Oracle ATG team recently released through webcast few more details about R12.2 deployment and administration changes.

Planned Features for Oracle eBusiness Suite R12.2

Native Technology Stack Installation availability that means Transparent integration with
Oracle Universal Installer, Silent-mode calls to install and configure Oracle Database 11.2, WebLogic Server (WLS) and Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) and Selective AutoConfig integration

Out-of-the-box RAC Install availability with following features:

• RMAN Database Restore
• Simplifies Integration with Grid Infrastructure
• Seamless integration with different storage methods (OCFS2, NFS, etc)
• Faster integration with Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dual File System availability, which will: Enables Online Patching, Installs 2 File Systems which allow replacing files with minimum downtime and Improves High Availability, Dual Port Pool configuration and easy port assignments. This will also allow port customization in runtime and patching file systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Optional 11g Oracle Home for Upgrades will allows integration with an existing 11gR2 Oracle Home to simplifies Technology Stack Upgrade & reduces Upgrade time. There will be check list option to select during Database Node Configuration to “Use existing Oracle Home (No New Database Home Install)”

Native Fusion Middle Ware Cloning will:

• Uses native Fusion Middleware tools to clone WLS & OHS Homes
• No longer needed to copy the FMW Home files
• FMW is automatically packaged into clone directory during preclone

In 12.2, Autoconfig has a reduced role in the configuration of OHS and WLS. The remaining configurations performed by Autoconfig stay the same.

Previous post on Oracle eBusiness Suite R12.2 are:

A Journey from Oracle E-Business Suite R12.1 to R12.2

E-business Suite R12.2 – No More Downtime

E-Business Suite 12.2 – Online Patching Cycle

This is a 2^nd part of takeout from last ATG Live Webcast June 14 was an introduction of new ‘Online Patching Cycle’ in Oracle EBS R12.2. ADOP (AD Online Patching) will replace ADPATCH as the 12.2 new patching tool. The first-hand information about ADOP shows that it will be follow phases from Prepare, Apply, Finalize, Cutover to Clean-up.

Oracle Application will be only offline during the Cutover phase as presented below:

In the Prepare phase (Preparing the File System) Patch Edition and Run Edition will be synchronized on the file system and a new Patch Edition in the database will be created. All files on the Patch Edition are an exact copy of the files on the Run Edition.

What type of synchronization?

• Incremental synchronization is the default
• Only files changed in the last patch application are copied
• Full synchronization available if necessary

Patch Edition is created in the database and all code objects in the Patch Edition begin as pointers to code objects in the Run Edition. Objects are only “Actualized” into the Patch Edition when a new revision of the code is applied. Storage objects such as tables are not copied. New patching standards are followed for upgrading storage objects.

In the Apply phase (applying patches) execution of patch drivers to update Patch Edition will be done. We can apply multiple patches and patches are applied to the copy (Patch Edition) as the production application is unaffected by the changes. Users are connected to the Application and can perform their work unaffected by the patch. Changes are made in the isolation of an Edition and the running application is unaffected by these changes

In the Finalize phase we will be performing the final operations that can be executed while the Application is Online like compile invalid objects, generate derived objects and Pre-compute DDL to be run at Cutover

In the Cutover phase downtime will be taken and users are logged off the system. The Patch file system is promoted to be the Run file system and the Patch database edition is promoted to be the Run database edition. Next action will be to perform final maintenance operations and finally users are brought back online on the patched system. We can also pause patching cycle at this stage for as long as it is required to wait for an appropriate downtime window (minutes)

In the Clean-up phase Cleanup occurs after users have been brought back online to the newly patched Application. The pre-patch file system is now ready for the next patching cycle and Database code objects patched in the latest patching cycle are deleted from Old Editions and once all objects are deleted from an Old Edition it is also deleted.

In the Abort phase the Online Patching Cycle can be aborted at any time prior to Cutover

Two complete file systems are always present Run Edition – Used by the running Application Patch Edition – Either, Currently being patched or waiting for the next patch cycle. These two files systems are rotated between Run and Patch during every patch cycle. Old Editions these editions are only used to store code objects that have not been patched in a later edition and we can remove by cleanup when no longer needed.

