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

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.

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.

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.

Errata

Apress makes every effort to make sure that there are no errors in the text or the code. However, to err is human, and as such we recognize the need to keep you informed of any mistakes as they’re discovered and corrected. Errata sheets are available for all our books at www.apress.com . If you find an error that hasn’t already been reported, please let us know. The Apress web site acts as a focus for other information and support, including the code from all Apress books, sample chapters, previews of forthcoming titles, and articles on related topics.

Contacting the Author

If you have any questions regarding the book, please feel free to contact me directly at the following email address: [email protected] or at Twitter@tusharthakker .