Application Configuration Console Release Notes
Release 5.3.2
E14657-02
September 2009
Application Configuration Console is a configuration management tool that automates the IT configuration processes required to build and maintain complex infrastructure configurations for J2EE-based enterprise applications throughout their entire lifecycle.
This document contains the following sections:
This section briefly describes the new features and enhancements delivered in this release.
Application Configuration Console now provides internationalization support by externalizing message and UI elements in resource bundles so that the text content can be translated into the language associated with the locale. The translated resource bundles can easily be added to the installed infrastructure.
Note:
There is no multibyte support for the WebLogic 8 Automation Module, consequently it has not been externalized.Both the Client and Core Server include underlying support to set character encoding to match that of managed hosts and configurations. Application Configuration Console also properly handles all user-entered Unicode characters.
All Client and Core Server files (.log,.xml,.txt, and so forth) are in UTF-8 format so that they are interpretable in any locale. Likewise, all server-generated e-mails are in UTF-8 format.
In keeping with Oracle's commitment to create accessible technologies and products, Application Configuration Console has undergone a major overhaul to ensure that the user interface is completely navigable by keyboard and interpretable by most popular screen readers. This effort includes:
An accessibility mode preference setting that replaces or enhances visual clues with explanatory text, and improves keyboard navigation in areas not otherwise accessible via the keyboard.
A special key sequence that displays table column headers in a dialog box so that they can be announced by a screen reader and sorted (a workaround necessitated by the inability in Windows to set focus on a table header).
Keyboard access to the Details view, with the added capabilities to sort and resize columns and copy information to the clipboard. The Details view was previously a static area.
Keyboard shortcuts for closing the current editor window and all open editor windows.
This release institutes new security policies in keeping with Oracle's mandate to protect customer data. These policies include:
The Core Server now generates a new self-signed SSL certificate during installation. The Client installer no longer lays down keystore files. Rather, these files now are generated when the Client first connects to the Server.
Application Configuration Console now uses the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption algorithm, with an encryption key size of 128 bits and an encryption mode of CBC (cipher-block chaining).
Certain sensitive files and directories within SERVER_HOME and CLIENT_HOME have been given heightened permissions to guard against tampering.
You can now deploy tracking server instances on multiple hosts to relieve resource bottlenecks on particular machines. After you deploy a tracking server instance, subsequent deployments become a simple matter of changing the server ID.
A new resource adapter is available to query an Oracle database. The query result is loaded as an asset in Application Configuration Console, where it can be managed like any other asset.
Installer program enhancements include:
Improved flow of installation panels.
Clarifying text added to the panels.
Time zone selection during Server installation now includes 368 choices.
Supplemental checking and validation routines for earlier detection of components (server deployments, for example) and potential problems (adequate disk space, for example).
Application Configuration Console now uses EclipseLink to help manage stored objects in the database, and therefore no longer requires Hibernate as a prerequisite to Core Server installation.
The Java CIFS Client Library (JCIFS) is no longer a prerequisite to Core Server installation. If you want to use UNC names to access network resources, you have to download and install JCIFS, and configure Application Configuration Console to use it.
Automation module enhancements include:
The WebLogic Automation Module (9 and 10) now performs a permission check before executing actions that require a reload of the AdminServer asset. The action is denied if the submitter does not have permission to reload the asset.
The WebSphere Automation Module now generates increased job output to provide a better audit trail.
Web Reports enhancements include:
Internationalization/localization enhancements accrue to Web Reports as well.
Accessibility compliance enhancements accrue to Web Reports as well.
Formatting and stylistic refinements make report data more coherent.
The Dashboard report has been deprecated, as it duplicated information available in other reports.
This section lists the known issues pertaining to this release.
When performing an Application Configuration Console installation (Core Server, Clinet, or CLI) in console mode, a screen reader such as JAWS repeats an entered password without obfuscation. Note that this is an InstallShield limitation.
Note that an automation module script run in the command line interface (CLI) that prompts for a password, may echo the entered password in cleartext. This applies both to the CLI console window within the Client and to the standalone CLI run in a command prompt.
Mapping choices for database resource adapter are limited to Database Mapping and No Mapping. The Client Online Help misidentifies the mapping selection as Relational Database Adapter Mapping.
The Comparison key column value that you can enter in the Advanced dialog for database resource defintion is case-sensitive and much match how the column name is specified, or the operation will fail.
UNC, or Uniform (Universal) Naming Convention, is a common syntax for describing the location of a network resource, such as a shared file, directory, or printer. UNC will not be exposed as a host/endpoint option unless you download and install JCIFS, and configure Application Configuration Console to support it. See the Application Configuration Console Installation Guide for instructions on what to do.
