Oracle E-Business Suite Technology

A Rose by Any Other Name

Before getting into the details about this new certification, it's unavoidable that I spend some time on terminology.  Apparently, the latest iteration of the full name of this product family delivered by Sun Microsystems is:

• Sun Java Platform, Standard Edition 6
  
• Short form:  Java SE 6

The full name of the specific product within this family that we require for E-Business Suite application tier servers is:

• Java Standard Edition Development Kit 6
• Short form:  JDK 6

This release version is called JDK 6, 1.6, or 1.6.0.  All three version numbers are equivalent to each other.  When the base release is updated, the version number looks like one of the following (which are all equivalent): 

• JDK 6 Update 2
  
• JDK 6u2
  
• 1.6.0_2

The previous release was Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5.0, with the short form being J2SE 5.0.  Other related terms equated over the years with this product family are Java SE Development Kit (JDK), and Java 2 Enterprise Edition Software Development Kit (J2SDK). 

For simplicity, for the remainder of this article (and in our official certification documentation), we'll use the term JDK 6.

What's New?

E-Business Suite Release 12.0.0 to 12.0.4 are delivered with:

• Java SE Development Kit (JDK) Version 5.0 Update 8 for the application tier
  
• Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) Version 1.5 Update 8 for AutoConfig running on the database tier 
  

With this latest certification, all Release 12 environments may be upgraded to Java 6, formally known as:

• Java SE Development Kit (JDK) Version 6.0 Update 2

Why Bother Upgrading?

Along with Oracle Forms, Java lies at the heart of the Oracle E-Business Suite.  Small improvements in Java can have significant effects on the performance and stability of the E-Business Suite.  As a notable side-benefit, later versions of Java have improved built-in and third-party tools for JVM performance monitoring and tuning.

Our standing recommendation is that you always stay current with the latest available Java update provided by your operating system vendor. 

Due to issues found with earlier updates of JDK 6.0, we recommend against using any Java 6 releases prior to JDK 1.6.0_02 with the E-Business Suite Release 12.

Prerequisites

• E-Business Suite 12.0 and higher, with the OC4J components upgraded to Oracle Application Server 10g 10.1.3.3.0
• Java SE Development Kit (JDK) Version 6.0 Update 2 or higher
  

It's important to note that OracleAS 10.1.3.3.0 is a mandatory prerequisite if you plan to upgrade your Release 12 application tier to the latest certified version of Java 6.

Documentation

• Overview of Using Java with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 (Metalink Note 418664.1)
• Using Latest Update of Java 6.0 with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 (Metalink Note 455492.1)
  

Related Articles

• OracleAS 10.1.3.3 Certified with E-Business Suite Release 12
• Java SE 6 Certified With Release 11i