4 Get Started with Enterprise Manager Cloud Control

To access the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control documentation, go to

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Online Documentation Library Release 13.1.

Figure 4-1 EMCC Documentation Library

Description of "Figure 4-1 EMCC Documentation Library"

Consider that:

• Installation instructions are organized by Cloud Control version.

• Not all guides, nor all section in the guides, will be relevant to Oracle Fusion Applications administrators.

Enterprise Manager Cloud Control consists of the following three primary components:

• The Oracle Management Agent

  The Management Agent is an integral software component that makes possible to convert an unmanaged host to a managed host in the Enterprise Manager system. The Management Agent works in conjunction with the plug-ins to monitor the targets running on that managed host.

  With the first Oracle Management Service (OMS) installed, by default a Management Agent called the Central Agent is received. The Central Agent is used for monitoring only the first OMS host, the first OMS, and the other targets running on the first OMS host. To monitor other hosts and the targets running on those hosts, a separate Standalone Management Agent must be installed on each of those hosts.

• The Oracle Management Service (OMS)

  Oracle Management Service (OMS) is a Web-based application that orchestrates with the Management Agents and the plug-ins to discover targets, monitor and manage them, and store the collected information in a repository for future reference and analysis. The OMS also renders the user interface for Enterprise Manager Cloud Control.

  The OMS is deployed to the middleware home, which is the parent directory that contains Oracle WebLogic Server, OMS, plug-ins, Java Development Kit (JDK), Oracle WT directory, Oracle Common, and other relevant configuration files and directories. While installing the OMS, the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Installation Wizard automatically installs Oracle WebLogic Server and JDK, and therefore, a WebLogic Server admin console is available by default.

• The Oracle Management Repository (Management Repository/ OMR)

  The Oracle Management Repository (Management Repository) is a storage location where all the information collected by the Management Agent gets stored. It consists of objects such as database jobs, packages, procedures, views, and tablespaces.

  The OMS uploads the monitoring data it receives from the Management Agents to the Management Repository. The Management Repository then organizes the data so that it can be retrieved by the OMS and displayed in the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control console. Since data is stored in the Management Repository, it can be shared between any number of administrators accessing the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control.

  At the time of installation, the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Installation Wizard configures the Management Repository in the existing, certified database. The wizard, however, does not install a new database.

Figure 4-2 Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Architecture

Description of "Figure 4-2 Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Architecture"

In Figure 4-2 the load balancer and the multiple Oracle Management Service (OMS) instances are depicted only to indicate how a sample Enterprise Manager Cloud Control architecture would look in a large organization. They are not a prerequisite or a requirement for an Enterprise Manager system installation. If a load balancer does not exist, then the Management Agents communicate directly with the OMS instances.

An enterprise-wide management system such as Cloud Control, as well as Oracle Fusion Applications, is used because an enterprise is large enough to support it, so planning for sufficient resources and inevitable growth are important parts of the process.

Use the Oracle Fusion Applications Installation Workbook and Plan the Topology and Provisioning of the Installation in the Oracle Fusion Applications Installation Guide to help integrate the efforts and to derive the data needed to run the Cloud Control Installation Wizard.

As an implementation starting point:

• Appoint a Cloud Control owner

  This person should have a vision of the entire IT enterprise, knowing the key technical people and business stakeholders for each system being monitored. This person should be very familiar with the Fusion Applications instances and installation plans.

• Plan for both the initial phase and longer-term growth

  Decide what will be monitored, how it will be administered, and by whom. Phase the rollout, and use milestones to track progress.

• Consider having a test site

  A non-production site is used to experiment with metrics extensions, patch updates, and so on.

The Enterprise Manager Prerequisite Kit utility (EM Prerequisite Kit) is a command line utility that runs repository-related prerequisite checks in the environment to ensure that all the repository requirements for installing or upgrading an Enterprise Manager system have been met.

The kit not only runs the prerequisite checks but also takes corrective actions automatically, to the extent possible, when a prerequisite check fails. The kit also takes post-requisite steps automatically to revert the corrective actions taken and ensure that the system is back to how it was before installing or upgrading the Enterprise Manager system.

The EM Prerequisite Kit is run internally by the Enterprise Manager Installation Wizard while installing or upgrading an Enterprise Manager system. In addition, the kit can be executed beforehand to ensure that the environment meets all the repository-related requirements. This helps in detecting and fixing repository-related issues beforehand, thus enabling a much smoother installation or upgrade experience.

Refer to the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Basic Installation Guide section Installing Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 13c Release 1. This section describes how to install a new Enterprise Manager system while utilizing an existing, certified Oracle Database to store Oracle Management Repository (Management Repository). In the Prerequisites for Installing an Enterprise Manager System section, database requirements are listed and contains the link to Appendix C, which indicates how to install the OMR using templates.

To install Enterprise Manager Cloud Control in a production environment, use the Advanced installation type. For the installation steps, see Installing an Enterprise Manager System for a Production Site (Advanced Configuration) in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Basic Installation Guide.

Take in consideration that:

• Once launched, the installation process runs for about one hour.

• Choose Advanced when prompted for installation type. This option will subsequently make possible to select the Oracle Fusion Applications Management Pack (or plug-in) for Cloud Control, a required step that is only available in the Advanced mode.

  Figure 4-3 Installation Types screen

  
  

  
  Description of "Figure 4-3 Installation Types screen"

  
  

• When the Select Plug-In screen is displayed, accept four default choices (Oracle Database, Oracle Exadata, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Systems Infrastructure). Also select Oracle Fusion Applications.

