse shows the preview, as in below image.

However, clicking the preview window doesn’t bring up the Reports Builder 10g to maximized mode and remains unresponsive

What has changed from the last time the software was used?

We uninstalled and re-installed Weblogic Server 10.3.6 & Forms & Reports 11g R2, which has added multiple entries into the PATH environment variable. Order of path variable and pointers towards the java libraries are very sensitive for multiple Oracle products. May this could be a problem? Not sure!

Solution:

Right click the Preview window

and select “Maximize”

Once maximized, exit the reports developer. Restart to confirm the builder starts in Maximized mode next time.

We hope it helps few out there :)

for Windows7bugs

rajesh

Windows | re-lock BitLocker unlocked drive

On February 16, 2014July 31, 2020 By windows7bugsIn Windows 7, Windows 86 Comments

Updated on 31st July 2020

Download & install the below from git, which is easier and cleaner for less tech savvy users.

https://github.com/dleidert/bde-lock

Updated on 12th October 2016

The below hack is applicable to Windows 10 also, however, after the RedStone update, the registry hack entry “might” get removed and if you still prefer to right click and lock the drive without restarting, you will have to import the registry once again.

Start registry editor (double click to merge is NOT anymore supported), from the “File menu” Select import and point to the lock-bde.reg or whatever name you have given to the registry file that was manually created.

End of update //12/October/2016

The major difference between Windows 8.x Professional and Windows 7 Professional? Well you have free Bitlocker encryption for your 8.x Windows box(professional onwards), while the same is limited to Ultimate and Enterprise editions for Windows 7

Enabling Bitlocker on a drive is pretty easy, right click and go on.

Obviously we will not recommend you to bitlock your root drive. If you do, you are on your own :)

Now we have a problem, to unlock you must enter a password or other bitlocker supported authentication methods, which is fine. The concern is the unlocked drive remains unlocked for any user logs into the same computer until a restart.

For me this is a clear concern. I have some stuff which is not appropriate for my 7 years old daughter, or for a friend who just wants to “check his emails” during a visit.

After loads of searches, I found some nice leads which helped me to re-lock a drive by right clicking the bitlocker enabled drive in the explorer window.

Below listed were the actual links, which helped me to achieve the objective on my Windows 8.1 boxes (Office laptop & Home PC)

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/41607938-7452-440d-8253-67fe8657bc0f/how-to-relock-a-drive-with-bitlocker?forum=w7itprosecurity

http://spreadbytes.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-lock-bitlocker-encrypted-drive.html

spreadbytes solution had one problem, I am using the boxes without UAC, thus while the .vbs script fires, nothing happens and the drive remains unlocked

Technet thread had the exact requirement addressed & all I needed to do was, alter the scripts a bit here and there to achieve my target

Open notepad or notepad++ and copy the below text and save it as lock-bde.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\relock-bde]
"AppliesTo"="(System.Volume.BitLockerProtection:=1 OR System.Volume.BitLockerProtection:=3 OR System.Volume.BitLockerProtection:=5)"
@="Relock drive..."
"HasLUAShield"=""
"MultiSelectModel"="Single"
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\relock-bde\command]
@=hex(2):77,00,73,00,63,00,72,00,69,00,70,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,\
00,6d,00,61,00,6e,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,2d,00,62,00,64,00,65,00,2d,00,6c,00,\
6f,00,63,00,6b,00,2e,00,76,00,62,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,31,00,00,00

The hex values mentioned over here creates an entry like following

Once the value created, you can change the text as you desire to suite your situation (for Example, my development machine was not reading the PATH information properly, hence I was forced to add C:\Windows\system32 in front of the command

Open notepad or notepad++ and copy the following text into it. Then save as “manage-bde-lock.vbs”, and copy to c:\windows\system32

Args = ""
Last = Wscript.Arguments.Count - 1
For i = 0 To Last
Args = Args & " " & Wscript.Arguments.Item(i)
Next
Args = Replace(Args,"\","")
CreateObject("Shell.Application").ShellExecute "manage-bde.exe", "-lock -forcedismount " & Args, "", "runas", 1

