Oracle E-Business Suite 12i Architecture (Part 2)
Shared Application System
A traditional multi-node installation of EBS 11i required each application layer to maintain its own file system, which consists of the APPL_TOP file system (APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP, and some related directories) and application tier technology file stack layer (8.0 .6 ORACLE_HOME and IAS ORACLE_HOME).
Subsequently, this was modified to allow APPL_TOP to be shared between different machines, and subsequently to allow sharing of the entire application layer file system.
Continuing this quick installation strategy, for version 12 it creates a system that shares not only APPL_TOP and the COMMON_TOP file systems, but also the application tier technology stack layer.
Rapid Install sets this setting as the default for nodes running on the same operating system.
These files form the application layer of the file system, and can be shared between application nodes in multiple layers (as long as they are running the same operating system).
Note: Shared file system configuration is not currently supported on application tier nodes servers running Windows.
With a shared application layer file system, all files in this application layer are installed on a single shared disk that is mounted from each application layer node.
Any application layer node can be used to provide standard services, such as a Forms, Web Pages or Concurrent server.
Shared application layer – Example
As well as reducing required disk space, there are several other benefits of setting up shared application levels:
More administrative tasks, patching and maintenance need to be done only once, instead of a single layer application node.
Changes made to the shared file system are immediately accessible on all nodes in the application layer.
Distributes task processing to run in parallel on multiple nodes (Distributed AD).
Reduces general disk requirements.
Add application nodes more easily.
Sharing the File System application between instances.
Capabilities to share the tiered file system application were further extended in version 12.0.4, which introduced the option to share an installation of Oracle E-Business Release 12 with another instance of the database.
An application file system layer installed and configured in this way can be used to access two (or more) database instances.
The restrictions to this are:
All database instances must have the same patches.
Only the application can be shared, the database cannot be shared.
Nota: For more information on features, options and implementation steps, see document 384248.1, Sharing the Application Tier File System in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.
Environment Setting
Rapid Install creates environment files to configure the Oracle database, Oracle’s technology suite, Oracle HTTP Server, and Oracle E-Business Suite environments.
The location of these environment files is shown in the following table:
Filename | Location | Path | Environment |
<CONTEXT_NAME>.env or CONTEXT_NAME>.cmd | 10.2.0.2 ORACLE_HOME | db/tech_st/10.2.0 | Oracle Server Enterprise Edition |
<CONTEXT_NAME>.env or <CONTEXT_NAME>.cmd | OracleAS 10.1.2 ORACLE_HOME | inst/apps/<context>/ora/10.1.2 | Oracle tools technology stack |
<CONTEXT_NAME>.env or <CONTEXT_NAME>.cmd | OracleAS 10.1.3 ORACLE_HOME | inst/apps/<context>/ora/10.1.3 | Java technology stack |
<CONTEXT_NAME>.env or <CONTEXT_NAME>.cmd | APPL_TOP | apps/apps_st/appl | Applications |
APPS<CONTEXT_NAME>.env or APPS<CONTEXT_NAME>.cmd | APPL_TOP | apps/apps_st/appl | Consolidated setup file |
On UNIX, Oracle E-Business Suite includes a consolidated file called APPS <CONTEXT_NAME> .Env, which establishes both Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle technology stack environments.
When you install Oracle E-Business Suite, Rapid Install creates this script in the APPL_TOP directory. Many of the parameters are specified during the installation process.
On Windows, the consolidated equivalent environment file is called% APPL_TOP% \ envshell <CONTEXT_NAME> .cmd.
When running it creates a command window with the necessary environment settings for Oracle E-Business Suite. All subsequent operations on APPL_TOP (for example, running adadmin or adpatch) must be performed from this window.
The following table lists the key environment settings in APPS <CONTEXT_NAME> .env.
Parameter | Description |
APPLFENV | The name of the environment file, <CONTEXT_NAME>. env. If you rename the environment file, this parameter must be updated. |
PLATFORM | The operating system in use. The value (for example, LINUX) must match the value in the APPL_TOP/admin/ adpltfrm.txt file. |
APPL_TOP | The main directory for this Oracle E-Business Suite installation. |
ADMIN_SCRIPTS_HOME | $ INST_TOP directory that identifies the location of scripts, such as adautocfg.sh, adpreclone.sh, adstrtal.sh and adstpall.sh. |
FNDNAM | The name of the ORACLE scheme to which the System Administration responsibility connects. The default is APPS. |
GWYUID | The public ORACLE username and password that gives access to the initial Oracle E-Business Suite sign-on form. The default is APPLSYSPUB/PUB. |
FND_TOP | The path to the Application Library Object directory. For example, apps /apps_st/appl/fnd/12.0.0. |
AU_TOP | The path to the Applications Utilities directory. For example, apps /apps_st/appl/au/12.0.0. |
<PROD>_TOP | The path to a product’s top directory. There is an entry for each Oracle E-Business Suite product. |
PATH | Sets the directory search path, for example, to FND_TOP and AD_TOP. |
APPLDCP | Specifies whether the distributed Concurrent Process is in use. If it is the same it distributes the load in other Concurrent Process in other nodes. |
APPCPNAM | Indicates whether the format of the Concurrent Manager log and the output files following the 8.3 file name convention (maximum 8 characters to the left of the dot and 3 to the right, for example, alogfile.log). If this parameter is set to “REQID” (required), Concurrent Manager uses filenames that meet 8.3 naming requirements. |
APPLCSF | Identifies the top level directory for Concurrent Manager log and output files. They are consolidated into a single directory for all products. For example, /inst/apps/<context>/logs/appl/conc. |
APPLLOG | The subdirectory for Concurrent Manager concurrent log files. The default is extension .log |
APPLOUT | The subdirectory for Concurrent Manager’s simultaneous output files. The default is .out |
APPLTMP | Identifies the directory of temporary Oracle E-Business Suite files. The default is $ INST_TOP/tmp on UNIX. |
APPLPTMP | Identifies the directory for the output temporary PL/SQL files. The possible directory options must be listed in the utl_file_dir parameter init.ora. |
INST_TOP | Identifies the top level directory for this instance. For example, inst/apps/<context>. Introduced with Release 12. |
NLS_LANG | The language, territory, and character set installed in the database. The default for a new installation is “AMERICAN_AMERICA.US7ASCII”. |
NLS_DATE_FORMAT | The National Language Support date format. The default is “DD-MON-RR”, for example, 14-July-19. |
NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS | The National Language Support numeric separators. The default is “.” (Semicolon). |
Most temporary files are written to the location specified by the APPLTMP environment configuration, which is defined in the Rapid Install.
