Oracle E-Business Suite Technology

We recently migrated to JRE from jinitiator 1.3.
Here are our experiences:

Installing the JRE plugin requires user to be at least "Power User". Many of our users are not power users.
So, this requires some kind of automated pushing the jre software to users.
This is the same requirement for jinitiator too.
The issue gets complex due to the need to maintain the JRE up to date and keep the user's desktop secure. This requires uninstalling the old versions and installing new versions.
Unfortunately, we don't have any automated tools to do this at this time. Going forward, we are trying to use MS' System Management Server to automate that.

What are your thoughts on this and could you suggest any tools that could help with that?

Thanks for your wonderful blog,
Rama Nalam

Hi, Rama,

Congratulations on your migration, and thanks for sharing your experiences with our readers.

Keeping JRE up-to-date is like any other update to software on your end-users' desktops. I would presume that you have to periodically update your end-users' antivirus scanners, malware protection, browsers, Windows security patches, and so on.

I'd infer from your email address that your organization is part of a larger statewide organization that has standardized tools for deploying desktop updates. It might be worthwhile contacting your peers in your sister organizations at the state level to see whether they have negotiated site licences for desktop administration tools like MS SMS (which is one of the most commonly-used tools for Windows desktops, in my experience).

There are many other desktop administration tools, of course. Unfortunately, I have limited visibility into this space and lack sufficient hands-on experience to recommend one tool over another. Other readers might chime in with their experiences, if we're lucky.

Regards,
Steven

It might be worth noting that JRE6u11 (and possibly u10 as well) don't push out properly via an .msi, it should be fixed in u12 though.

Hi, Ian,

Thanks for that tip. I wasn't aware of that issue. I hope Sun resolves this soon.

Regards,
Steven

Steven or any of you smart gentlemen,

We recently migrated to Oracle version 12 and have many of our users experiencing loss of focus on the forms (ie, cannot click on fields or tab to fields). Can you tell what version of Java we should have installed on workstations and/or how could we resolve this issue.

Thanks,
Trevin Montgomery
678-455-8953

Trying to gather some info.

We have an out of date version of Sun JRE that is installed on the WebForms server. I need to know if there will be any issues if we upgrade to the latest version of Sun JRE on the server?

Hi, Rene,

There shouldn't be any problems in upgrading your application-tier Java components to the latest certified versions. See this article for JDK 1.6 certification information for EBS Release 11i:

Java SE 6 Certified With Release 11i - http://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/2007/09/java_se_6_certified_with_relea.html

Regards,
Steven

Hi, Trevin,

You should ensure that you have JRE 1.6.0_03 -- at minimum -- installed on your desktops. If possible, I'd recommend installing the latest 1.6.x version available from Sun. Instructions are linked from this article:

Sun Java Plug-in 1.6.0_10 Certified with the E-Business Suite - http://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/2008/10/sun_java_plugin_160_10_certified_with_the_ebusines.html

It's also possible that your R12 environment might not have all of the Forms prereqs that resolve common focus-related issues. Check the same documentation linked above for those prereqs.

If you still encounter focus-related issues, log a formal Service Request via Metalink and one of our Support engineers will help you work through this.

Regards,
Steven

Hi there,

We are in the process of migrating our E-Business Suite 11.5.10.2 installations from using Jinitiator 1.3.1.26 to SUN JRE 1.6.0_11.

One question that we are trying to get an answer from Oracle from is this:

Using Jinitiator with SSL we need to have a file called certdb.txt on the user's PC to allow them to make a secure connection. What is the equivalent file when using SUN JRE ?

Many thanks,

Dave Shipway,
Oxford University

Hi, Dave,

I'll look into this and post an update here. I'm not sure why this isn't already covered in Note 290807.1, but I'll ensure that that gets added to our official documentation, too.

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

Great blog!! - keep up the good work.

Configuration
==============
- 11.5.10.2 on Linux.
- Using forms servlet
- J2sdk 1.4.2_04 on the server.
- JRE version 1.6.0_11 Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM
on the client.

We're seeing persistent although intermittent and seemingly random crashes of the client forms sessions. The forms process is still there on the server after the crash (for about 10-15mins when it get's cleaned up), but the java and IE session seemingly crashes. No focus in the form, console stops logging and no buttons click etc. No error messages reported on the client. Users have to restart their browsers to log back in (IE6 and IE7)

Nothing to indicate what the issue might be in the java console and I've not been able to find anything in any of the server side logs that I've looked at.

I'll most likely raise an SR in the morning, but wondered if you'd come across this before, and whether there are any compatibility issues with having J2sdk 1.4.2 on the server and using jre 1.6.0 plugin on the client?

Thanks and regards,

Connell.

Hi, Connell,

Thanks for the problem report as well as your feedback on our blog.

I'm sorry to hear that you're encountering this issue. There should be no issues with having J2SE 1.4.2 on the application tier and JRE 1.6.0 on the client. The JRE clients should be backwards-compatible with earlier JDK/J2SE releases.

However, you may be encountering a variant of the more-common mouse focus issues that a few others have reported. This may be due to the Forms 6i patchset level on your EBS 11i application tier.

