Exploring MFT in 12c

Introduction:
I have been doing some good amount of work on Oracle 12c new product MFT - 'Managed File Transfer' recently. Let me share the experiences with you all. I will start giving details on its installation and then will share some good posts on its working

To Start:
Before starting MFT installation, you need to have certain products already installed on your system.
Make sure you have following installed:
1) Java 7
2) SOA 12c along with Domain creation (Refer my blog on its installation)
3) Oracle Database (I have used Oracle 12c as Database)
4) RCU for MFT (This actually can be done after MFT installation also)

To cover the whole MFT installation to make it ready for use, I am going to write separate blogs which will contain steps for
1) Installing Oracle Database 12c
2) Installing MFT
3) Running RCU on Database for MFT
4) Updating your local development Domain for MFT

By covering above 4 steps you will ready with MFT.

You can also go for creation of seperate domain for SOA and MFT, although it is not required, but you can learn on how to setup the environment. This will be optional step.

So, keep watching the space for my next blog entry.

Installing Oracle 12c

Introduction:

In continuation to my last blog posted on 6th Oct 2014 on Oracle 12c, this article will detail the steps of installation which will bundle JDeveloper, Weblogic, SOA, OSB, Java DB (Derby).
Note: This installation was carried out on WIndows 7 for Studio Edition version 12.1.3.0.0

Prerequisites to Kick-Start:

1) JAVA 7: You need Java 7 installed on your system. I would recommend to use Java 7 for now, with Java 8 we did faced some installation issues. If it is not installed yet, you can refer to below link to get hold of the software (File name: jdk-7u67-windows-x64.exe): http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

2) SOA 12c: You need to have the software for SOA 12c (fmw_12.1.3.0.0_soaqs_Disk1_1of1.zip) installation. You can download this from below location: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/soasuite/downloads/index.html?ssSourceSiteId=opn

3) Database: This is OPTIONAL. Oracle 12c comes along with default Java DB (Derby) as Database. So this is not required. I had to explore SOA 12c and MFT, hence I have gone for Derby and local 12c Database. Choice is yours. You can download this from Oracle site, two files will be downloaded i.e. winx64_12c_database_1of2.zip and winx64_12c_database_2of2.zip.

4) You should have enough RAM like 8GB or 16GB, 64 bit configured with good system specifications

Steps of Installation:

1) Type cmd in start menu and once it appears, right click and choose ‘Run as administrator’, as shown below

2) Once command prompt is opened, navigate to your Java Jdk, as shown below

3) Navigate to the folder where your SOA setup is. Extract the zip file, Copy the folder location, this will be handy while giving command for installation

4) Go back to Command prompt and type command as (make sure you are under Java\jdk\bin): java –jar
Below Screenshot explains the same

This will open Quick Start Installer for 12c with Welcome page

5) Click Next, it will ask you for Oracle Home location, i.e. the place where it will install

6) If you follow the above screen shot Left hand panel, 3rd step is for checking Prerequisites, where it will check for operating system certifications and Java versions. Simply click next once it passes these checks

7) 4th step shows Installation Summary, i.e. what all feature it is going to Install. Simply click on Install button

8) 5th Step shows Installation Progress, where it will prepare, copy libraries and will run the setup. Once this completes it will show you success as

9) Click Next and it will show you the final Page as below. Unckeck Start Jdeveloper and click Finish.

Word of Advice: On the final page if you see below, there is a check box for Starting Jdeveloper. I would recommend to uncheck that for a moment. We will start it once configurations are done

Steps for Local Domain Setup

1) If you Start Jdeveloper and then start the server, by default it creates your domain under hidden folder:

C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\JDeveloper\system11.1.1.7.40.64.93\DefaultDomain

This will be a problem. I would recommend to have your domain in same place, where your Oracle Home is.

2) To do the same, set the System Environment Variable. Goto Environment Variable (Computer -Properties -Advanced system settings -Advanced -Environment Variables -System Variables)

Create folder like user_projects\domains under OracleWls_Home. In the Variable value give the same folder path value as OracleWls_Home\user_projects\domains

Once this is set, means now whenever you will start Jdeveloper server, it will by default create the domain under your Oracle Home

3) Save it and naviagte to open Jdeveloper. Your Jdeveloper will be under \jdeveloper\jdeveloper.exe

4) Once Jdeveloper is opened, Navigate to Window - Application Servers

5) It will open a Tab on left hand side, right click on IntegratedWeblogicServer and start the server. It will by default create the domain. For first time set up it will ask you to enter weblogic details

Enter the password which you will be using for all Weblogic, EM operations.

