19 Apr 2018

How to create Oracle directory?

Database Directories are required to read/write to a filesystem location from plsql code.

Below is the syntax to create database directory

SQL> create directory PLSQL_DIR AS '/oratmp/code';

Directory created.

Grant Read/write privileges to Required Schema

SQL> GRANT READ,WRITE ON DIRECTORY PLSQL_DIR TO APPS;

Grant succeeded.

Oracle Recovery Manager Troubleshooting ::ORA-27211: Failed to load Media Management Library


This is an error during Database Clone using RMAN.

I was trying to restore database using RMAN Backup

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================

RMAN-00569: ===============
ERROR MESSAGE STACK FOLLOWS ===============

RMAN-00571: ===========================================================

RMAN-03002: failure of Duplicate Db command
RMAN-05501: aborting duplication of target database

RMAN-03009: failure of allocate command on ORA_AUX_SBT_TAPE_1 channel 
ORA-19554: error allocating device, device type: SBT_TAPE, device name:

ORA-27211: Failed to load Media Management Library

Additional information: 

Cause: Backup Configuration was modified.

Solution:
Use the below command to Resolve the error and continue with Database Restore

rman auxiliary / 
run
{
allocate auxiliary channel c1 type disk;
allocate auxiliary channel c2 type disk;
duplicate database to 'DEV' backup location '/Daily_Backup/Backup_16042018';
}
exit;
EOF

Concurrent Manager Troubleshooting : Multiple Concurrent Requests Struck without Processing


Scenario: Concurrent Requests are in Running Normal state for longer time than normal duration of the Program.

Analysis: 

Step 1: Navigate to System Administrator Responsibility : Concurrent Manager --> Administer 

Identify the Concurrent Requests which are in Running Status.

Get the Database Session Details of the currently running concurrent requests using the below Query:

SELECT DISTINCT  a.request_id,C.INST_ID, d.sid, d.serial# ,d.osuser,d.process , c.SPID ,d.inst_id
FROM apps.fnd_concurrent_requests a,
apps.fnd_concurrent_processes b,
gv$process c,
gv$session d
WHERE a.controlling_manager = b.concurrent_process_id
AND c.pid = b.oracle_process_id
AND b.session_id=d.audsid
AND a.phase_code = 'R' and a.status_coDe='R';



Step 2: Verify if the database sessions are active/Inactive at the database level using the below query.


select inst_id,sid,serial#,program,module,status,last_call_et,sql_id from gv$session where sid=&sid;

-- sid value to be taken from output of Sql Query in Step 1


If Database session is INACTIVE And Running no sql for more than an Hour, we can Terminate the Concurrent Requests.
If the Database session is ACTIVE and has an SQL_ID attached with it, Need to check on tuning the sql being run by the database session.

I will cover more details about SQL Tuning in another post.

Oracle Workflow:How to modify workflow administrator role in Oracle EBS?


By default,Oracle Workflow System administrator role is set to SYSADMIN User in Oracle EBS 11i/R12. 
This means only SYSADMIN user can have access to view Oracle workflow notifications of all the EBS users.
We can modify this to any other EBS user who has administrator rights or assign to a reponsibility.
For Example, If we change Oracle Workflow System administrator to Responsinility name "Workflow Administrator Web Applications", All users 
who are assigned with this responsibility can have access to view workflow details owned by other Oracle applications users.

Let us identify the scenarios which require Workflow System administrator privilege.
- Workflow notification is errored and not processed to next approver
- There is an urgent requirement to delegate the workflow notification to another approver.
- Check the status of workflow notification
- Retry / Rewind the workflow notification
- Check the pending notifications for any Oracle EBS user
- Check Workflow Status Diagram

Steps to modify Workflow system administrator role in Oracle EBS 11i/R12

Oracle Workflow System Administrator can be changed in below ways.

1.update wf_resources set text='&Enter_Admin_Name' where name='WF_ADMIN_ROLE';

e.g
update wf_resources set text='FND_RESP1:20420' where name='WF_ADMIN_ROLE';


2. Change the value of Context file parameter s_wf_admin_role and run Autoconfig

$ cat $CONTEXT_FILE|grep wf_admin
         <username oa_var="s_wf_admin_role" customized="yes">SYSADMIN</username>


3. Change it from Workflow Administrator Web Applications responsibility (Login as sysadmin >> Workflow Administrator Web Applications >> Administration


[Note: Ensure that context file parameter "s_wf_admin_role" is updated with modified value to preserve changes during autoconfig Run]

Oracle Applications Patching :How to Run hrglobal driver in Oracle EBS 12.2.X Version.

