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With the Oracle Technet Virtual Developer Day coming up a great VirtualBox appliance came available. The developer day focusses on developing Java EE6 applications and Oracle WebLogic Suite 12c.

WebLogic Server 12.1.1 VirtualBox Appliance

The virtual machine contains:

• Oracle Linux 5, JDK 1.6 +
• Oracle WebLogic Server 12.1.1
• Oracle Coherence 3.7
• Oracle TopLink 12.1.1
• Hudson 2.2
• Subversion 1.4.2
• Apache Maven 3.0.1
• NetBeans IDE 7.1 RC2
• Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse 12.1.1 / Eclipse 3.7
• Easter Egg: Introductory Labs for Oracle Coherence 3.7

All details on download and importing the appliance can be found on the VirtualBox instructions page. No need to say that the appliance has been released for development and testing purposes.

Labs

The image contains four Labs:

• Total Oracle WebLogic Server Development with Eclipse, Maven, and Hudson
• Hands on with an end-to-end Java EE6 Application
• A Step-By-Step Guide to Oracle Coherence
• Running the Coherence Examples Project in Eclipse

These can be found in the /home/oracle/labs/ directory. Web links to these Labs can be found here.

Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.1) is available for download. The main themes of the new release are according to Oracle:

• Java EE 6 and Developer Productivity
• Simplified Deployment and Management with Virtualization
• Integrated Traffic Management
• Enhanced Availability and Disaster Recovery
• Much Higher Performance
• Seamless Upgrade

WebLogic Server 12 is available as installer or ZIP distribution. Download WebLogic Server 12c. Other useful links:

• The documentation library, including the Installation Guide.
• Blog post by Arun Gupta on using the WLS 12c – Using Zip Installer
• Markus Eisele already published already quite some 12c post on his blog.

Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse (12.1.1) available

Shortly after WLS 12c Oracle also has released OEPE 12.1.1 – Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse. It is certified on Windows 7/XP/Vista, MacOS, and Linux. OEPE is supported on JDK 6.

• The installation guide for OEPE.
• The installer is available both as ZIP and Full Installer. Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse full installers include Oracle WebLogic Server 12c and Oracle Coherence 3.7.1.
• OEPE Homepage

Update: WebLogic 12.1.1 VirtualBox Appliance available

With OTN Virtual Developer Day a WebLogic 12c VirtualBox appliance became available. On the appliance there are Labs and other Java development tools like: Hudson, Subversion, Maven, NetBeans IDE, and Eclipse (including OEPE).

After installing Oracle Enterprise Repository (OER) we experience some memory issues. Besides the messages in the log files, we also couldn’t use the console and em as we did before (when we were just running SOA Suite). It turned out the installation of OER in the same Weblogic domain resulted in some unexpected things.

The WebLogic Server and SOA Suite are started using the startWebLogic script (for windows .cmd and on Linux/Unix .sh). This script uses the setDomainEnv script to set the environment variable for the domain. The setDomainEnv script in turn calls the setSOADomainEnv that actually sets the USER_MEM_ARGS. That in the end are used in the startWebLogic script.

After the installation of OER the setDomainEnv not only calls the setSOADomainEnv. It also calls a script that sets the USER_MEM_ARGS for the oer_server in the domain. Apparently the memory required for OER is less than needed for the SOA Suite. Since the script for OER is executed last, memory setting remain low. As shown in the smippet taken from the setDomainEnv.cmd:

call "%WL_HOME%\common\bin\commEnv.cmd"
call "%DOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setSOADomainEnv.cmd"
call "%DOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setOERDomainEnv.cmd"

To solve the memory issue when starting the WebLogic Server using the startWebLogic script we alter the sequence so the setOERDomainEnv.cmd goes before the setSOADomainEnv.cmd.

If the installer put a second call to setSOADomainEnv.cmd in the setDomainEnv.cmd. That doesn’t work because the setSOADomainEnv.cmd contains the following check:

REM Skip running this script again if it was run once
if "%XENGINE_DIR%" == "" goto set_env
echo *********************************************************
echo ** SOA specific environment is already set. Skipping ...
goto end_set_env

.

This blog post will show you how to install Oracle Enterprise Repository, or OER in short. The assumptions is that you have a running WebLogic Server (with SOA Suite on top of it) and a database.

