4 Plug-in Builder

This chapter describes the following topics:

4.1 Overview

The Enterprise Manager Plug-in builder is a JDeveloper extension that helps integrators to create plug-ins using JDeveloper editor. The intuitive GUI wizards available within the plug-in builder enable you to easily develop plug-ins that can be imported and deployed onto Enterprise Manager. Traditional way of creating a Metadata Plug-in using various XML editors has always been prone to semantic and syntactic errors. Therefore, Oracle recommends using this interactive development environment to take advantage of the various run time validation intelligence embedded in the extension.

To develop plug-ins, you need to download the plug-in builder tool that is shipped with Extensibility Development Kit (EDK). To download the EDK kit, from Cloud Control console, select Setup, then Extensibility, and Development Kit. Following are the key components required to develop metadata plug-ins:

  • Plugin.xml: A plugin.xml file provides the metadata describing the plug-in, and is used for deploying plug-ins. It contains properties that identify the plug-in, such as name and version, and declares the set of target types that will be added to Enterprise Manager Cloud Control.

  • Plugin_registry.xml: A plugin_registry.xml file provides the metadata required by the Management Agent to which the plug-in will be deployed. It is packaged in the /agent directory within the plug-in archive and is deployed to the Management Agent that will monitor a target.

  • Target Type: A target type metadata file is an integral part of defining a new target type. The target type file describes a set of metrics that can be collected for a specific type of target. Essentially, it tells the Management Agent what data to retrieve and how to obtain that data for this particular target type. To add a new target type, provide the following details:

    • Instance properties defines what properties an administrator must specify in the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control console when adding a new target instance of this particular target type.

    • Credentials are required for a plug-in to authenticate with each target instance that it will collect data for, or run jobs against. Credential types and credential sets are needed to enable authentication.

    • Metrics are at the core of Cloud Control's target monitoring capabilities. Basically, Cloud Control's ability to monitor and manage various targets. This in-turn refers to its ability to collect, process, and display target metrics.

  • Default Collection: The default collection file defines the metric data to be collected from targets and written to the Management Repository along with information such as the collection frequency. The default collection metadata file for a target type defines the following:

    • The frequency of at which this metric data is collected.

    • Thresholds that, when exceeded, will cause a Metric Alert event to be raised.

    • An optional message to display when a threshold is exceeded.

4.2 Prerequisites For Using Plug-in Builder

4.3 Installing Plug-in Builder

This section contains the following topics:

Note:

After installing the Plug-in Builder, to verify if the Plug-in Builder extension has been properly deployed, follow these steps:

  1. On the Oracle JDeveloper page, from help menu, select About.

  2. In the About Oracle JDeveloper dialog box, select Extensions.

  3. In the Extensions Tab, look for:

    Name: EM Plug-in Builder

    Identifier: oracle.em.edk.pluginbuilder

    Version: 12.1.0.1.0

    Status: Loaded

4.3.1 Installing Plug-in Builder and a New JDeveloper Instance

To install the JDeveloper studio version, and the plug-in builder components, follow these steps:

  1. Download the Generic Studio Edition of Oracle JDeveloper 11.1.1.7 (jdevstudio11117install.jar).
  2. Set the following environmental variables:
    On Unix:
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/jdk6
    export EDK_HOME=/home/SCHARGE/12.1.0.4.0_edk_partner
    
    On Windows:
    set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk6
    set EDK_HOME=C:\Users\SCHARGE\12.1.0.4.0_edk_partner
    
  3. Run the following command to install JDeveloper Studio binary:
    On Unix:
    $EDK_HOME/bin/setup.sh
    
    On Windows:
    %EDK_HOME%\bin\setup.bat
    

4.3.2 Installing Plug-in Builder into an Existing JDeveloper Instance

If you have an existing JDeveloper instance, then you must use JDeveloper update mechanism to install plug-in builder extension. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Set the following environmental variables:

    On Unix:
    export JAVA_HOME=/usr/jdk6
    
    On Windows:
    set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk6
    
  2. Run the command to start the existing JDeveloper instance.

  3. On the Oracle JDeveloper page, from help menu, select Check for Updates. Check for Updates Wizard is displayed.

  4. On the Welcome page, click Next.

  5. On the Source Page, select Install from Local File. Click browse, or enter the path to the plug-in builder file:

    On Linux

    <EDK_INSTALL_DIR>/lib/empluginbuilder.zip

    On Windows:

    <EDK_INSTALL_DIR>\lib\empluginbuilder.zip

    Where, EDK_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where EDK is installed.