Old threads on R12.2:

http://oraerp.com/blog/e-business-suite-r12-2-no-more-downtime/

http://oraerp.com/blog/a-journey-from-oracle-e-business-suite-r12-1-to-r12-2/

The takeout from last ATG Live Webcast June 14 was ‘no more downtime’ in Oracle EBS R12.2 for patching and transformation of term ‘Downtime’ to ‘Cut Over’. In R12.2 downtime will be measured in minutes not hours or days. It is a customary thought process to wait for suitable time when to apply new patch, how to get approval for business applications downtime and usually you will get a slot on weekend nights.

Let’s review how we will be going to get possibility of ‘no more downtime’ in R12.2.  we all know EBS downtime is a major concern and this outages interfere with core business activity:

–      Reluctance to upgrade to take advantage of new feature

–      Barrier to staying current with recommended patches

Now let’s understand commonly what force us to go for production down time; 1-Major Release upgrades, 2-Maintenance Rollups (RUPs), 3-Critical Patch Updates (CPUs). 4-Legislative and Regulatory updates

EBS will remain online during patching through Online Patching; refer earlier post to get basic idea. In 12.2 all patching operations are online so its mean – EBS will remain available to users during patching operations, – HR Legislative updates can be applied during a payroll run & Users can enter expense reports while Payables is being patched

Online patching will use the latest features of Oracle’s Integrated Stack like – Edition Based Redefinition (EBR) & – Web Logic Server

Patches will be applied to a Copy of Production

EBS will use both the file system and the database to store the code and data that make up the application – Copy the Code, NOT the Data

–      Where is Code

• Stored both on the File system & In the Database
• Any code object changed in a patch is copied

–      Where is Data

• Stored both on the File system & In the Database
• Application data is NOT copied by a patch

“Downtime” will be redefined as “Cutover”. Cutover is the time taken to switch users from the production system to the newly patched copy.

-Cutover changes the unit of measure for downtime & will be measured in minutes NOT hours or days.

-Cutover time is very predictable & the time taken to bounce the Middle Tiers

Downtime Limited to Short Cutover

Patching Occurs on a Copy of following:

File system: a-All patches are applied to the secondary file system b-Synchronization of the file systems is managed by the patching tools

Database: A separate copy is maintained of all database code objects that are changed by a patch

Downtime Patches

–      No online Users

–      Wall clock time very important

–      Consumes all resources

–      Upgrade designed to run as fast as possible

Online Patches

–      Users remain online

–      Wall clock time is no longer an overriding concern

–      Online Users share resources

–      Data upgrades designed to not affect the running application

In 12.1.3 Single File System – Patches applied while system is down & another method is Optional staged APPL_TOP

–      Patches applied to staged file system while the system is online

–      System is off line to apply database updates

–      Staged APPL_TOP provided the basis for the 12.2 design

You can refer My Oracle Support note for further details (Using a Staged Applications System (APPL_TOP) to Reduce Patching Downtime in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 [ID 734025.1])

EBS 12.2 will be installed with 3 file systems

–      FS-1 (Production file system)  – Used by the current users of the system

–      FS-2 (Copy of Production file system) – Used by the patching tools

–      FS-NE (Non Editioned file system) – Stores data that is stored on the file system (Data import and export files, Report output & Log files)

All three file systems serve a single database. The file system in use by the running application is never patched. All patches are applied to secondary file system

Edition-Based Redefinition (EBR) 11g R2

What it will do?

Enables the online upgrade of the database tier and allows an application to efficiently store multiple copies of its application definition in the same database. It will also provide an isolation mechanism that allows pre-upgrade and post-upgrade schemas to co-exist.

–      Changes to database objects are made in the isolation of an “Edition”

–      Changes to database objects do not effect the running Application

You can also refer earlier post to get more info about Edition Based Redefinition.

What is Database Editions?