Prepare – database

The most important part of the preparation for the installation of Oracle Enterprise Repository is the creation of tablespaces and the user that will hold the database objects.
Create the required tablespaces
You can change the names of the tablespaces and alter the path and names of the data files according to your needs. The example is based on an installation on the Windows OS. If your on Linux/Unix you probably know what to do to make it work on your platform…

CREATE TABLESPACE OER_DATA
    DATAFILE 'D:\oracle\oraclexe\oradata\XE\oer_data.dbf' SIZE 300M
 AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 10240K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED
    EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL AUTOALLOCATE
    LOGGING
    ONLINE
    SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO;
 
CREATE TABLESPACE OER_LOB
    DATAFILE 'D:\oracle\oraclexe\oradata\XE\oer_lob.dbf' SIZE 300M
 AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 10240K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED
    EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL AUTOALLOCATE
    LOGGING
    ONLINE
    SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO;
 
CREATE TABLESPACE OER_INDEX
    DATAFILE 'D:\oracle\oraclexe\oradata\XE\oer_index.dbf' SIZE 300M
 AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 5120K MAXSIZE UNLIMITED
    EXTENT MANAGEMENT LOCAL AUTOALLOCATE
    LOGGING
    ONLINE
    SEGMENT SPACE MANAGEMENT AUTO;

Create the user
Change the user name and password (both OER in this case) to cater your needs.

CREATE USER OER IDENTIFIED BY OER
DEFAULT TABLESPACE OER_DATA
    TEMPORARY TABLESPACE TEMP;
 
GRANT CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW TO OER;
GRANT CREATE SEQUENCE TO OER;
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO OER;
GRANT CREATE SYNONYM TO OER;
GRANT CREATE TABLE TO OER;
GRANT CREATE TRIGGER TO OER;
GRANT CREATE VIEW TO OER;
GRANT UNLIMITED TABLESPACE TO OER;

Install OER

Us the follwing command from a dos prompt to start the OER installation. By default it will start in graphical mode. You can use the -mode option to start it in console or silent mode.

java -jar OER111150_generic.jar -log=C:\installSOA\logs\OER_install.log

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Run WebLogic Server Domain Configuration Wizard

To run the Domain Configuration Wizard on Windows you can click: Start > Programs > Oracle Products > Tools > Configuration Wizard. On any platform you can run the config script in the /common/bin/config.cmd. For example:

> cd oracle\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\bin
> config.cmd

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Post Install actions

To use all options in the Repository you need to install Java Web Start. To check whether Java Web Start is installed correctly use the test Java link.

In case the JNLP stuff (needed for java Web Start) doesn’t work. This Firefox JNLP fix might help you (via Andreas).

There are always quite some blog posts on installing SOA Suite on several platforms. Recently I discovered that Oracle publishes a Quick Start Guide on the SOA Suite (PDF!) that mainly deals with the installation process (and de-installation should you need it).

This guide is aimed at installations for developers and not for production machines. Unfortunately the installation of OSB is out of scope. I expect it to be upgraded to PS4 (11.1.1.5) soon. I could find any missing instructions while installing PS4 on a Windows7 VirtualBox.

This document looks very similar to the installation chapter in Getting Started with Oracle SOA Suite 11g R1.

Update

It was confirmed by Simone Geib, Product Manager in the Oracle SOA team, that both the OSB part and the PS4 update are coming soon.

Update September

The update for SOA Suite PS4 (11.1.1.5) including Oracle Service Bus is now available.

Sharing some highlights from Symposium Sunday of Kscope 2011. The two most remarkable quotes of the day are:

ADF is the “Paint by the Numbers” for web front end development.

The most common application integration tools/solutions used are Post-it and a paper notepad.

However the real gem I discovered during this first day was:

User Experience Design Patterns

Madhuri Kolhatkar has delivered a great presentation on the effort Oracle has put into creating and implementing User Experience Design Patterns. Extended information is available on the Usable Apps pages of the Oracle website. Great insight on how this can help you in developing and delivering your applications can for example for OBIEE be found on Design Patterns and Guidelines for Oracle Applications. Take special note of the Pattern Selection Tool.

Installing WebLogic Server on Ubuntu and JRockit 64 bits. This installation will later be used to install Oracle Service Bus.

Download the WebLogic Server installation files from OTN or E-Delivery.

Make sure the JAVA_HOME refers to the proper Java installation:

$ JAVA_HOME=/oracle/jrockit-jdk1.6.0_24 export JAVA_HOME
$ PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH; export PATH

Check that the proper Java version will be used:

$ java -version
Oracle JRockit(R) (build R28.1.3-11-141760-1.6.0_24-20110301-1432-linux-x86_64, compiled mode)

If you are installing WebLogic Server on a 64-bit platform using a .jar installation program use the downloaded wlsversionnumber_generic.jar . Start the installation using the following command. Include the -d64 flag in the installation command when using a 32/64-bit hybrid JDK.