    Click Next.

  6. On the Summary page, upgraded extensions, and the new extensions are displayed. Click Finish.

    You are then prompted to exit the JDeveloper wizard.

  7. To update the JDeveloper reference to EDK, follow these steps:

    1. Start the JDeveloper instance.

    2. On the Oracle JDeveloper page, from Tools menu, select Preferences.

    3. On the Preferences page, select EM Plug- in Builder, and update the location of the EDK.

      Note:

      If you miss updating the EDK home location, the plug-in project fails with set the EDK location error.

4.4 Creating an Enterprise Manager Plug-in Project

To create an Enterprise Manager project, follow these steps:

  1. Run the command to start the existing JDeveloper instance.
  2. On Oracle JDeveloper page, from File menu, select New. A New Gallery dialog box is displayed.
  3. On the left pane, from the Categories section, select Enterprise Manager Plugin, and click OK to create a metadata plug-in project.
  4. In the Create EM Plug-in dialog box, enter the following details:

    Figure 4-1 Create EM Plug-in



    Table 4-1 Create EM Plug-in

    Attribute Description

    Company Name

    Ensure that you begin the name with an alphabetic value. The length can range from one to eight characters. For example: Sam123

    Product Name

    Ensure that you begin the product name with an alphabetic value. The length can range from one and eight characters. For example: p123

    Product Tag

    Ensure that you start the product tag with x. The length of this field can range from two and four characters. For example: xp1

    Display Name

    Descriptive display name for the plug-in. For example: Plugin1

    Version

    This is a pre-populated value. Describes the version of the plug-in. For example: 12.1.0.1.0.

    Category

    Select a category from the menu. By default it is Others.

    Initial TargetType Name

    This is a pre-populated value that contains the suffix for initial target type. For example: Type 1

    TargetType Display Name

    Descriptive display name for target type. For example: Basic Target Data.

    Plug-in Directory

    This is the location where the plug-in project is created. Click Browse, to change the directory location. For example: /home/nbhaktha/pluginbuilder.

    Click OK.

  5. A new project is listed in the Application Navigator tab. If you have created more than one project, then you can select the desired plug-in project from the Application Navigator menu. When you expand the project, you will see three primary resources: agent, discovery, and oms.
  6. Right-click plugin.xml to view the details of the plug-in. Click Target Types tab to view all the targets types added to the current plug-in. Click Collection Items tab to view the list of collection items associated with this target.
  7. To add new target types to a plug-in, see Adding a New Target Type.
  8. To add collection items for a target, see Adding a Collection Item for the Target.

    Note:

    Starting with Enterprise Manager 12.1.0.4, out-of-box support for discovery of targets is present. For more information, see Discovering Targets.

  9. Click refresh icon to view all the targets and collection items added into a plug-in project. Note that these files are not physically added into the agent directory until the staging phase. For information about how these files are packaged into a plug-in project, see Appendix.
  10. Right-click the project name and select Validate Plugin Distribution from the context menu.
  11. In the Validate EM Plugin dialog box, the Plugin Staging directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated, you may change them if required. Click OK.
  12. Right-click the project name, and select Create Plugin Archive from the context menu.
  13. In the Create Plugin Archive dialog box, the Plugin Staging Directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated; you may change them if required. Click OK to create the .Opar file.

    For more about importing and deploying the.Opar files, see Deploying the Plug-in Archive into Enterprise Manager.