Applying hrglobal driver is needed during an oracle applications upgrade or when the  payroll data is required to be analyzed as per latest code pack.

Below are the steps to apply hrglobal driver in a Oracle EBS environment (12.2.x)

Before applying hrglobal driver download the latest hrglobal patch from My Oracle Support.

Start an Oracle online EBS Patching cycle.

1.adop phase=prepare

2. Apply latest hrglobal patch

adop phase=apply patches=<patchnum>

3. Run Datainstall and hrglobal driver using below commands

ADOP utillity is intelligent enough to switch to Patch Filesystem depending on the ADOP phase being run.
For any Other manual operations, we need to set the environment to point to Patch Filesystem explicitly.

. ./EBSapps.env PATCH

+Run DataInstall

java oracle.apps.per.DataInstall apps appspassword thin test.domain.com:1521:DEV

Select the Required localisations and save the changes.

Example of Data Install Changes Summary is shown below.



          DataInstall - Actions confirmation

Do you really wish to exit and save your changes?

      [Y]      - Yes, save then exit
      [N]      - No, don't save but exit
      [Return] - To return to the DataInstall Main Menu

Enter your choice (for example Y) : Y


          DataInstall - Actions summary
          -----------------------------

The following actions will be performed:


Localisation         Product(s)               Leg. Data? Action
-------------------- ------------------------ ---------- -------------
Global               Human Resources          Installed  Install
United Arab Emirates Human Resources          Installed  Install
United Arab Emirates Payroll                  Installed  Install

Localisation   College Data? Action
-------------- ------------- -------------
United Kingdom
United States

Option                         Data?         Action
------------------------------ ------------- -------------
JIT/Geocode


Legislation                            Action
------------------------------         -------------
ALL  All Legislations


++Apply hrglobal.drv using below syntax.

adop phase=apply patchtop=$PER_TOP/patch/115 patches=driver:hrglobal.drv workers=8

4. adop phase=finalize

5. adop phase=cutover

6. adop phase=cleanup

13 Apr 2018

EBS Plugin Deployment for Oracle Enterprise Manager 13c Cloud Contol (13.2.0.0.0)

Application Management Suite 13.1.1.1 is certified as a plug-in with Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 13c Release 2.
Steps to Deploy the Application Management Suite 13.1.1.1 
1.Pre-Requisite Patches

Apply the Pre Requisite patches as mentioned in Metalink Doc ID 2045552.1

2.Download the Plugin

Plugin can be downloaded in two ways.
2.1 Download the EBS plugin from the below link
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/enterprise-manager/downloads/oem-plugins-3237574.html
Size of Plugin - ~27MB
Download the EBS plugin software to a location in OMS Home as oracle user.
Run the below command to update the plugin into Oracle Enterprise Manager
emcli import_update -file="<Location of downloaded Plugin file>" -omslocal

2.2 Download from Oracle Enterprise Manager Console 13c console using Self Update feature.


3.Deployment of EBS Plugin for Oracle Enterprise Manager  OEM 13c
[EBS Plug-in Deployment to be implemented on OMS Agent node and on all EBS Nodes where EM Monitoring is Required]
3.1 Deploy EBS Plugin to OMS Agent

Login to Oracle Enterprise Manager  OEM console to deploy plugin to OMS Agent
 Go to Setup => Extensibility => Plug-ins:
Select Oracle E-business Suite and Click Deploy-On
Provide the Required details and proceed.
[OMS Restart Required for this activity- Implemented through console]
Monitor the deployment status using below command

emctl status oms -details

3.2 Deploy Plug-in to Management Agent
 The process is similar to the deployment procedure to the OMS Agent, but in this case the EBS host targets must be selected.
[Note: Add new management agents for EBS Targets if not already available.]

Oracle Database Recovery Manager Concepts:Script to Restore Oracle Database from RMAN Backup

During Oracle Database Cloning,restore Oracle database from RMAN backup taken on Source environment to the Target environment.