Our code chooses The Edition that it connects to, if it will connect to Run Edition (1-Used by Online Users, 2-Never changed by a Patch). Patch Edition (1-Used by the Patching Tools 2-Changes do no affect the running Application)

Online Patching will Interacts with 3 different Edition Types

Run Edition

–      The edition currently in use by the running application

–      This is always the default database edition

Patch Edition

–      The edition currently in use by the patching tools

–      This edition is only present when patching is in progress

–      Always the direct child of the Run Edition.

Old Edition(s)

–      There maybe zero or more Old Editions

–      When the Patch Edition is promoted to production the previous Run Edition is now regarded as an Old Edition

–      Only retained until a full cleanup operation is run

Other posts on Oracle E-business suite R12.2:

A Journey from Oracle E-Business Suite R12.1 to R12.2

A journey from Oracle E-Business Suite R12.1 to R12.2

What’s coming in the next major version of Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2?

I will try to analyze architectural overview of the latest updates, installation and upgrade options, new configuration options, and new tools for hot-cloning and automated “lights out” cloning in R-12.2

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1 Architecture

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 Architecture

Release 12.2 will replace Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J) 10g with WebLogic Server 11g

Release 12.2 Database tier will run RDBMS 11gR2 to support online patching

There will be number of updates coming in release R12.2, from a technology stack perspective, EBS 12.2 will be notable for two things:

1-Replacing Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J) 10g with WebLogic Server 11g

EBS 12.2 will use WebLogic Server from Fusion Middleware 11g in place of OC4J 10g as part of the release’s internal technology stack. Other additional new Fusion Middleware 11g components used will include WebLogic JSP and UIX 11g

2-Online Patching support via 11gR2 Edition-Based Redefinition

EBS 12.2 will use the 11gR2 Database’s Edition-Based Redefinition features to provide support for Online Patching. Edition-Based Redefinition is really exciting new technology. From the 11gR2 Application Developer’s Guide:

“Edition-based redefinition enables you to upgrade the database component of an application while it is in use, thereby minimizing or eliminating down time.

“To upgrade an application while it is in use, you copy the database objects that comprise the application and redefine the copied objects in isolation. Your changes do not affect users of the application—they continue to run the unchanged application. When you are sure that your changes are correct, you make the upgraded application available to all users.”

It is not released yet but It will include significant changes to the Application Server architecture, It will use RDBMS Version 11gR2 or higher, It will change Patching, Cloning, the User Experience

Comparison of Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1 vs 12.2 Installation Steps

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1 installation 

• Database Technology Stack
• Database
• Apps Technology Stack
• Apps File System

Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 installation

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 installations:

1. Native Technology Stack Install
2. Database RMAN Restore
3. Dual File System
4. Optional 11g Home for Upgrades
5. WebLogic Server (WLS)

• Graphical UI to manage WLS Domain
• Administration (Start/Stop WLS Instances)
• Configuration (Config and Deploy, Cluster, Host, JDBC, JMS Messaging)
• Monitoring (Server & Application Performance)
• Troubleshooting (Performance Tuning, Log Viewer)

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 Native Technology Stack Install:

• Better integration with Oracle
  Universal Installer
• Faster Technology Stack Installation
• Silent-mode calls to install and configure Oracle Database 11.2, WebLogic Server (WLS) and Oracle HTTP Server (OHS)
• AutoConfig Integration

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 Database RMAN Restore:

• Simplifies Integration with Grid Infrastructure
• Seamless integration with different storage methods (OCFS2, NFS, etc)
• Faster integration with Automatic Storage Management (ASM)

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 Dual File System:

• Online Patching allows users to continue using the application while patching
• Dual File System allows replacing files with minimum downtime
• Improves High Availability

 

 

• Dual Port Pool configuration
• Easier port assignments
• Allows port customization in runtime and patching file systems

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 Optional 11g Home for Upgrades:

• Allow integration with an existing 11gR2 Oracle Home
• Simplified Technology Stack Upgrade
• Reduced Upgrade time

Following will be main features planned for R12.2 WebLogic Server (WLS):

• Graphical User Interface
• WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST)
• High Availability & Failover
• Consolidated Administration, Configuration and Deployment
• Monitoring & Messaging
• Troubleshooting framework
• Integration with OAM

End Notes:

http://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/entry/glimpses_of_e_business_suite