Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 now available

This morning Oracle has officially launched Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g release 1 that includes the following products :

• Oracle WebLogic 11g (the new Oracle Application Server)
• Oracle SOA Suite 11g
  
• Oracle WebCenter 11g
• Oracle ADF 11gR1
• Oracle Identity Management 11g (OVD, OID, OAM, OIF)
  
• Oracle Forms 11g
• Oracle Reports 11g
• Oracle Portal 11g
• Oracle BI Publisher 11g
  

For more details, follow this link.

Click here to download the new products.

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 products

What can be installed in Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g?

There are multiple installation CD-ROMs, each containing a separate piece of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1:

■ Oracle Repository Creation Utility (RCU)
■ Oracle WebLogic Server
■ Oracle SOA Suite
■ Oracle WebCenter (Framework, Content Integration, SES, Wiki Server, Community Space, Personal Space, Content Adapters and Voice Option)
■ Oracle Identity Management Suite (OID, DIP, OVD)
■ Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer
■ Oracle Fusion Middleware WebTier and Utilities (OHS, WebCache, SSO, HA)
■ Oracle Fusion Middleware Companion CD (JDev, ADF, TopLink, MapViewer, BI Publisher, ADR, PSS, TRS)
■ Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite 11
■ Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES)
■ Oracle Fusion Middleware Adapters and Connectors
■ Oracle Service Registry 11
■ Oracle Fusion Middleware Documentation Library

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 Directories

When you install Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1, some directories are created.

Middleware Home and WebLogic Home

The top-level directory is called the Middleware Home. The WebLogic Home directory is inside the Middleware Home, and is also created when WebLogic Server is installed.

Oracle Home

Each Oracle Fusion Middleware product must be installed in its own Oracle Home location. The software binaries will be installed into the Oracle Home; no runtime process can write to this directory.

The Oracle Home directories (in this case, the SOA Oracle Home) for each product
must reside inside an existing Middleware Home directory.

WebLogic Domain

After a product is installed, it can be configured into a WebLogic Domain. The User Projects directory is created when you create or configure a domain. By default, new domains are created inside the Domains folder, but you can choose to create these elsewhere if you want.

The following illustration shows the directory structure after an Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 product has been installed :


Multiple products with multiple WebLogic Domains

If you install multiple products and choose to create a separate domain for each product, then your directory structure would look something like this :


Notice that each product has its own Oracle Home directory.

Extending a Domain

During installation and configuration, you may chose to extend an existing domain rather than creating a new domain. Extending a domain means that you add products and funtionality to an existing domain. If, for example, you first install Oracle SOA Suite to create a new domain, then install Oracle WebCenter Suite while choosing to extend the existing Oracle SOA Suite domain, then your topology would look like this:



Oracle Instance and WebLogic Domain

This figure shows the directory structure after one product with a WebLogic domain and a second with an Oracle Instance are installed and configured :


Oracle Metadata Repository

A metadata repository contains metadata for Oracle Fusion Middleware system components, such as Oracle BPEL Process Manager, Oracle B2B, and Oracle Portal. It can also contain metadata about the configuration of Oracle Fusion Middleware and metadata for your applications.

A metadata repository can be database-based or file-based. If it is database-based, Oracle Metadata Repository can be installed into an existing database using the Repository Creation Utility (RCU).

Oracle Fusion Middleware supports multiple repository types. A repository type represents a specific schema or set of schemas that belong to a specific Oracle Fusion Middleware component (for example, Oracle SOA Suite or Oracle Internet Directory).

A particular type of repository, the MDS Repository, contains metadata for most Oracle Fusion Middleware components, such as Oracle B2B, and for certain types of applications. It is recommended that all metadata repositories reside on a database at the same site as the components to minimize network latency issues.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle WebLogic 11gR1 Node Manager

Node Manager is a Java utility that runs as separate process from Oracle WebLogic Server and allows you to perform common operations for a Managed Server, regardless of its location with respect to its Administration Server. While use of Node Manager is optional, it provides valuable benefits if your WebLogic Server environment hosts applications with high-availability requirements.