Figure 4-4 Select Plug-ins screen

Description of "Figure 4-4 Select Plug-ins screen"

While Cloud Control can be used as a graphical interface for starting and stopping many of the Oracle Fusion Applications components, the Oracle Managed Service (OMS) and agents of Cloud Control itself are started and stopped with a command-line tool called EMCTL.

Each Oracle Management Server (OMS) in Cloud Control consists of a number of components, all of which can be started or stopped from the OMS home using the Enterprise Manager Control (EMCTL) command-line tool. This tool makes possible to quickly start and stop Cloud Control management servers and agents. It must be invoked from the appropriate directory to control the desired component.

The discovery of host servers and targets in an Oracle Fusion Applications environment is done in phases. Also, the enterprise may have multiple Fusion Applications environments—one for development, one for testing, and one for production, for example. Each environment should also be discovered in phases.

It is mandatory to:

1) Discover the host machine and Cloud Control will deploy an agent to it. (See Discover Hosts: General Notes.)

2) Add the environment targets that reside on those hosts.

The recommended order is as follows:

1. Database

   Discover the host of the transaction database. Then Add the transaction database target(s) using guided discovery. See Discover Databases: General Notes.

2. Identity Management

   Discover the Identity Management database and component host(s). Then add the Identity Management domain targets. See Discover Identity Management: General Notes.

3. Middleware Targets and BIDomain (Business Intelligence)

   Discover the hosts and then add the targets for middleware components such as WebLogic Server domains, OHS, and Business Intelligence instances and domains, using the guided process. See Discover the Oracle Fusion Applications Components.

4. Fusion Applications product domains

   First run diagnostic prechecks, then discover the hosts and add the targets of all functional Fusion Applications product domains, such as CommonDomain, CRMDomain, FinancialDomain, and HCMDomain. See Discover the Oracle Fusion Applications Components.

Once the host for the transaction database(s) has been discovered, use these notes to assist with adding Fusion Applications database targets.

If there are multiple databases on the same host, it is possible to select multiples. Entering a password for each will be needed.

Adding Identity Management to Cloud Control involves discovering the machine that hosts the Identity Management components, then adding the databases and finally adding the middle tier components of Identity Management.

• Database

  The Identity Management database is discovered in the same way as the transactional database, using the Guided Process.

• Ports

  The listen ports for Identity Management domain will be needed. If the Identity Management Provisioning Wizard was used to configure the environment, the AdminServer of IDMDomain uses port 7001 on the machine where the domain was configured. It is also possible to use Fusion Middleware Control in the Identity Management environment to obtain/check the listen port.

• To find the Middleware targets for Identity Management

  1. Click Targets then, Middleware.

  2. Then click Add and then, Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Domain in the Table tab.

  3. Enter the Administration server host, port, username, password, unique domain identifier, and agent when prompted.

  4. The wizard discovers all the necessary Middleware component targets and provides a confirmation. There are more than 50 targets found.

  5. Click Close to assign the agents.

  6. Then click Add Targets.

Discovering the Fusion Instance includes the middleware components and the Oracle Fusion Applications, including all the WLS domains. It is recommended to run preliminary diagnostic tests, then discover the instance. Later, if desired, it is also possible to discover Business Intelligence or other affiliated components.

Cloud Control provides a central credential store that:

• Manages user names, passwords, certificates, and keys for targets.

• Avoids the need to repeatedly type passwords.

• Supports both private and shared credentials.

Managing target credentials is described in Configuring and Using Target Credentials and Guidelines for Managing Target Credentials in the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Security Guide.

The Summary section displays an overview of the Fusion instance as a whole, including diagnostic and database information.

The Member Target Summary section displays an overview of the member targets of the Fusion instance, including product families and products. The type of information displayed in this sub-section is similar to that displayed in the Cloud Control Fusion Applications overview page.

The Status section displays status information regarding the members of the Fusion instance. The numbers at the top of the Status section indicate how many members of the instance are up, down or unavailable. A number or status can be clicked for more information.

The table in the Status section displays members that have been affected the most within the last 24 hours. This includes Oracle WebLogic Servers, application deployments, clustered application deployments, Fusion Java EE applications, and so on. The table displays the status and percent availability for each member. It is possible to click individual member items for more information.

The Infrastructure section shows the status of the Oracle Fusion Middleware targets on which Fusion Applications runs, including Oracle WebLogic Servers and clusters. The Member Status Summary indicates the number of targets that are running or down.

The Incidents column shows major incidents that have occurred in the infrastructure targets, including descendant targets. Incidents are listed by severity, namely fatal, critical, warning and escalation levels.

The Compliance Summary section indicates the extent to which targets are in compliance with any standards defined for the organization. Compliance evaluation is the process of testing the compliance standard rules within a compliance standard against a target and recording any violations in the Oracle Management Repository.

Compliance standards are sets of rules that require all components to be configured according to organization policy. Compliance standards can include checks, such as verifying that all servers run securely using SSL, or that files do not include unhashed passwords. The compliance standards provided by Oracle can be used, such as the Security Configuration for Oracle Database, or it is also possible to create a unique standard.

Violations are categorized as errors, warnings, and minor warnings. Average compliance scores are listed for each component, as well as the date of the most recent compliance evaluation.

Click Trend Overview to visually determine whether the targets are adhering to or distancing themselves from the compliance best practices.

The Patch Recommendations section indicates whether any patches can be applied to any given target. Patches can be displayed by target type or classification of patch.