That’s it. You should get “Relock Driver…” context menu by right clicking on the bitlocker enabled driver from now onwards

Hope this helps few out there.

for Windows7bugs

rajesh

Quest Toad or Oracle SQL developer 4.0 (Early build)

On November 3, 2013November 4, 2013 By windows7bugsIn Oracle related1 Comment

There are no disputes, Quest Toad for Oracle is the BEST, for a programmer, DBA in an enterprise environment. Toad comes with a high price TAG, which makes many organizations which are not software development oriented, however do minor scale development to fill the business gaps, against Oracle databases, to make compromises and thus silently supporting pirated copies in distribution.

We were using Oracle SQL developer from last many years as our scenarios were mostly restricted to custom development and the DBA activities were managed by the console interactions itself.

From last few days we started checking out Oracle’s latest build (Early build) of SQL developer 4.0 and the first impression is quite fascinating. The prerequisites are limited to JDK 7.x which is becoming standard deployment in almost all scenarios.

A quick note about installing JDK7. Do not install JRE 7 yet, your ERP R12 instance may note support it, or minimum in our case. Install JDK always in a folder without spaces, like C:\JDK, D:\JDK7 etc

You can download the archive for the early build from Oracle download repositories

(JDK is not included, however from the same page you can download the installer)

Unzip the Developer archive (.zip) file to a local folder. The initial run will prompt for JDK location, which you can point to.

What is New

According to Oracle, these are the few new features added with SQL Developer 4.0

Oracle SQL Developer

New Features in Release 4.0

Database Performance Monitoring

SQL Developer now provides a full interface for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition’s Diagnostic pack, including Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM), and Active Session History (ASH). Accessible from the DBA panel, users can also manage their snapshots, baselines, and baseline templates.
Find Database Object – Search

The database search is completely redesigned. The new tree layout allows for searches on multiple schema, object type, identifier types and usages. A history of your searches will be stored for later access. Search results can be viewed in a separate Editor where multiple search results can be pinned and displayed.
Command Line

Command Line support has been extended to Reporting and to the Cart. You can run Reports and generate them into HTML format through the command line. The Cart commands offer the ability to export objects and data. A set of predefined DDL generation options and data formats can be applied.
Cart

The Cart has been greatly enhanced. You can create and work on multiple carts. The deployment of objects has been extended to give you more flexibility in selecting export DDL options and data formats. Export Object configurations can be saved and applied again. Compare Cart objects to another Cart or Connection with the Database Diff. Cart objects can also be copied with the Database Copy feature. Scripts are extended to include Before and After Data Load.
Reports

Creating reports has never been easier. The create new report dialog has a tree layout for ease of navigation. An Advanced Option is available to instantly create Child and Drill Down type reports. Chart based reports include more chart types and you can test reports from anywhere within the report editor. Charts can be previewed in design mode. An HTML Report can be generated for any report. Enhancements in Database Doc generation include better layout and support for multiple threads to improve performance.
UI Enhancements

The new UI changes in 4.0 enhances the overall look and feel of SQL Developer. A popular request on the Feature Exchange, a window border color can be dynamically set for a database connection. Useability improvements can be seen with with the new floating Editor and Navigation windows.
Data Modeler 4.0

This version includes the new Data Modeler release 4.0. New features include 12c support for IDENTITY columns and masking of sensitive data with Redaction policy definitions at table and column level, create Transparent Sensitive Data Protection (TSDP) policies and associate it with sensitive types. See the full list of New Features here.
JDK 7 Support

This release supports JDK 7 and above. Download JDK 7 here.

Startup

Welcome screen

You will be asked whether the previous configurations should be migrated, incase if you were using previous versions of Oracle SQL developer. “Yes” will help you to save certainly a great amount of time, recreating the connections

The major difference between SQL developer and Quest Toad you may notice will be the look and feel, while Toad has a clear crisp interface to work with, which looks like earlier versions of Microsoft Office, the total look and feel of Oracle SQL Developer scores many less points. If you are from a pure #Linux environment, there is a high possibility that such look and feel experiences will not affect you much. On the other hand, sorry, your beauty expectations may be compromised to a certain extend.