$ java -d64 -jar wls1035_generic.jar

• Welcome screen – Click Next
• Choose Middleware Home Directory – Create a new Middleware Home and enter the directory of your choice
• Register for Security Updates
• Choose Install Type – Choose Custom to be able to select the JDK of choice
• Choose Products and Components – No changes needed
• JDK Selection – Pick the JRockit JDK previously installed
• Choose Product Installation Directories – No changes needed
• Confirm Product Installation Directories
• Installer is running
• Installation complete

An overview of the WebLogic Server installation screen can be viewed in the gallery:

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This post will show you how to install JRockit on Ubuntu 11.04. In later posts this will be used to run both WebLogic Server and Oracle Service Bus (OSB).

First download the installer from the JRockit download page. Make sure that the .bin file is executable. You can use chmod +x filename to make the file executable.

The installation guide for JRockit can be obtained from the JRockit Documentation page.

• Start the installer: ./jrockit-jdk1.6.0_24-R28.1.3-4.0.1-linux-x64.bin from the directory you download it or copied it to. Extracting can take some time.
• Click Next on the Welcome screen.
• Choose the product installation directory eg /oracle/jrockit-jdk1.6.0_24 and click Next
• Check optional components if you need them and click Next
• Watch the progress bar
• The installation is complete so press Done.

The screenshots of the installation process are in this gallery:

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This post will show you how to install Ubuntu 11.04 in VirtualBox. In later posts this will be used to run: JRockit 64 bit, WebLogic Server (WLS) and Oracle Service Bus (OSB).

Prepare Ubuntu install in VirtualBox

A short recipe for preparing the Virtual Machine to install Ubuntu on it. The blog post Installing Ubuntu inside Windows using VirtualBox is more extensive on this subject…

• Create a new Virtual Machine using the VirtualBox Manager
• Click Next in the Welcome screen
• Choose a Name for the Virtual Machine and select the Operating System (OS) before you click Next
• Set the amount of memory you want to allocate to the Virtual Machine
• When asked for the Virtual Hard Disk, check the Boot Hard Disk box and Create a new hard disk. Then the Create New Virtual Disk Wizard will start guiding you through the process
• I choose a Fixed-size storage when asked for the Hard Disk Storage Type
• Choose the Size (16 GB) and Location (left it default) for the Virtual Hard Disk
• Check the summary
• Watch the progress while the .vdi file is created
• Click Finish to acknowledge the creation of the new Virtual Machine
• The newly created Virtual Machine will show up in the VirtualBox Manager
• In order to install Ubuntu 11.04 on the Machine go to the settings to alter the storage settings
• Use the icon besides the IDE Controller to add the disk image – ISO file – you downloaded to boot and install Ubuntu as media in a drive
• Check the boot order and make sure that the Machine is booted from the CD/DVD device first
• Acknowledge
• Start the Virtual Machine and the “regular” installation of Ubuntu will start

The screenshot that come with the short instructions above:

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Ubuntu install

• Boot the installation ISO
• Choose Install Ubuntu and your language
• Preparing to install Ubuntu – You don’t need the additions here to later install WebLogic Server and Oracle Service Bus
• Allocate drive space – If you created a new Virtual Disk before you can safely erase the empty disk here
• Erase disk and install Ubuntu – Acknowledge
• Choose location and time zone
• Keyboard layout
• Who are you – Fill in the username, computer name and password
• Welcome screen
• Installation is complete – click the button to restart
• Login as the user you just created

Watch the screenshots that come with the steps above:

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Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions

• From the VirtualBox Manager menu choose the Devices - Install Guest Additions options
• Choose the application to start
• Click Run
• Authenticate with your password
• You need to restart Ubuntu to make it work

Watch the screenshots that come with the steps above:

[Show as slideshow]

For my own reference some useful AIA 11g Foundation Pack references:

Documentation

The AIA 11g Foundation Pack documentation:

• Foundation Pack 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.4.0)
• Foundation Pack 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.2.0)
• Oracle AIA Foundation Pack 2.5

Installation

Installing AIA FP (11.1.1.4.0) on SOA Suite 11g R1 PS3 explained by Edwin Biemond on the Whitehorses blog. The Oracle Installation and upgrade guide to go with it can be found here and a whitepaper on installation topologies and architecture.

Blogs on installing previous versions:

• Install of AIA 11g FP on Linux described by emarcel.
• AIA FP 11g install on a Windows 7 64 bits server.

Using Composite Application Validation System for non AIA Composites testing

Usings CAVS to test non AIA composites is described by Edwin Biemond.