If you run Node Manager on a machine that hosts Managed Servers, you can start and stop the Managed Servers remotely using the Administration Console or the command line. Node Manager can also automatically restart a Managed Server after an unexpected failure.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle WebLogic 11g R1 Managed Servers and Clusters

Managed Servers host business applications, application components, Web services, and their associated resources. To optimize performance, Managed Servers maintain a read-only copy of the domain's configuration document. When a Managed Server starts up, it connects to the domain's Administration Server to synchronize its configuration document with the document that the Administration Server maintains.

When you create a domain, you create it using a particular domain template. That template supports a particular component or group of components, such as the Oracle SOA Suite. The Managed Servers in the domain are created specifically to host those particular Oracle Fusion Middleware system components.

Java-based Oracle Fusion Middleware system components (such as Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle WebCenter, and some Identity Management components), as well as customer-developed applications, are deployed to Managed Servers in the domain.

If you want to add other components, such as Oracle WebCenter, to a domain that was created using a template that supports another component, you can extend the domain by creating additional managed servers in the domain, using a domain template for the component which you wish to add.

For production environments that require increased application performance, throughput, or high availability, you can configure two or more Managed Servers to operate as a cluster. A cluster is a collection of multiple WebLogic Server server instances running simultaneously and working together to provide increased scalability and reliability. In a cluster, most resources and services are deployed identically to each Managed Server (as opposed to a single Managed Server), enabling failover and load balancing. A single domain can contain multiple WebLogic Server clusters, as well as multiple Managed Servers that are not configured as clusters. The
key difference between clustered and non-clustered Managed Servers is support for Oracle Fusion Middleware Directory Structure and Concepts Beta Draft Installation Overview 1-5
failover and load balancing. These features are available only in a cluster of Managed Servers.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle WebLogic 11gR1 Administration Server

The Administration Server operates as the central control entity for the configuration of the entire domain. It maintains the domain's configuration documents and distributes changes in the configuration documents to Managed Servers. You can also use the Administration Server as a central location from which to monitor all resources in a domain.

Each Oracle WebLogic Server domain must have one server instance that acts as the Administration Server.

To interact with the Administration Server, you can use the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console, Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST), or create your own JMX client. In addition, you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control for some tasks.

Fusion Middleware Control and the WebLogic Administration Console run in the Adminstration Server. Fusion Middleware Control is a Web-based administration console used to manage Oracle Fusion Middleware, including components such as Oracle HTTP Server, Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle WebCenter, Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer, and the Oracle Identity Management components. Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console is the Web-based administration console used to manage the resources in an Oracle WebLogic Server domain, including the administration server and managed servers in the domain.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 Oracle instances

System components are configured in an Oracle Instance directory, which contains updatable files, such as configuration files, log files, and temporary files. All system components in an Oracle Instance directory must reside on the same machine.

An Oracle Instance directory is a peer of an Oracle WebLogic Server domain in that both contain specific configurations outside of their Oracle Product Home directories. However, it is important to note that a Weblogic Server domain may cross machine boundaries and may contain a distributed business application. An Oracle Instance directory contains a portion of a topology restricted only to a single machine.

Each instance of a system component must be uniquely identified within the Oracle Instance directory.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 environment

After installing Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1, it will contains the following environment :

• one Oracle WebLogic Server domain, which contains one Administration Server
• if you installed system components, they are configured in an Oracle Instance
• a metadata repository, if the components you installed require one - ex.: Oracle SOA Suite requires a metadata repository
• a Middleware home, which contains product binary files

The following illustration shows a typical Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g environment :

This illustration shows a typical Oracle Fusion Middleware environment containing one WebLogic domain (one Administration Server and two Managed Servers) and two Oracle Instances (one for Oracle HTTP Server and the second for Oracle Web Cache). Both managed servers point to a Metadata Repository.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 components

In Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1, every product of the suite that you install is considered as a component. There are two kinds of components :

Java Components

Oracle Fusion Middleware components that are deployed as one or more Java EE applications and a set of resources. Java components are deployed to an Oracle WebLogic Server domain as part of a domain template. Examples of Java components are the Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle WebCenter components.

System Components

Manageable processes that are not deployed as Java applications. Instead, system components are managed by the Oracle Process Manager and Notification (OPMN).