As the name goes, SQL developer is mainly targeting SQL/PLSQL developers, hence if you are going to compare apple to apple, there are high chances that you will find Quest Toad a better partner, especially if you want to deal with the DBA activities also from the same console.

Memory consumption footprints

Let us look at a major concern for most of us, the memory consumption. Until recent days, laptops/notebooks were mostly equipped with decent 4GB memory, which was more than enough to do your stuff. However, with the emergence of 64Bit operating systems like Windows 7 & 8 the requirement for more memory has significantly changed and the latest default has become a minimum of 8GB.

A session with just connection established, SQL developer consumes 700 and more memory, while Quest Toad consumes less than 90MB the maximum, which could draw a line of concern, unless you have plenty of memory to spare. Please check the images above

Other than the CPU & Memory demands, SQL developer provides almost all functionalities against populated data as in with Quest Toad.

Now, if you or your organization could afford to pay the high license fee Quest Toad demands,we will recommend Quest Toad as a primary choice as it comes with multiple flavors tailored for particular requirements like

SQL/PLSQL development
DBA Activities
Performance monitoring

while Oracle SQL Developer is absolutely free, provide almost 70-80% of Toad’s functionality for a developer, at a high memory, CPU consumption compromise.

If you have thoughts, concerns, suggestions towards this post, please post them to us in the comments section.

regards,

for Windows7bugs

admin

Install & Configure Oracle Weblogic Server 10.3.6 & Forms & Reports 11g on Windows8/Windows 2008 R2

On April 6, 2013February 26, 2014 By windows7bugsIn Oracle related71 Comments

Hello guys, we just posted how to upgrade your existing Forms & Reporots 32Bit 11.1.2.1.0 to 11.1.2.2.0. Why don’t check it out here?

We are running a blog explaining many workaround solutions for installing and configuring discontinued, uncertified Oracle software on Windows 7 & Windows 8 from last year onward.

Let us accept it, Developer 6i applications face multiple issues while used on both Windows 7&8 like:

Intermittent crashes
Rendering menu modules
Stability
Running products like Reports and Graphs

Usually a legacy application compiled using patch sets below 18 are less prone to above mentioned issues, however an application completely developed using patch 18 regularly get into issues on Windows 7 & 8 where hacks are used.

Recently we were forced to look towards a better environment for a new application, which by certain reasons cannot be accommodated and hosted within Oracle Application entity, and we started dwelling the possibilities of setting up a Weblogic server (old application server) for our forms and reports modules.

in short, we did it! and we are sharing the experience with you.

you need the following to carryout the installation and configuration

Windows 8/Windows 2008 R2 box (VM for testing)

Oracle Weblogic Server 10.3.6 (32Bit)

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/weblogic/downloads/wls-main-097127.html

Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/downloads/index.html

(Hurry, you may not find the above software bundles with OTN after few weeks or months time)

Part 1 – Weblogic Server 10.3.6 Installation

Installation of Weblogic is pretty straight forward on Windows 8. Only once the compatibility issue is raised, which you can safely ignore by the click of a button.

The Weblogic 10.3.6 (wls1036_win32.exe) installation comes as a single .exe file, which you can start like any other installer.

Please have a look at the images

Choose a directory name without spaces, this is going to be your middleware home.

Uncheck the email notification, you don’t need it as far you don’t have a support from oracle

Select “Custom” installation type, as you can select which JDK to be selected and other components at later stages. We installed both JDK for our installation.

Click next to continue

Leave the selection as it is

Select Yes for “Node Manager Service”, it will make few things simpler at later stages, especially while you are using Admin Server for managing both forms and reports servers.

Select “All Users”

Clicking “Next” will start installing the Weblogic server 10.3.6 for you. Relax and wait until the installation completes.

Once installation has been done, you will be given an option to setup the Weblogic server with an instance, which we will do as a part of Forms & Reports 11g installation and configuration.

Part 2 – Installation of Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2

Once you download the Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2, the zip archive must be unzipped to a folder, which will create Disk1, Disk2, Disk3 folders. You should start the “Setup.exe” from Disk1 folder. Once again the installation is straight forward, without requiring to make any specific hack to the installation media.