4.5 Creating a Plug-in Project Using Sample Plug-ins

To create an Enterprise Manager plug-in project using sample plug-ins, follow these steps:

  1. Run the command to start the existing JDeveloper instance.
  2. On Oracle JDeveloper page, from File menu, select New. A New Gallery dialog box is displayed.
  3. In the Categories section, select Enterprise Manager Plugin, then select Enterprise Manager Plug-in from sample Plug-in.

    Images showing a tree indicating where to find Enterprise Manger Plug-in

  4. Click OK.
  5. In the Create EM Plugin dialog box, enter all the relevant plug-in details like Company Name, Product Name, Product Tag, and Display Name.

    Dialog box showing fields for Company Name, Product Name, Product Tag, Display Name, Version

    Select one of the following samples from the list:

    • Basic - oracle.samples.xsh1: This is a basic plug-in demonstrating minimal monitoring capability like Target, Metrics definition and Reports.

    • Intermediate - oracle.samples.xsh2: This is an intermediate plug-in covering samples of Configuration collections, Job types and Target Associations on top of Basic features

    • Advanced - oracle.samples.xsh3: This is an advanced plug-in covering Automatic Discovery, BI Publisher reports, Derived Associations and Compliance standards along with Intermediate features

    Enter the location for the new plug-in project.

    Click OK.

    This copies the sample into the specified project directory. It then modifies the target type and collection files to use the new standard (company_product_tag_type) and corrects the xml contents of the plugin, agent-registry, targettype and default_collection files to reflect the data entered in the wizard.

  6. Right-click the project name, and select Validate Plugin Distribution from the context menu.
  7. In the Validate EM Plugin dialog box, the Plugin Staging directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated, you may change them if required. Click OK.
  8. Right-click the project name, and select Create Plugin Archive from the context menu.
  9. In the Create Plugin Archive dialog box, the Plugin Staging Directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated; you may change them if required. Click OK to create the .Opar file.

    For more about importing and deploying the.Opar files, see Deploying the Plug-in Archive into Enterprise Manager.

4.6 Discovering Targets

Starting with EDK 12.1.0.4.0, plug-in builder supports specifying discovery metadata and target specific discovery code. That means, whenever a new target type is created, the discovery metadata gets updated automatically to include the newly added target types. If you do not want to discover some target types, then you can manually delete that information from the discovery.xml file available at: <project_name>/Resources/oms/metadata/discovery. To access and view the details of this xml file, see Viewing Basic Discovery Information. The target specific discovery code is supported using a Perl script located under /Resources/discovery folder. For any new target type added, the corresponding discovery code should be added in the Perl script. For an example on how to update the Perl script to discover targets, see Discovery Integration Example Requiring User Input.

See Also:

For more information about how discovery of targets can be accomplished in Enterprise Manager manually, see Defining Target Discovery.

4.6.1 Updating Discovery Metadata for a Pre-existing Plug-in

If you have a plug-in that was created without the discovery metadata, then you can use the Plug-in Builder to manually add the discovery files to the correct folders. Follow these steps to enable discovery support for a pre-existing plug-in:

  1. Select the project name from the Application Navigator menu.
  2. Navigate to the following directory:
    <Project_Name>/Resources/oms/metadata/discovery
    

    If the discovery folder does not exist, then you will need to add it manually.

  3. Edit the <company_name>_<product_name>_<tag>_discovery.xml file available in the discovery folder to add the target type information to the metadata file. If the metadata file does not exist, you may have to add it manually.

    For details about what to add or edit in the discovery metadata file, refer to the sample file available at: $EDK_HOME/samples/plugins/oracle.samples.xsh3/plugin_dist/oms/metadata/discovery/sample_host3_discovery.xml

  4. To add the Perl script that contains the logic to discover target types, navigate to the following location:
    <Project_Name>/Resources/discovery
    

    If the discovery folder does not exist, then you will need to add it manually.

  5. Edit the Perl script <company_name>_<product_name>_<tag>_discovery.pl to add the relevant logic to discover all the target types that have been included in the metadata file for discovery. If the Perl file does not exist, you may have to add it manually.