Steps for Database restore using Oracle Recovery Manager (RMAN)

1.Connect to target database 

Startup the Target database in Nomount stage

SQL> Startup nomount

2.Run the below Command to Restore Oracle database using RMAN 

rman auxiliary / 
run
{
duplicate database to 'DEV' backup location '/DB_BACKUP/Daily_Backup/daily_bkp_04102018';
}


Where DEV is the target instance for Restore
Backup Location - Directory where RMAN backup is located

3. Verify that Oracle database is up and running.

Resolve Error ORA-28500 while accessing Heterogenous Database link (ORACLE TO MSSQL)

After creating a heterogenous database link from Oracle database  to MSSQL Server, getting error message "ORA-28500"

SQL>select sysdate from dual@DBLINK_MSSQL;
                         *
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-28500: connection from ORACLE to a non-Oracle system returned this message:
[Oracle][ODBC SQL Server Wire Protocol driver]Connection refused. Verify Host
Name and Port Number. {08001}
ORA-02063: preceding 2 lines from MSSQL_INTG


Reason

$ telnet MSSQLDB 1433
MSSQLDB/1433: Name or service not known

$ telnet 10.x.x.x 1433
Trying 10.x.x.x...
Connected to 10.x.x.x (10.x.x.x).
Escape character is '^]'.
^]
telnet> logout
^CConnection closed by foreign host.


I am able to telnet to MSSQL database Server using IP address , but cannot telnet to MSSQL server using hostname


Solution

Contact your Network admin to allow access to 1433 using Servername (MSSQLDB)

(or)

Change the below configuration

1. Set Oracle Home to point to your Gateway Oracle HOME

2. Navigate to $ORACLE_HOME/dg4msql/admin

Change below values in initdg4msql.ora

changed HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO from MSSQLDB to IP address

#
HS_FDS_CONNECT_INFO=10.x.x.x:1433//wfcdb
# alternate connect format is hostname/serverinstance/databasename
HS_FDS_TRACE_LEVEL=OFF
HS_FDS_RECOVERY_ACCOUNT=RECOVER
HS_FDS_RECOVERY_PWD=RECOVER


3. Restart the listener in Gateway Oracle HOME

4. Verify the database link is working fine.

SQL>select sysdate from dual@DBLINK_MSSQL;

==>Above Query should return current system date.

Resolve ORA-28545 When trying to access database link between Oracle database and MSSQL

Heterogenous database link between Oracle database and MSSQL was created using the below command.

SQL> create public database link mssql connect to "integration" identified by "*****" using 'dg4msql'; 

Database link created. 

Error Message

SQL> select sysdate from dual@mssql 
2 ; 
select sysdate from dual@mssql 

ERROR at line 1: 
ORA-28545: error diagnosed by Net8 when connecting to an agent 
Unable to retrieve text of NETWORK/NCR message 65535 
ORA-02063: preceding 2 lines from MSSQL 


LISTENER_GTWY = 
(DESCRIPTION_LIST = 
(DESCRIPTION = 
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = oraclegtwy.dmn)(PORT = 1526)) 
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1526)) 


(SID_NAME=dg4msql) 
(ORACLE_HOME=/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1) 
(ENV="LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1/dg4msql/driver/lib:/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1/lib") 
(PROGRAM=dg4msql) 


Resolution 
Listener file on the Oracle Database gateway server should look like below 

LISTENER_GTWY = 
(DESCRIPTION_LIST = 
(DESCRIPTION = 
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST =oraclegtwy.dmn)(PORT = 1526)) 
(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = IPC)(KEY = EXTPROC1526)) 



SID_LIST_LISTENER_GTWY =------------------------>Missing 
 (SID_LIST= 
 (SID_DESC= 
 (SID_NAME=dg4msql) 
 (ORACLE_HOME=/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1) 
 (ENV="LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1/dg4msql/driver/lib:/orabin/gateway_mssql/product/12.1.0/tghome_1/lib") 
 (PROGRAM=dg4msql) 
 ) 
 ) 

How to Resolve ORA-12514 error While accessing Oracle database link?

Our client had requirement to pull data from MSSQL server to Oracle Database. I installed Oracle Gateway Server for MSSQL and configured database link to access the MSSQL Database.
When trying to access a heterogenous database link between Oracle Database 12c and MSSQL database, some users were getting the below error
ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified.