You must skip the “Software Update” option, unless you have the paid support from Oracle for the product you are installing.

Most important: You should select “Install Software – Do not configure” at this level, as the configuration will be done once after the installation completed.

On Windows 8 you will be notified about two vital check failures, however allowing you to continue the installation at own risk by clicking the “Continue” button.

Next page will clearly notify you that you must have an application server already installed. Application server akka Weblogic server. Without Weblogic server you cannot use Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2 even for development purpose.

You can safely ignore being updated about the software updates once again

Once you say yes to software update related prompt, the installation will start

Now you have finished installing Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2 on Windows 8/Windows 2008 R2

Part 3 – Configuring the Weblogic server with forms and reports 11g

As we have installed “Node Manager Service” prior configuring the forms and reports, we need to stop the Node Manager Service from Windows services console

Invoke “services.msc” and stop the following service “Oracle Weblogic NodeManager(D_Weblogic_Middleware_wlserver_10.3)

If you don’t stop this service, you are going to come across issues as discussed here

To configure the Weblogic server for forms and reports, you need to invoke the “Configure Classic Instance” cmd file from Windows menu folder “Oracle Classic 11g – Home1”

It may take couple of minutes until you are provided the installation application GUI as shown below. Click next

Select the option “Configure for Deployment”

Unless you are entitled for Oracle support ignore the email part

Now, choose a meaningful name for your Oracle instance.

Important: You must note down the following details for future references. We opted to use the username suggested by Oracle during the configuration which is “weblogic” and provide a password consist of alphabets and minimum one digit (number)

Domain is the node which will be setup with Weblogic for Administration server as well for both Forms and Reports Servers.

By default, Developer tools are not selected, you MUST select this node, incase if you are going to use the same machine for development (which is our objective with this exercise). You may uncheck the “Clustered” option, unless used in a production environment.

Select “Auto Port Configuration”

Try to avoid using Proxy. Microsoft ISA server can make the whole experience a parody, if used.

Use Identity management, only if already implemented and business mandatory. Else leave it unchecked

Click on “Configure” button and sit back, until the process is over!

You may save the installation responses for a future installation by clicking the Save button. Click “Finish” button to exit the configuration wizard

You can access the Weblogic Admin Server by visiting http://localhost:7001/console & the Enterprise manager through http://localhost:7001/em

You may run into issues accessing the Enterprise Manager, incase if you have automated the weblogic admin server startup part using services & we have another post explaining how to tackle it here

If the node manager service is installed you can start and stop various components for the domain through this console.

Part 4 – Starting and Stopping domain components AdminServer, WLS_FORMS(Forms Server), WLS_REPORTS(Reports server)

Oracle provides batch files to start and stop all the above mentioned components. You may start just WLS_FORMS and WLS_REPORTS services, unless planning to manage them through the Admin Server console.

Starting Weblogi Admin Server

Starting Forms Server

Starting Reports Server

Part 5 – Automating Weblogic Admin Server, WLS_FORMS(Forms Server), WLS_REPORTS(Reports server) startup with Windows Services

Let us agree, the cmd windows look ugly, dangerous and a user can close them down, thus bringing the entire servers down unintentionally. A windows service looks much favorable under such scenarios and wise people from Oracle do provide solutions to create windows services for

Weblogic Admin Server
WLS_FORMS (Forms Server)
WLS_REPORTS (Reports Server)

Creating Windows services for Admin Server and Forms server are pretty simple and straight forward business, while CMD command line length limitations will make Reports Server service creation a little difficult, don’t worry we have solution for it also.

Part 6 – Creating Windows Service for Weblogic Admin Server

Pre-requisite(s)

Notepad++ (or any decent text editor other than Windows notepad)

Create a .cmd file named “Install_AdminServer.cmd” with the following lines

[sourcecode language=”text” padlinenumbers=”true”]
echo off

SETLOCAL

set DOMAIN_NAME=appsdomain

set USERDOMAIN_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\user_projects\domains\appsdomain

set SERVER_NAME=AdminServer

set WL_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3

set WLS_USER=weblogic

set WLS_PW=pass123

set PRODUCTION_MODE=true

set MEM_ARGS=-Xms512m -Xmx512m

call "%WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

ENDLOCAL
[/sourcecode]

Please note, you must provide the absolute domain name and physical directory names based on your installation preferences!