    For details about what to add or edit in the Perl file, refer to the sample Perl script available at: $EDK_HOME/samples/plugins/oracle.samples.xsh3/plugin_dist/discovery/sample_host3_discovery.pl.

  6. Right-click the project name, and select Validate Plugin Distribution from the context menu.
  7. In the Validate EM Plugin dialog box, the Plugin Staging directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated, you may change them if required. Click OK.
  8. Right-click the project name, and select Create Plugin Archive from the context menu.
  9. In the Create Plugin Archive dialog box, the Plugin Staging Directory and Output Directory values are pre-populated; you may change them if required. Click OK to create the .Opar file.

    For more about importing and deploying the.Opar files, see Deploying the Plug-in Archive into Enterprise Manager.

4.6.2 Viewing Basic Discovery Information

To view the discovery information for all the target types that are bundled into a plug-in, follow these steps:

  1. Select the project name from the Application Navigator menu.
  2. Navigate to the following directory:
    <Project_Name>/Resources/oms/metadata/discovery
    
  3. Double-click the xml file available in this directory to view the details. Essentially, the xml records the following metadata information:
    • General tab contains the details of the perl script that needs to be updated to discover targets when the Oracle Management Agent starts up after Enterprise Manager installation.

    • Target Type Included tab lists of all the target types that are eligible for discovery.

4.7 Deploying the Plug-in Archive into Enterprise Manager

Before you deploy the plug-in archive file into Enterprise Manager, perform the following pre-requisite tasks:

  1. The Enterprise Manager instance where you plan to deploy the plug-in, must have the Software Library configured, and contain the plug-in archive file.
  2. If you want to deploy the plug-in using the Plug-in Builder, ensure that the required preferences are set. To set the Enterprise Manager Plug-in Builder preferences, from the Tools menu, select Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, select EM Plug-in Builder, and select I would like to specify a test Enterprise Manager installation.

Once the plug-in archive file (.opar) is ready, to deploy the plug-in archive file into Enterprise Manager, right-click the project name, and from the context menu, select Deploy Plug-in, and then click OK.

Note:

If you haven't created the Plug-in archive file, you will not be allowed to perform the deploy step.

After the plug-in has been successfully deployed, to access the plug-in, log into Cloud Control, and from the Setup menu, select Extensibility, then click Plug-ins. You must see the newly deployed plug-in on the Plug-ins page.

4.8 Adding a New Target Type

There are two approaches to add a new target type. They are:

Table 4-2 Adding A Target Type

Approach 1 Approach 2

On Oracle JDeveloper page, from File menu, select New. A New Gallery dialog box is displayed.

Select the project name from the Application menu.

In the Categories section, select Metadata, then select Target Type.

Expand the oms folder present inside the project folder, and drill down to the targetType folder.

Click OK.

Right-click the targetType folder, and select New

 

In the New Gallery window, select Metadata., then click Target Type.

Click Ok.

  1. In the Add Target Type dialog box, enter a unique name and a display name for the new target type, then click OK.
  2. Click Refresh icon available in the Projects tab to view the new target type added.

    Double-click the new target type added to view the details or to update the details. For more information, see Updating Target Type Information.

Note:

The newly added target type automatically becomes available for discovery. In order to discover the targets, you must ensure that the perl script available in /Resources/discovery directory is manually updated to include all the target type information. For more information, see Discovering Targets.

4.9 Updating Target Type Information

For a new Target Type, you need to provide the following details:

Note:

The metric references are completely synchronized with the collection metadata, which means, if you delete or rename a metric for a target type, then the corresponding reference in the collection items are also updated accordingly.

4.9.1 Adding Instance Properties

To define what properties an administrator must specify in the Enterprise Manager Cloud Control console when adding a new target instance of this particular target type, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the target type file (target_type.xml) to open with the Overview editor.
  2. Select Properties tab, and click add (+) in the InstanceProperty section.
  3. In the Insert InstanceProperty dialog box, enter a Name, NLSID, LABEL for the property. By default OPTIONAL is set to False (unchecked), which means that a property must be specified.