Analysis

Database link was created on the Oracle Database environment to access data from MSSQL Server.
Database link was created using below command

create public database link DBLINK_INTG connect to "MYSQL" identified by "Password" using 'dg4msql';

Error

SQL>select sysdate from dual@DBLINK_INTG;
ORA-12154: TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified
12154. 00000 -  "TNS:could not resolve the connect identifier specified"
*Cause:    A connection to a database or other service was requested using
           a connect identifier, and the connect identifier specified could not
           be resolved into a connect descriptor using one of the naming methods
           configured. For example, if the type of connect identifier used was a
           net service name then the net service name could not be found in a
           naming method repository, or the repository could not be
           located or reached.
*Action:   
           - If you are using local naming (TNSNAMES.ORA file):
           - Make sure that "TNSNAMES" is listed as one of the values of the
           NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH parameter in the Oracle Net profile
           (SQLNET.ORA)
           - Verify that a TNSNAMES.ORA file exists and is in the proper
           directory and is accessible.
           - Check that the net service name used as the connect identifier
           exists in the TNSNAMES.ORA file.
           - Make sure there are no syntax errors anywhere in the TNSNAMES.ORA
           file.  Look for unmatched parentheses or stray characters. Errors
           in a TNSNAMES.ORA file may make it unusable.
           - If you are using directory naming:
           - Verify that "LDAP" is listed as one of the values of the
           NAMES.DIRETORY_PATH parameter in the Oracle Net profile
           (SQLNET.ORA).
           - Verify that the LDAP directory server is up and that it is
           accessible.
           - Verify that the net service name or database name used as the
           connect identifier is configured in the directory.
           - Verify that the default context being used is correct by
           specifying a fully qualified net service name or a full LDAP DN
           as the connect identifier
           - If you are using easy connect naming:
           - Verify that "EZCONNECT" is listed as one of the values of the
           NAMES.DIRETORY_PATH parameter in the Oracle Net profile
           (SQLNET.ORA).
          - Make sure the host, port and service name specified
           are correct.



Solution

Recreate Heterogenous Database link using below command


create public database link DBLINK_INTG connect to "MYSQL" identified by "Password" using '(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=Test1.domain.com)(PORT=1524))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=dg4msql))(HS=OK))'
  

Oracle EBS Concurrent Manager Troubleshooting

In Oracle EBS version 12.2.6, Internal concurrent manager had an unexpected Outage.
ICM logfile has the error message  ORA-04068: existing state of packages has been discarded
====================

Shutting down Internal Concurrent Manager : 30-JAN-2018 12:09:54

List of errors encountered:
.............................................................................

_ 1 _
Error in DBMS lock request by handle. (ROUTINE=AFPGMG) (REASON=ORACLE
error 4068 in afpdlrh

Cause: afpdlrh failed due to ORA-04068: existing state of packages has
been discarded
ORA-04061: existing state of package body "APPS.FND_DCP" has been
invalidate


==========================================
Issue Resolution

1. Shut down the Concurrent manager completely using adcmctl.sh

cd $ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME

adcmctl.sh stop apps/<appspassword>

2. Compile the invalids in database

SQL>alter package FND_DCP compile body;

OR

Run the utlrp.sql script to recompile all the invalid objects in the database.

3. Startup Concurrent manager using adcmctl.sh

cd $ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME

adcmctl.sh start apps/<appspassword>

4. Verify Oracle EBS Concurrent manager is running fine.

7 Apr 2018

Command to check LUN details on a Linux server

Logical Unit Number (LUN) is part of Storage Management in Oracle Automated Storage Management (ASM).

Below command is useful to check the available LUN's on a linux server.

As root user,

Run the command ls -la /dev/disk/by-id/  


Sample Output below:

[root@erptestdb ~]# ls -la /dev/disk/by-id/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 240 Jan 29 16:17 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 120 Jan 29  2018 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   9 Jan 29  2018 scsi-3******************************** -> ../../sdd
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  10 Jan 29 15:40 scsi-3********************************-part1 -> ../../sdd1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   9 Jan 29  2018 scsi-3******************************** -> ../../sdf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  10 Jan 29 16:17 scsi-3********************************-part1 -> ../../sdf1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   9 Jan 29  2018 scsi-3******************************** -> ../../sdc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  10 Jan 29 15:40 scsi-3********************************-part1 -> ../../sdc1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   9 Jan 29  2018 scsi-3********************************-> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  10 Jan 29 15:40 scsi-3********************************-part1 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   9 Jan 29  2018 scsi-3******************************** -> ../../sde
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  10 Jan 29 15:40 scsi-3********************************-part1 -> ../../sde1
[root@erptestdb ~]#

Oracle Applications Patching : ADOP Prepare phase failed due to missing information in FND_NODES.

Applying Patches to Oracle EBS and Oracle Database is one of the main activities for an Oracle database administration.We Often get errors during Oracle patching, which could be due to environment issue or a configuration issue or an Oracle Bug.