Support has just published an excellent diagnostic note with tips on troubleshooting these types of issues. See:

Troubleshooting Mouse Focus Issues Using JRE Clients with EBS 11i - http://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/2009/01/troubleshooting_mouse_focus_issues_using_jre_client_ebs11i.html

Please drop me an email or post your SR number; we're trying to track these issues closely.

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

Thanks for the update. SR No is SR:7377866.992. In the meantime I'm looking into the diagnostic notes and also whether I can reproduce the hang with jinitiator.

Thanks again, Connell.

Hi, Connell,

Thanks for the SR number. We'll be working with your Support engineer on this one.

Regards,
Steven

Hello Dave,

I hope the latest update on your SR has resolved your question, but please update the SR if you need to discuss further.

The certdb.txt file in Jinitiator stores the CA Certificates, so the equivilent in JRE is the "cacerts" file (which stores the seeded certificates) Any user accepted certificates are stored in seperate files in the users home directory (for example "trusted.cacerts")

Unless you need to work with unrecognized Certificate Authorities (or Client Certificates) you would not normally need to worry about these files as such

You can read more about JRE Plugin security at http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/deployment/deployment-guide/security.html You may also find the information about "keytool" useful, which is the java tool provided to manage certificate stores. This is documented at http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/tools/windows/keytool.html

regards

Mike

Just wondering if anyone has encountered the problem we are not experiencing.

We have multiple versions of Sun Java installed on our PC's and the server set to tell the client to use at leaset use 1.4.2_06. For some reason the system is connecting to Discoverer exceptionally slow (several minutes) and opens a dialog box that says 'The application requires an earlier version of Java. Do you want to continue? The required version of Java, 1.4.2_13, is not the latest and may not contain the latest security updates.' When we click 'Run' to the above message it launches version 1.6.0_11 and Discoverer opens.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Any solutions?

Hi, David,

I've heard of situations like this. The solution depends on both your circumstances and your requirements. This all hinges upon how your environment handles "static versioning."

In the EBS world, the expected behavior changes depending upon the specific combination of your JRE release, browser, and EBS JRE setting. We've described a number of different EBS scenarios for handling static versioning in Microsoft IE in Metalink Note 290807.1 (for Apps 11i).

Although this Note is written specifically for EBS, I would suspect that the same principles apply to Discoverer, as well. In fact, I'd be very surprised if they *didn't* apply to Discoverer.

If that Note doesn't help, I'd recommend logging a formal Service Request with details about the JRE versions installed on your desktops, the browser used (i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox), and the JRE specifications on your applications tier.

Regards,
Steven

Just wanna share our experience regarding this matter.

Recently, we did 3 different upgrade:
- upgrade to developer 6i patchset 19
- migrated jinitiator to Sun JRE ( j2se1.5.0.17)
- upgrade java to jdk 1.6.0.12

We encountered below issues:

- Cannot view/print pdf and postscipt report.
resolved with patch 5232832

- Simplified chinese and japanese character set issue
Both languages displayed as square instead of actual character. Resolved by installing Albany WT J Font.. note: 240862.1.

Steven,

There is some issue whereby Sun JRE is not get loaded/installed after click on any form responsibility. The page seems to be hanging. This issue happened when user PC's already have highest version of Sun JRE compared to the apps server. For ex: we installed sun jre 1.5.0.17 on apps server. If user PC had higher than that, it may facing that issue. What we did is uninstall the java on user PC. Is there any other way to overcome this issue?

Thanks

Hi, Anuar,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Sun JRE. It's possible that your environment isn't configured correctly. For example, there may be a conflict between the installed JRE on the desktop and the JRE that your EBS environment is requesting.

Rather than debug that here, I'd recommend logging a formal Service Request via Metalink to get one of our ATG Support specialists engaged. If your SR gets bogged down for some reason, please feel free to email it to me.

Regards,
Steven

hi can someone help me out!!!! i am trying to access oracle rapid webbased application and when i logon i am getting a runtime error because i have java and jinitiator installed on my pc ,if i uninstall java it works fine , but i need java installed for some other applications please can someone help me out with this ?? Do i have to change any settings???

Hi, Sunil,

I'm not familiar with the "Oracle Rapid Webbased Application." This doesn't sound like an E-Business Suite product module.

I'd recommend logging a formal Service Request via Metalink against that product to more assistance with this one.

Regards,
Steven

hi steven ,thanks for your reply will explain you my issue ,

A User is accessing a java application via IExplorer 6 on XP SP1 using Sun JRE
1.4.2_04. No problems when only accessing this application. However, when
user opens another IExplorer window at the same time to access an Oracle 11i
application which uses a JInitiator 1.3.1.18 browser add-on, the user will
get:

“Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library Runtime Error! Program: C:\ProgramFiles\
InternetExplorer\iexplore.exe Abnormal program termination”.