In Web Reports, there are toolbar buttons that open dialog boxes. These dialog boxes have radio buttons, one of which has an associated text box. If you enter a text value and then select another radio button, the value is grayed out and thus may have insufficient luminosity for the visually impaired. To render the text in the proper contrast, reselect the radio button associated with the text box.
A new special key sequence is available for keyboard navigation that is not mentioned in the Client Online Help. You can press Ctrl+Enter to expose a multiline property value in a cell, when editing is disabled in the Editor area.
The following is a list of conditions you may encounter, or behavior you should be aware of:
The Application Configuration Console mappers are unable to parse data containing user characters that consist of multiple Unicode characters.
Web Reports sources reports from HTML, the database, and the Core Server, where processing is required to render the report. For this third variety, the Core Server must support a superset of character encodings; that is, every encoding that may possibly exist on any Client within the Application Configuration Console purview.
Web Reports are generated in UTF-8 format. Excel, which is the export to CSV default application, has a known problem with UTF-8, whereby it tries to convert to ASCII. If you use the export to CSV feature, open the exported file in a text editor such as Notepad to view the report contents.
Problems of interpretation or display can be attributable either to font availability or encoding support. Open (transparent) squares denote a font issue; question marks (????) indicate an encoding issue.
Do not use copy and paste to capture values from a nonstandard source, into a container name field, for example. This can cause Web Reports to break. Always capture characters in a standardized editor or from a standardized source, such as the keyboard.
All Application Configuration Console Server and Client files (.log,.xml,.txt, and so forth) are in UTF-8 format so that they are interpretable in any locale. Likewise, all server-generated e-mails are in UTF-8 format. Thus, the mail server must be able to forward e-mail correctly; that is, any problems with displaying/interpreting e-mail sent from Application Configuration Console stem from the mail server.
Note that a DOS window cannot handle non-ASCII characters. Therefore, to display multibyte characters properly, run the CLI from a console window within a Client that is UTF-8-enabled, not in standalone mode.
If you use Cygwin for an SSH connection to a Windows target system on which you are monitoring resources that have UTF-8 characters, you must use version 7.1 to properly interpret the UTF-8 characters.
All production automation modules (WebLogic, WebSphere, Windows Resource Extensions) have UTF-8 as the default character encoding for shipped resource specifications. Note, however, that the WebLogic 8 Automation Module has not been externalized and thus cannot be localized.
Output of a scripting job appears in the language of the Core Server, regardless of the locale of the submitting user. The reality of this is that typically the language of the Server will be the same as the Client where the job was submitted. And, in any case, job output is predominantly standardized, not externalized and therefore subject to translation.
Note, on the other hand, that the results of lengthly Server operations such as loading, provisioning, updating from resource, and so forth, are externalized.
If you want to use the WebLogic 8 Automation Module that ships with this release, you must manually configure the automation module to use an earlier version of Jython, specifically, 2.1. Your WebLogic 8 Automation Module scripts may not execute properly if you don't use this version.
After installing or upgrading to 5.3.2, take the following steps:
Connect to the Core Server and install the WebLogic 8 Automation Module in the usual way.
Download and extract the jython.jar file from the Jython 2.1 distribution.
Note:
If you upgraded, look for the file here:$INSTALL_DIR/mv_backup/appserver/tomcat/webapps/mvserver/WEB-INF/lib/jython.jar.Open the following file in a text editor:
$INSTALL_DIR/appserver/tomcat/shared/classes/extensions/weblogic8AM/lib/env.properties
Append to the line that begins PRE_MV_CLASSPATH=, the full path of the jython.jar file from Step 2.
If the line already contains a value after the equal sign, ensure that you use proper Java classpath syntax in appending the path.
Save your changes.
It is not necessary to restart the Server, and you can begin to execute WebLogic 8 actions immediately.
Some WebLogic10 Automation Module scripts prompt for the path to the JDK 1.6 home directory. Certain earlier versions of WebLogic 10 Application Server (for example, WLS 10.0) support JDK 1.5 rather than JDK 1.6. In these cases, specify the home directory of a JDK 1.5 instance (for example, the JDK1.5 that comes with WLS 10.0).
Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible to all users, including users that are disabled. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/.
Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation
Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.
Accessibility of Links to External Web Sites in Documentation
This documentation may contain links to Web sites of other companies or organizations that Oracle does not own or control. Oracle neither evaluates nor makes any representations regarding the accessibility of these Web sites.
Deaf/Hard of Hearing Access to Oracle Support Services
To reach Oracle Support Services, use a telecommunications relay service (TRS) to call Oracle Support at 1.800.223.1711. An Oracle Support Services engineer will handle technical issues and provide customer support according to the Oracle service request process. Information about TRS is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trs.html, and a list of phone numbers is available at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro/trsphonebk.html.
Application Configuration Console Release Notes, Release 5.3.2
E14657-02
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