The system components are:

– Oracle HTTP Server
– Oracle Web Cache
– Oracle Internet Directory
– Oracle Virtual Directory
– Oracle Forms Services
– Oracle Reports
– Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer
– Oracle Business Intelligence

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide (b32474.pdf)

What is Middleware ?

Middleware is a term used to describe computer software that connects software components or applications. Middleware includes Web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery. Middleware is especially integral to information technology based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web services, and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Middleware is the enabling technology for enterprise application integration. It describes a piece of software that connects two or more software applications so that they can exchange data. Middleware can be described as the software layer that lies between the operating system and the applications on each side of a distributed computing system in a network.

Reference: Oracle Fusion Middleware Concepts - e10103.pdf

Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1: Which Web browsers are officially supported ?

The following web browsers are officially supported for web applications built using Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1 :

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0
• Firefox 2.0
• Firefox 3.0
• Safari 3.0

The following mobile web browsers are officially supported too :

• Apple iPhone Safari
• BlackBerry Browser 4.2
• Nokia S60 Browser
• Windows Mobile Pocket IE for Windows Mobile 5,6
  

Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1: Which databases are officially supported ?

This certification matrix shows the databases that are certified against Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 and Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) 11gR1 :


Supported means that Oracle will address customer issues, but the features are not necessarily tested. Certified means that the feature is supported on that database, and has passed testing by JDeveloper QA. The databases shown are all supported, even if not certified or working in this release.

How to deploy an ADF 11gR1 web application on WebLogic 10.3 ?

If you have deployed Oracle WebLogic 10.3 and would like to execute a web application you have built using Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 and ADF 11gR1, you will have to install the ADF 11gR1 libraries plus some patches.

The easiest way to do that is to run the Installer program of the Fusion Middleware Development Platform 11gR1 by running the jdevstudio11111install_win32.exe file. During the installation process, choose "Custom" and select the "Application Development Framework Runtime" component under the WebLogic Server category. Specify the WLS directory where to install this component and the installer will take care of the rest for you.

The Application Development Framework Runtime component includes the following items:

• ADF runtime jar (Java ARchive) files
  
• WLS patches to run an ADF 11gR1 web application
• domain templates
  

Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1: Which application servers are officially supported ?

The following application servers are officially supported by Oracle for web applications built using the new Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1 :

• Oracle WebLogic 10.3
• Oracle Application Server 10gR3 (10.1.3.X)
  
• BEA WebLogic 9
  

Oracle WebLogic 10.3: How to run an ADF 11gR1 web application ?

If you have deployed Oracle WebLogic 10.3 and would like to execute a web application you have built using Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 and ADF 11gR1, you will have to install the ADF 11gR1 libraries plus some patches.

The easiest way to do that is to run the Installer program of the Fusion Middleware Development Platform 11gR1 by running the jdevstudio11111install_win32.exe file. During the installation process, choose "Custom" and select the "Application Development Framework Runtime" component under the WebLogic Server category. Specify the WLS directory where to install this component and the installer will take care of the rest for you.

The Application Development Framework Runtime component includes the following items:

• ADF runtime jar (Java ARchive) files
  
• WLS patches to run an ADF 11gR1 web application
• domain templates
  

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: Where is OC4J ?

When you install Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1, you probably noticed that OC4J is not there anymore. Instead, it installs Oracle WebLogic 10.3. The embedded version of Oracle WebLogic can only be used to run web applications that you create inside Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1. You cannot use it as a standalone server unfortunately.

During the installatin process, a default domain is created in the embedded Oracle WebLogic server. The name of this domain is DefaultDomain and is the domain that JDeveloper uses to run your web applications.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 : What is the system directory ?

You probably have noticed that Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 automatically create a systemXX.XX.XX.XX subdirectory under the \jdeveloper\system directory where XX.XX.XX.XX is the unique number of the product build. This subdirectory is used by JDeveloper 11gR1 to store any change you do in the configuration of the product like changing a setting, user preference and so on. If you delete that subdirectory, the next time you will start JDeveloper, it will start with its default settings.