Checking Patch logfiles and Oracle Patching worker logfiles is very important to identify and troubleshoot the patching error.

Recently, while i am applying patch on a Production environment, Prepare phase in Oracle EBS online patching failed due to below  error

Error Details:Information missing in FND_NODES table for one or more application tier nodes.


=================================================
ADOP (C.Delta.9)
Session ID: 19
Node: prodapp01
Phase: prepare
Log: /applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs_ne/EBSapps/log/adop/19/20171230_095636/adop.log
===========================================================================

Validating configuration on node: [prodapp01].
    Log: /applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs_ne/EBSapps/log/adop/19/20171230_095636/prepare/validate/rwerpprodapp01
[ERROR]: Information missing in FND_NODES table for one or more application tier nodes. For details, refer to log file on the relevant node.
[WARNING]: There could be issues while validating the ports used for E-Business Suite instance against ports used in /etc/services. Refer the log file for more details.
[WARNING]: Either some of the required entries in /etc/hosts file might be missing (e.g. localhost or hostname) OR the file /etc/hosts could not be read.
[WARNING]: Found invalid cross references in FS config files.
    [UNEXPECTED]Error occurred running "perl /applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs2/EBSapps/appl/ad/12.0.0/patch/115/bin/txkADOPValidations.pl  -contextfile=/applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs2/inst/apps/PRODAPP_prodapp01/appl/admin/PRODAPP_prodapp01.xml -patchctxfile=/applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs1/inst/apps/PRODAPP_prodapp01/appl/admin/PRODAPP_prodapp01.xml -phase=prepare -logloc=/applmgr/Oracle/PRODAPP/fs_ne/EBSapps/log/adop/19/20171230_095636/prepare/validate/prodapp01 -promptmsg=hide"
    [UNEXPECTED]Error 1 occurred while Executing txkADOPValidation script on prodapp01


[STATEMENT] Please run adopscanlog utility, using the command

"adopscanlog -latest=yes"

to get the list of the log files along with snippet of the error message corresponding to each log file.


adop exiting with status = 1 (Fail)
=================================================


Analysis
The environment on which issue is reported has two middle Tier nodes. Primary node is the Master node and DMZ tier is the slave node.
Due to autoconfig failure on Oracle EBS Slave node, Support_Web  column is not updated in FND_NODES after autoconfig execution.
SUPPORT_WEB column for DMZ node is null in FND_NODES


Solution

1. Bring down Middle Tier Services
2. Run autoconfig on all the Middle Tier nodes
3. Startup the Middle Tier Services
4. Verify that FND_NODES table has correct information
5. Restart adop Prepare Phase

How to Retreive password of a front end user in Oracle EBS?

Sometimes, an Oracle database administrator requires to login as the user to reproduce the issue and troubleshoot.It is easy to recover the password of front end users in Oracle EBS by creating the Decrypt package.

Please be cautious and do not misuse this script. This should be used in test environments only.


Create package and Package body

-- Package
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE get_pwd
AS
   FUNCTION decrypt (KEY IN VARCHAR2, VALUE IN VARCHAR2)
      RETURN VARCHAR2;
END get_pwd;
/
--Package Body
CREATE OR REPLACE PACKAGE BODY get_pwd
AS
   FUNCTION decrypt (KEY IN VARCHAR2, VALUE IN VARCHAR2)
      RETURN VARCHAR2
   AS
      LANGUAGE JAVA
      NAME 'oracle.apps.fnd.security.WebSessionManagerProc.decrypt(java.lang.String,java.lang.String) return java.lang.String';
END get_pwd;
/



Execute the below  Query to retrieve the password

SELECT usr.user_name,
       get_pwd.decrypt
          ((SELECT (SELECT get_pwd.decrypt
                              (fnd_web_sec.get_guest_username_pwd,
                               usertable.encrypted_foundation_password
                              )
                      FROM DUAL) AS apps_password
              FROM fnd_user usertable
             WHERE usertable.user_name =
                      (SELECT SUBSTR
                                  (fnd_web_sec.get_guest_username_pwd,
                                   1,
                                     INSTR
                                          (fnd_web_sec.get_guest_username_pwd,
                                           '/'
                                          )
                                   - 1
                                  )
                         FROM DUAL)),
           usr.encrypted_user_password
          ) PASSWORD
  FROM fnd_user usr
 WHERE usr.user_name = '&USER_NAME';