Save the script to “USERDOMAIN_HOME” folder, ie, “D:\WebLogic\Middleware\user_projects\domains\appsdomain” in our case

From elevated command line, execute the batch file, and the Windows service for Admin Server must be created, unless there were mismatches with the information supplied

Part 7 – Creating Windows Service for WLS_FORMS(Forms Server)

Create a .cmd file “InstallWLS_FORMS.cmd” using Notepad++ with following lines

[sourcecode language=”text”]
echo off

SETLOCAL

set DOMAIN_NAME=appsdomain

set USERDOMAIN_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\user_projects\domains\appsdomain

set SERVER_NAME=WLS_FORMS

set WL_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3

set WLS_USER=weblogic

set WLS_PW=pass123

set PRODUCTION_MODE=true

set ADMIN_URL=http://localhost:7001

cd %USERDOMAIN_HOME%

call %USERDOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd

rem *** call "D:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

call "%WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

ENDLOCAL
[/sourcecode]

Save the script to “USERDOMAIN_HOME” folder, ie, “D:\WebLogic\Middleware\user_projects\domains\appsdomain” in our case

From elevated command line, execute the batch file, and the Windows service for WLS_FORMS must be created, unless there were mismatches with the information supplied

Part 8 – Creating Windows Service for WLS_REPORTS(Reports Server)

Create a .cmd file “InstallWLS_REPORTS.cmd” using Notepad++ with following lines

[sourcecode language=”text”]
SETLOCAL

set DOMAIN_NAME=appsdomain

set USERDOMAIN_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\user_projects\domains\appsdomain

set SERVER_NAME=WLS_REPORTS

set WL_HOME=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3

set WLS_USER=weblogic

set WLS_PW=pass123

set PRODUCTION_MODE=true

set ADMIN_URL=http://localhost:7001

cd %USERDOMAIN_HOME%

call %USERDOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd

rem *** call "D:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

call "%WL_HOME%\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"

ENDLOCAL
[/sourcecode]

Unfortunately, you cannot just run the .cmd file and create a service for WLS_REPORTS like other services, as the java CLASSPATH for reports server has more than 3000 character length, which is beyond 32Bit command line architecture.

Hence you have to do a minor hack, as provided as a solution by Oracle.

Go to “D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\server\bin” folder (equivalent on your machine) and make a backup for the file “InstallSvc.cmd”

If the report server is running, terminate it by using Ctrl+C within the open cmd window

Wait until the server shutdown. Check the status through Admin Console.

Now restart the Report Server, using the menu interface

Mark and copy the CLASSPATH= output and paste it to a new text document. You have to spend few minutes to wrap up the text and make sure the entire text is wrapped into a single line (This is why we love Notepad++)

Add “set” in front of CLASSPATH= and your txt file content should look something like below and save the text file as “myClasspath.txt”