Please note also that if you are using JDeveloper in a multi-user environment (ex.: Citrix or Microsoft Windows Terminal Server) that JDeveloper will keep settings, per users, in that subdirectory too.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 : How to migrate from a previous version ?

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 supports migration of user settings and preferences of previous releases. If you want to perform that kind of migration, you must be aware that only Oracle JDeveloper 10g v10.1.3.4 and Oracle JDeveloper 11g v11.1.1.0 settings can be migrated. If you are using an earlier version, you will be required to migrate to the 10g v10.1.3.4 release first then to the 11gR1 version.

If, for any reason, you would like to force JDeveloper 11gR1 to display the migration dialog, launch it using the following flag : jdev -migrate


Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 can also migrate projects created in a previous Oracle JDeveloper release (10g v10.1.3.X and 11g v11.1.1.0 only - note too that you cannot migrate projects built using the betas and technology previews versions of JDeveloper 11g - only from the 11g v11.1.1.0 production release). Before migrating a project, make sure to take a backup of your files. For any help, you may want to take a look at the following technical article "Migrating the 10.1.3 SRDemo Sample to JDeveloper / ADF 11g" on OTN. Migrating projects from previous JDeveloper 10gR3+ releases to the new 11gR1 release will require some changes of your existing code especially in your JSF (Java Server Faces) pages built using Oracle ADF because Oracle ADF now uses the Apache MyFaces Trinidad components (ADF visual components that Oracle gave to the open source community a couple years ago). You must be aware that migrating to the 11gR1 release will make your application work as it was working with the 10g release.

You must be aware that you cannot rollback a migrated web application to its previous version and can only run on a JEE 5 compliant application server.

On the other side, if you want to take benefits of the new features of ADF 11gR1 (like the new ADF Faces Rich Client Components and the new ADF Task Flows) you will be require to redesign parts of your web application unfortunately since the ADF framework has changed.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: How to solve the system cursor problem under UNIX and Linux ?

If you are using Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 under UNIX or Linux and the cursors display large and opaque you will need to replace the default cursors set of the JDK to solve that problem.

To achieve that, first make sure you backup the content of the following subdirectory : /jre/lib/images/cursors

Then, locate the following file : /jdeveloper/jdev/bin/clean_cursors.tar and extract its content specifying the JDK main directory (/).

Restart JDeveloper 11g and that should solve the problem.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: How to change the default user directory ?

During your work with Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1, you will probably create one or many applications. The default directory suggested by JDeveloper 11gR1 is the following one :

\jdeveloper\mywork

Note that this directory has changed since the 11g release got out (it was formerly \jdeveloper\jdev\mywork).

You can change this default directory in three ways :

Environment variables

The first option is to modify (or create) one of the following two environment variables in your system PATH : JDEV_USER_HOME or JDEV_USER_DIR.


Note that the directory name you will specify here must not contain blank spaces and you will have to close and restart JDeveloper 11gR1 for it to see the changes.

Note that you can change the name of these variables that are specified in the jdev.boot configuration file under the ide.user.dir.var parameter (see next).

Boot configuration file

The second option is to specify the directory in the jdev.boot configuration file. In order to do that, locate the configuration file : \jdeveloper\jdev\bin\jdev.boot. Before changing its content, I recommand you to create a copy of this file. If an error occurs, you will be able to easily rollback your changes.

Once that the copy is done, open the jdev.boot configuration file using a text editor that supports UNIX end-of-lines like MS WordPad (if you are using MS Windows).


Then, locate the following entry : ide.user.dir.var



This entry specifies the environment variables (see the previous option for details) that JDeveloper should look for to get the user directory. You can change the name of these environment variables if you wish.

To specify the path of your work directory in this file, you must add the following parameter : ide.user.dir and specify the directory (that must not contain blank spaces) like this :



Save the configuration file and restart JDeveloper. Please note that if you decide to specify your user directory into the jdev.boot configuration file, every users that will work with JDeveloper on the computer where you have done that change will see the same user directory. This is especially true if you intend to use JDeveloper in a multi-user environment like Citrix and MS Windows Terminal Server has examples. I recommand you to modify your environment variable that is a better approach.