Oracle E-Business Suite products also create temporary PL/SQL output files used in simultaneous processing. These files are written to a location on the database server node specified by the APPLPTMP environment configuration.
The APPLPTMP directory must be the same directory specified by the utl_file_dir parameter in your database initialization file.
Rapid Install sets both APPLPTMP and the utl_file_dir parameter to the same default directory.
Some Oracle Utilities E-Business Suite use your temporary default operating system directory even if you configure the environment settings listed in the previous paragraph. You must therefore ensure that there is sufficient free disk space in this directory, as well as those indicated by APPLTMP and APPLPTMP.
In a multi-node system, the directory defined by APPLPTMP does not need to exist on application layer servers.
Nota: Temporary files placed in the utl_file_dir directory can be protected from unauthorized access, ensuring that this directory has read and write access to the Oracle database account only.
Other environments files
Several other key environment files are used in an Oracle E-Business Suite system.
O arquivo adovars.env
The adovars.env file, located at $ APPL_TOP/admin, specifies the location of several files, such as Java files, HTML files and the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) files.
It is called from the main application environment file, <CONTEXT_NAME>. Env. The adovars.env file includes comments on the purpose and recommended configuration of each variable. In a 12 release environment, adovars.env is maintained by AutoConfig, and should not be edited manually.
The adovars.env file includes the following parameters:
Parameter | Description |
AF_JLIB | Indicates the directory to which all Java archive files are copied. For example, apps /apps_st/COMn/java/lib. Introduced with Release 12. |
JAVA_BASE | Indicates the top level of the Java directory. For example, apps/apps_st/COMn/java. Introduced with Release 12. |
JAVA_TOP | Indicates the directory to which all Java class files are copied. For example, apps/apps_st/COMn/java/classes. Definition changed with version 12. |
OA_JAVA | Indicates the directory to which all Java archive files are copied. For example, apps/apps_st/COMn/java/classes. |
OA_JRE_TOP | Indicates the location where the JRE is installed. For example, /local/java/jdk1.5.0_08. |
OAH_TOP | Sets the location to which HTML files are copied. For example, apps /apps_st/COMn/webapps/oacore. |
OAD_TOP | Defines the locations to which context-sensitive documentation files are copied. For example, apps/apps_st/COMn. |
LD_LIBRARY_PATH | Path used on many UNIX platforms to list the directories being scanned for dynamic library files needed at run time. |
CLASSPATH | Lists scanned directories and zip files for Java class files needed at run time. |
The adconfig.txt file
AD utility programs perform a variety of database and file management tasks. These utilities need to know information about the right configuration to run successfully. This configuration information is specified when Oracle E-Business Suite is installed and subsequently stored in the adconfig.txt file in <APPL_TOP> / admin. Once created, this file is used by other Oracle E-Business Suite utilities.
Nota: adconfig.txt is created with the APPL_TOP file system, and shows the layers that have been configured on a particular node. It is distinct from the config.txt file configured by Rapid Install.
The fndenv.env file
This file defines environment variables used by the application’s object library. For example, it defines APPLBIN as the name of the subdirectory where executable product programs and shell scripts are stored (bin). This file must not be modified: the default values are applicable for all customers. The file is located in the FND_TOP directory.
The devenv.env file
This file defines the variables that allow you to link third-party software and your own custom applications developed with Oracle E-Business Suite.
In version 12, this script is located in $ FND_TOP / usrxit, and is automatically called by fndenv.env. This allows you to compile and link custom forms for Oracle users to outbound and competing programs with Oracle E-Business Suite.
In the next articles, we will continue to understand the structure of the E-Business Suite and guide best practices for installing the product efficiently.
References
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 Technology Stack Documentation Roadmap [ID 380482.1]
I hope this help you !!
André Ontalba
Disclaimer: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent may actual employer positions, strategies or opinions. The information here was edited to be useful for general purpose, specific data and identifications was removed to allow reach generic audience and to be useful.”