Once user clicks OK on error, both IExplorer windows crash, i.e., they
disappear. Client needs to have both applications open simultaneously. The
Oracle 11i application does not have a specific JRE requirement. A native JRE
1.3.1.18 version was installed but we have removed, rebooted and installed 1.
4.2_04 JRE. The Oracle 11i application does use a Jinitiator 1.3.1.18 which
is a self-contained separate plug-in. Using either application using
IExplorer one at a time is no problem but as soon as they are both open at
same time in 2 different browser windows, that is when runtime error occurs.
]

could you please help me in fixing this as the user needs both java and jinitiator to be working for his applications

Sunil,

This sounds remarkably similar to a query I just handled about an Australian organization. If you haven't already done so, I'd recommend logging a formal Service Request via Metalink to get one of our Support Engineers engaged.

Until then, here's are my notes that I shared with the Australian consultant:

IE can only use a single JVM at a time (this is an Internet Explorer limitation and will apply also to JRE, too). Attempts to use a different JVM will cause IE crashes.

It is theoretically possible to start a new IE session with a different JVM, even while another IE session is still running. The catch lies in how this new session is started.

If you hit Ctrl+N while in IE, that's just opening a new window, not a new IE session. The only way to start a new IE session is to click the IE icon on your Start Menu. This behaviour is true for IE 7. I don't know if this is true for IE 6, though -- and I see you're using IE 6.

If this doesn't work, I'd recommend trying to reproduce the behaviour with IE 7. If multiple IE 7 sessions still cause crashes, then... well, you may wish to consider moving to the Sun JRE. Switching from JInitiator to the native Sun JRE should simplify your life, since the absence of JInitiator means just one less JVM to deal with. If I were in your shoes, I'd make sure that all of my Java-based applications all run on the same JRE release.

This includes E-Business Suite, of course. That's why we've tried to give you as many certified JRE options for EBS as possible: 1.5.0_13 and higher or 1.6.0_03 and higher. We don't want the E-Business Suite to be the one application holding you back.

Once you've got your Java applications on the same JRE level, desktop management issues like the one's you're experiencing now pretty much go away.

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,

We migrated to JRE on one of our instances. For some people draging forms around the screen is very slow. It can take 10 seconds for a form to move from one locaiton to another. Is there a fix for this?

We are running:
- 11.5.10.2 on Linux.
- JRE version 1.6.0_12

Hi, Ryan,

I'm sorry to hear that you've been bitten by this. It appears to be a hardware-specific issue with the Sun JRE.

I've heard reports of this with all JRE releases up to and including JRE 1.6.0_12. This appears to be a Sun JRE issue with certain graphics cards and drivers (including nVidia Feforce, nVidia Quadro, and ATI Radeon cards).

This has been reported to Sun, and we're waiting for a fix from them. In the interim, a possible workaround is described in Note 757618.1 (cross-referenced from Notes 290807.1 and 393931.1).

For a permanent fix, we're waiting for Sun to resolve their bug #6635462:

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6635462

If you're encountering different behaviour on different hardware than described in the above Notes and Sun bug, please log a formal Service Request via Metalink and send me the details.

Regards,
Steven

Hello,

I am having an issue with Oracle Forms 10g. If I use the Sun Java JRE 1.6.0_02 I am unable to use the mouse to select a record in the data block, the form appears to be frozen on the first record. If I use jinitiator the form works fine, whichever record I select becomes highlighted.

Is there a specific version of JRE that I should be using with Forms 10g?

Regards

Cameron

Hello, Cameron,

I'm assuming that you're using some version of Oracle E-Business Suite 12. You can use JRE 1.6.0_03 and higher with EBS 12. I'd recommend using the latest 1.6.0_12 update.

If this is for a custom Forms 10g application and not the E-Business Suite Release 12, I'd recommend logging a Service Request against the Forms product for guidance on their certified JRE levels.

Good luck with this one.

Regards,
Steven

Hi Steven,
I've decided to change from JInitiator(1.3.1) to JRE (6u13) in our CRP instance and followed the instructions on ML Note 290807.1. Everything went well, but now if I try using any browser, I click on System Administrator responsibility and get a blank page with the following:
"Please make sure that JDK 1.6.0_13 is installed on your client. To download JDK 1.6.0_13 plugin you can visit http://finappstest01kt.seattlepacificindustries.com:8002/OA_HTML/oaj2se.exe. Please contact your System Administrator to know the correct version of the plugin."
If I click on the link it downloads plugin and next time it asks for the same thing, I openned an SR with Oracle support (21054158.6 ). They verified that JRE install went fine and now they want me to patch my Developer 6i. It is a lot of work to install 8+ patches and deal with unpredictable results (if you ask me). I don't see the benefit of going through all that if can ride JInitiator for some time and then, maybe upgrade to 12.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Eugene

Hi, Eugene,

The unfortunate reality of this business is that keeping up with the latest technologies (e.g. Vista and JRE clients) requires ongoing updates to things like Forms and the EBS techstack.

I reviewed your SR. Support's recommendations are correct: to use the latest Sun JRE client, you need to be at a certain Forms and ATG RUP prerequisite level on your EBS mid-tier.

Best of luck with your upgrade. Please feel free to let me know if you log SRs for any issues that you might run into.

Regards,
Steven