Command line

The third option is to specify, on startup, the user directory JDeveloper should use as the default user directory. In order to do that, you must enter the following parameter on startup : jdev -J-Dide.user.dir=C:\Eric\OracleFM11g\MyWork like this :

In all cases, don't forget that you cannot specify a user directory that contains blank spaces.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: How to change the JDK ?

If, for any reason, you would like your JDeveloper 11gR1 to use another Java Development Kit - JDK (maybe JDK 6 update 13 instead of update 5), here's how to proceed :

• locate the jdev.conf file located into the following subdirectory : \jdeveloper\jdev\bin\
  
• just to be sure, create a copy of this file; in case of any error, you will be able to bring back the original configuration
  
• open jdev.conf in a text editor that can recognize Unix end-of-line characters (like MS Windows WordPad if you are using MS Windows - it is better to use WordPad than NotePad since WordPad can recognize Unix end-of-line characters while NotePad cannot and may create unexpected results if you modify a text file that has originally been created in this format (like this one))

• locate the variable SetJavaHome into the file like this :

• change the directory to the location where the new version of the JDK is installed like this (make sure the new directory specified is valid otherwise JDeveloper 11gR1 will not work):

• save the file
• restart JDeveloper 11gR1

In case of unexpected errors, double check the directory of the new JDK specified in the jdev.conf file and make sure that it is, at least, JDK 6 update 5. If it does not work, bring back the original copy of the jdev.conf file and restart JDeveloper 11gR1.

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: How can you launch it ?

There are three ways you can use to launch Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 under the MS Windows operating system:

• \jdeveloper\jdeveloper.exe
• \jdeveloper\jdev\bin\jdevw.exe
• \jdeveloper\jdev\bin\jdev.exe

The first two executable files will launch JDeveloper in normal mode while the last one will start it into the debug mode. The debug mode will launch an MS-DOS like console where you will be able to see trace information that may be useful to find the cause of a specific bug that JDeveloper may have. Here is a screen shot of the console:


When JDeveloper 11gR1 starts successfully, the welcome screen first appears.


Then, the "Select Role" screen will appear :

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: Which source management tools are supported ?

The Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 supports the following source management tools :

• CVS version 1.11.X
• CVSNT 2.5.X
• Subversion 1.4.X
• Clearcase SCM 7.0
• Dimensions 10.1.2
• Perforce 2007
• Microsoft Team System 2008
  

Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1: System requirement

If you want to use Oracle JDeveloper 11gR1 (part of the Oracle Fusion Development Platform), then your computer must support the following :

Operating systems

• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003
• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.0 & 5.0
• Oracle Enterprise Linux 4.0 & 5.0
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 1.0
• Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5.2 or later
  

CPU

• Pentium IV 2GHz or faster (PC)
  
• 64 bit Inter processor (Mac)
  

Memory

• 2GB RAM

Hard drive space

• 2.25 GB

Java Development Kit (JDK)

• JDK 6.0 Update 7 to run (Windows and Linux)
• Sun Java SE 6 for Mac OS X 10.5

Installing the Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1

The new Oracle Fusion Development Platform 11gR1 is now available. By installing this new development platform you will be able to create your own Fusion Application like Oracle is doing today. If you want to install this new development platform, you need to download one of the following installers :

• jdevstudio11110install.jar (any platform - Java Development Kit (JDK) 6.0 update 5 or later required tu run the JAR (Java ARchive) - if you use this installer, make sure JDK 6.0 is the first JDK that appears into your system PATH)
  
• jdevstudio11110install.exe (MS Windows)
  
• jdevstudio11110install.bin (Linux)
  

Even if you install the product using the MS Windows or Linux installer, a Java Development Kit (JDK) version 6 update 5 is required. Make sure you have downloaded that JDK and installed it on your computer before installing the Oracle Fusion Development Platform. JDK 6 is available for free on the Sun Microsystem web site here.