6) Once done, click OK and you are all good to go.

7) Whenever you want to switch off/bring down your server, just right click on there server and choose Terminate

So, its all done. You are all set to explore SOA 12c. Go.. Go..Go

States meaning for Instances

This is an enhanced version of my own blog dated 08-Aug-2008, BPEL: Purging Instances-1, which suggests about various States stored in Dehydration store. Earlier information was for SOA 10g interface States stored in Cube_instances, This blog is about the same but for SOA 11g.

Problem: To know the meaning of States stored under CUBE_INSTANCE table of SOA_INFRA Schema

Explanation:

Value: 0

Meaning: Initiated

Description: for an instance that has just been newly created

Value: 1

Meaning: Open & Running

Description: for an instance that has been created and has active activities executing

Value: 2

Meaning: Open & Suspended

Description: for an instance that is unavailable & is in suspended state. No action can be taken for this instance until the instance has returned to the running state

Value: 3

Meaning: Open & Faulted

Description: for an instance that has an activity that has thrown an exception. When an activity throws an exception, the instance is flagged as being in an exception state until the exception is properly caught and handled

Value: 4

Meaning: Open & Pending

Description: for an instance that is in mid of cancellation. An instance is said to be pending cancellation state - it may happen that the process is quite big & complicated that the entire cancellation process may takes anywhere from seconds/minutes/days. An instance may not be acted upon during this time

Value: 5

Meaning: Closed & Completed

Description: for an instance that has been completed i.e. All activities belonging to this instance have also been completed

Value: 6

Meaning: Closed & Faulted

Description: for an instance that has an activity that has thrown an exception while the instance is being cancelled

Value: 7

Meaning: Closed & Cancelled

Description: for an instance that has been cancelled. All activities belonging to this instance have also been cancelled

Value: 8

Meaning: Closed & Aborted

Description: for an instance that has been aborted due to administrative control. All activities belonging to this instance are also moved to the aborted state

Value: 9

Meaning: Closed & Stale

Description: for an instance who's process has been changed since the process was last accessed. No actions may be performed on the instance. All activities that belong to this instance are also moved to the stale state

Value: 10

Meaning: Non Recoverable

Description: for an instance that has failed and is marked as non recoverable

Fusion Applications

Oracle Fusion Application is the next-generation enterprise applications suite, bringing together the best functionality and technology from of all Oracle applications. Oracle Fusion Applications will be released after Release 12. This is being designed to unify best-of-business capabilities from all Oracle Applications in a complete suite delivered on Oracle's open technology.

We have to keep in our mind that Fusion Applications is not the same as Release 12. Release 12 is expected to have its own stream of updates, such as 12.1 and 12.x.

For more on Fusion applications, visit the link:

http://www.oracle.com/applications/fusion.html

Distinguishing Fusion Middleware from Fusion Applications

I was searching for some good articles on Fusion, and I got some useful information on the diffrence between Oracle Fusion Middleware and Fusion Applications.

We have heard many times that Oracle is working on Fusion and they are going to release it soon..To clear the confusion between Fusion Middleware and Fusion Applications,I am going to explain the difference between the two.


Oracle Fusion Middleware:
As we are aware of the three tier architecture,that comprises of Client/UI,Application and database. Fusion Middleware is collection of products provided by Oracle that run on application servers. In other words, Fusion Middleware encompasses everything that doesn't run on a database server.

Fusion Middleware is an umbrella term that includes product suites such as:

- Oracle Application Server
- Oracle Identity Management
- Oracle Development Tools
- SOA Suite
- Business Intelligence Suite
- Business Integration
and many more...


Fusion Applications:
Fusion Applications is the next-generation enterprise application suite. Fusion Applications will be built using the next generation of Fusion Middleware. In other words, the next generation of Fusion Middleware will be the technology stack for Fusion Applications.