[sourcecode language=”text”]
set CLASSPATH=D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jdbc\lib\ojdbc6.jar;;;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\ORACLE~1\modules\oracle.jdbc_11.1.1\ojdbc6dms.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\patch_wls1036\profiles\default\sys_manifest_classpath\weblogic_patch.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\JROCKI~1.0-1\lib\tools.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\WLSERV~1.3\server\lib\weblogic_sp.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\WLSERV~1.3\server\lib\weblogic.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\modules\features\weblogic.server.modules_10.3.6.0.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\WLSERV~1.3\server\lib\webservices.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\modules\ORGAPA~1.1/lib/ant-all.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\modules\NETSFA~1.0_1/lib/ant-contrib.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\server\lib\weblogic.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.dms_11.1.1\dms.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.jmx_11.1.1\jmxframework.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.jmx_11.1.1\jmxspi.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.odl_11.1.1\ojdl.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\lib\adf-share-mbeans-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\lib\mdswlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\auditwlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\jps-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\jrf-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\oamap_help.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\oamAuthnProvider.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\ossoiap_help.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\ossoiap.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\sslconfigwlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\wsm-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\server\lib\weblogic.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\opmn\lib\nonj2eembeans.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jdbc\lib\ojdbc6.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\opmn\lib\optic.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\opmn\lib\iasprovision.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\lib\adf-share-mbeans-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\lib\mdswlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\auditwlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\jps-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\jrf-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\oamap_help.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\oamAuthnProvider.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\ossoiap_help.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\ossoiap.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\sslconfigwlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\common\wlst\resources\wsm-wlst.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.adf.share_11.1.1\commons-el.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\dfc.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\dvt\lib\dvt-jclient.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\dvt\lib\dvt-utils.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\jlib\ewt3.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.iau_11.1.1\fmw_audit.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\oui\jlib\http_client.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.idm_11.1.1\identitystore.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.idm_11.1.1\identityutils.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.jps_11.1.1\jaccprovider.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.jps_11.1.1\jacc-spi.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\ord\jlib\jai_codec.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\ord\jlib\jai_core.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.oc4j-obsolete_11.1.1\jazn.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.oc4j-obsolete_11.1.1\jazncore.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\jlib\jewt4.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\jta.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\modules\oracle.ldap_11.1.1\ldapjclnt11.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\lib\mail.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\netcfg.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\oracle_ice.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\oracle_common\jlib\share.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\zrclient.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\aolj.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\confmbean.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\runtimembean.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\rwadmin.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\rwenv.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\rwrun.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\reports\jlib\rwxdo.jar;D:\WebLogic\Middleware\Oracle_FRHome1\jlib\rts2.jar;;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\ORACLE~1\soa\modules\commons-cli-1.1.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\ORACLE~1\soa\modules\oracle.soa.mgmt_11.1.1\soa-infra-mgmt.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\ORACLE~1\modules\oracle.jrf_11.1.1\jrf.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\WLSERV~1.3\common\derby\lib\derbyclient.jar;D:\WebLogic\MIDDLE~1\WLSERV~1.3\server\lib\xqrl.jar
[/sourcecode]

Now open the “InstallSvc.cmd” using Notepad++ and locate the line “set CLASSPATH=%WEBLOGIC_CLASSPATH%;%CLASSPATH%” and comment the same like

rem *** set CLASSPATH=%WEBLOGIC_CLASSPATH%;%CLASSPATH%

Now locate the line “set CMDLINE” within the “InstallSvc.cmd” and change the line like following

[sourcecode language=”text”]
set CMDLINE="%JAVA_VM% %MEM_ARGS% %JAVA_OPTIONS% -classpath @d:\myClasspath.txt -Dweblogic.Name=%SERVER_NAME% -Dweblogic.management.username=%WLS_USER% -Dweblogic.management.server=\"%ADMIN_URL%\" -Dweblogic.ProductionModeEnabled=%PRODUCTION_MODE% -Djava.security.policy=\"%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic.policy\" weblogic.Server"
[/sourcecode]

There are two instances of set CMDLINE, you must change both lines, only replacing the “-classpath \”%CLASSPATH%\” part with -classpath @d:\myClasspath.txt

After the above, from elevated command line, execute the batch file, and the Windows service for WLS_REPORTS must be created, unless there were mismatches with the information supplied

Change “Automatic” to “Manual” for better ease, at various situations. You may create a .cmd file for starting the services and another one for stopping them.

From our prospects, these services are just a facelift for the batch files, avoiding the immediate problems with accidental closure of cmd windows and thus causing serious issues to the instance. We came to this conclusion because, the service status are not updated incase if one of the services stopped by the Admin Server console at later stages, neither the service status update waits until the actual server starts to update state of the service.

You can delete whole these service from command prompt, after stopping like following

>SC DELETE “service name”

We hope you will enjoy setting up Weblogic 10.3.6 and Oracle Forms and Reports 11g Release 2 on Windows 8/ Windows 2008 R2 following the instruction set provided above.

Regards,

admin

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