When you launch the installer, a window like this one will appear (here the MS Windows (.exe) version has been used):

The main product of the Oracle Fusion Development Platform is JDeveloper Studio. This is the product that you will use to build your own Fusion Application. After launching the installer, the following window will appear :


When you click on the "Next" button, the following window will appear :

This step ask you to specify the Middleware Home directory where the Oracle Fusion Development Platform components will be installed. You can reuse an existing Middleware Home Directory if you already have one; the conditions are (1) the directory must not contain other versions of the components contained into the product and (2) its name must not contain blank spaces. This home directory can be used to install other products of the FMW suite if you want but two versions of the same product cannot co-exist into that directory even if the two products does not have the exact same version number (ex.: JDeveloper 11.1.1.0.0 vs JDeveloper 11.1.1.1.0). After specifying the name of the directory, the following window will appear :

In this step, you can chose to install the entire Oracle Fusion Development Platform or to customize your installation and choose specific components. When you customize your installation, the following components are available :

• JDeveloper Studio
• Application Development Framework (ADF) Runtime
  
• Core Application Server
• Administration Console
• Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework
• WebLogic JDBC Drivers
• WebLogic Server Clients

The first one, JDeveloper Studio, is the Integrated Develpment Environment (IDE) that you need for development purposes (ex.: create a Fusion Application, modify an XML file, modify a PL/SQL package, etc.).

The ADF Runtime component is required if you want to build an application (web or non web) using the Oracle Java framework called Application Development Framework. This component can also be used to deploy the ADF libraries on a JEE5 compliant application server (like Oracle WebLogic) to deploy your Fusion Application when it is ready to be executed. If you create a Fusion Application, when you package the app to deploy it on the application server, you have two choices : (1) add the ADF libraries into the package or (2) deploy only the files of the application. Choice #2 can be useful if you intend to deploy more than one Fusion Application on the same application server instance and want to lower the physical space used by the package (usually .war or .ear file). In order to do that, you will be required to deploy the ADF libraries on the application server using that component.

The Core Application Server component is the Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Server (i.e.: WebLogic) that you need to deploy your Fusion Application. When you deploy a web application on WebLogic, you need to create a domain. A domain is an instance that can host one or many web applications on WebLogic. To create a domain, you will need the "Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework" component available in that same installation step.

The Administration Console component is a web browser based interface that allows you to manage Oracle WebLogic and its domains. If you don't choose this component and choose the Core Application Server component only, you will be required to use command line tools to administer Oracle WebLogic.

The Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework component is the tool that you will use to create a WebLogic domain to host one or many Fusion Applications and also to upgrade domains of previous releases of WebLogic. If you already have Oracle WebLogic deployed in your development environment, you can only select that component to upgrade one of your domains to deploy your Fusion Applications on it.

The WebLogic JDBC Drivers is the component that you need to access a database in your Fusion Application to manipulate relational data. Like the Application Development Framework Runtime, you can package these drivers into your application or you can pre-install these components on your application server domain reducing the physical space required by your application package (.war or .ear file). When you install this component, it also provides you tools to troubleshoot a database connection on the Oracle WebLogic domain where the application has been deployed. Something that will not be available if you decide to package database driver(s) files into the application package. The following component provides you drivers for the following databases :

• Oracle DB
• IBM DB2
• Informix
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Sybase

The WebLogic Server Clients component contains jars (Java ARchives) that are Java libraries that you can use in on the developer's computeror into a Java desktop application to communicate with an Oracle WebLogic server. It supports the following :

• Remote Method Invocation (RMI)
• WebLogic Server Enterprise Edition (WSEE)
  
• Java Message Service (JMS)

When you have chosen the components you want to install (or if you have chosen a complete installation), the following window will appear :

In this step, you can see which components you have chosen and also in which directory (under the Fusion Middleware Home Directory) they will be installed. When you click on the "Next" button, the following window will appear :

If you are installing the product on a MS Windows platform, the program will ask if you want the shortcuts of the components chosen to be visible to every user accounts that have been created on the computer where you are installing the product (if the computer is used by more than one user) or only under the active user account (that is probably your user account). If you choose "All Users" then make sure your current user account has Administrator privileges. When you click on the "Next" button, the following window will appear :


This step shows you every components that will be installed and is the last one to be displayed before installing and configuring the binary files of the product. When you click the "Next" button, the program starts to install binary files of the components you have selected previously. A window like this one will appear :


Throughout the installation process, you will see information related to the product like this :




When the installation process will be over, the following window will appear :


You can choose to select "Run Quickstart" or to end the installation process. If you choose "Run Quickstart", the following window will appear :


From here, you can choose many options; my recommandation would probably be "Launch Oracle JDeveloper 11g" but it is yours to choose !

Finally, you will probably notice that in your start menu, you now have the "Oracle Fusion Middleware 11.1.1.1.0" menu that is available


where you can launch the "Quickstart" program again or launch other components you have choosen during the installation process.

If, for any reason, you would like to see which components have been installed during the installation process, you can look into the registry.xml file located into the Middleware Home main directory. Even if you are not a pro of XML, you will be able to read the content of this file and identify which components have been installed exactly.

Oracle ADF and JDeveloper 11g deep dive class

A few weeks ago, Oracle asked me if I would accept to share my knowledge with other Oracle customers by giving a class that shows what we've learned so far using the Fusion Development Platform (ADF and JDeveloper 11g). For one year now, we've been working on a project that consist of building a new bleeding edge Learning Management System. To build that LMS, we have chosen the Oracle Fusion Development platform.

In order to give an answer to the request I got, I've built an abstract on a two days class where I would show advanced techniques on how to use Oracle ADF (Application Development Framework) and JDeveloper 11g. I would like to get your comments in order to see what is missing or what you would expect from that kind of class if you had to follow it.

Here is the proposed title of the class : Oracle ADF and JDeveloper 11g Deep Dive

Here is the proposed abstract :

This Oracle ADF and JDeveloper 11g Deep Dive course will teach attendees everything they ever wanted to know about these two core pieces of Fusion Middleware that allows them to build their own Fusion Application (Oracle next generation web applications).

The first part of this session will begin with the anatomy of the Oracle Fusion Architecture. Team development with JDeveloper 11g will then be covered and tips will be provided to increase team productivity.

The second part of this session will cover advanced techniques on Oracle ADF 11g plus a deep dive of the new features of this release and how to use them efficiently. Hidden functionalities will be discovered, tips and techniques from real world scenarios will be shared and demos will be performed to demonstrate the concepts and features that will be covered. Each components of ADF will be covered in depth in this section of the class : ADF Faces Rich Client, ADF Model, ADF Bindings and ADF Business Components.

The third and last part of this session will show advanced debugging techniques with JDeveloper 11g. Techniques on how to deploy a custom Fusion Application into the new Oracle AS 11g (WebLogic) will be demonstrated.

Here are the objectives :

- Demystify Oracle Fusion Application architecture; - Provide advanced techniques for using ADF and JDeveloper 11g more efficiently; - Augment development productivity by teaching techniques tooked from real world successfull projects; - Demistify new features of ADF and JDeveloper 11g; - Unveil hidden or less frequently used features of ADF and JDeveloper 11g

And the required skills :

- Students must have working experience with Java, ADF and JDeveloper; - Students must have good knowledge of SQL

Please let me know what you think by reply to a post or by sending me an email.

Thanks !

What do you want to know about Fusion Middleware ?

Fusion Middleware is a big thing. It covers a lot of products and tools that are complementary and addresses different business needs. Fusion Middleware is not only ADF (application development framework) or Java development, it's a lot more. It covers BI (like BI Publisher), identity management, portal, content management, enterprise performance + management, SOA, grid, etc. etc.

This graphic shows you a diagram of areas that Fusion Middleware covers :


I would like to blog more about Fusion Middleware (not only on ADF), focus on topics that are more suitable to your needs and write articles that will help you in your day to day work based on my real world experience (current and past). I would like to know, by posting a comment to this post or sending me an email, what you would like a person like me, as per my Oracle ACE Director status, to focus this year. I would also like to know your profile : developer, architect, manager, director, dba, apps manager, etc. I can cover from a very high level (like TCO, ROI, EA, etc.) or the deep dive many products of the suite that I've been deploying in my current and past jobs.

Your comments will help me a lot in my current initiatives and the ones to comes.

I look forward to read your comments / emails.