    For example, you can add a property by name Password, and make OPTIONAL as false (by deselecting the check box), which implies that the Administrator will need to specify a password while adding a new target instance for this particular target type.

  4. Click OK.

    You can edit or delete the property by selecting the respective option available in the InstanceProperty section.

4.9.2 Adding Dynamic Properties

The values for dynamic instance properties are passed back by the Management Agent collecting data from the target instance. They are typically used within a QueryDescriptor to define properties passed to the fetchlet responsible for metric collection. To add dynamic instance properties, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the target type file (target_type.xml) to open with the Overview editor.
  2. Select Properties tab, and click add (+) icon in the DynamicProperties section.
  3. In the Insert DynamicProperty dialog box, enter a Name, PROP_LIST, and select FORMAT, and FetchLet option from the menu.
    For example:
    NAME: AruidInfo
    PROP_LIST: ARUID
    FORMAT: ROW
    FetchLet: OSLineToken
    
  4. Click add (+) icon in the Query Properties section. In the add QueryDescriptor Property dialog box, enter a name and define the scope for the new property.
    NAME: scriptsDir
    SCOPE: GLOBAL
    
  5. Click OK.

    You can edit or delete the property by selecting the respective option available in the DynamicProperties section.

4.9.3 Adding Credential Type

Credential type is the type of authentication supported by a target type. To add a credential type, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the target type file (target_type.xml) to open with the Overview editor.
  2. Select Credentials tab, and click add (+) in the CredentialType section.
  3. In the Insert CredentialType dialog box, enter a Name, NLSID, and label for the credentials you are adding.
  4. Click add (+) icon in the CredentialType Columns section.
  5. In the add Credentialtype Column dialog box, enter the column values for each credential type, and click OK.

For example, to create a host credential with two columns UserName and Password, you need to provide the following details:

In the Insert CredentialType dialog box, enter the following details:
NAME: XP2HostCreds
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_HOSTCREDS
LABEL: XP2 Host Credentials

In the AddCredentialType Column, enter the following details:
NAME: XP2HostUserName
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_USERNAME
LABEL: XP2 Host UserName

NAME: XP2HostPassword
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_Password
LABEL: XP2 Password

You can edit or delete the Credentials by selecting the respective option available in the CredentialType section.

4.9.4 Adding Credential Set

To create an instance of a CredentialType, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the target type file (target_type.xml) to open with the Overview editor.
  2. Select Credentials tab, and click add (+) in the CredentialSet section.
  3. In the Insert CredentialSet dialog box, enter a unique name, select the Credential type from the menu, select a value for usage, enter an NLSID, and a label for the instance of the credential type that you are creating.
  4. Click add (+) icon in the CredentialTypeColumns section.
  5. In the Add CredentialSet Column dialog box, enter the column values for each credential set, and click OK.

For example, to create an instance of Host Credential type called Normal host credential with two columns Normal Username and Normal Password, you need to provide the following details:

In the Insert CredentialSet dialog box, enter the following details:
NAME: HostCredsNormal
CREDENTIALTYPE: XP2HostCreds
USAGE: PREFERRED_CRED
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_HOSTCREDS_NORMAL
LABEL: Normal Host Credentials

In the AddCredentialSet Column, enter the following details:
SET_COLUMN: username
TYPE_COLUMN: XP2HostUsername
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_HOSTCREDS_NORMAL
LABEL: Normal Username

SET_COLUMN: password
TYPE_COLUMN: XP2HostPassword
NLSID: CREDS_HOST_HOSTCREDS_NORMAL
LABEL: Normal Password

You can edit or delete the Credentials by selecting the respective option available in the CredentialType section.

4.9.5 Adding Metric Properties for a Target

To add a metric property, follow these steps:

  1. Double-click the target type file (target_type.xml) to open with the Overview editor.
  2. Select Metrics tab, and click add (+) in the Metric section. The Metric Properties dialog box is displayed.
  3. In the general tab, enter name, NLSID, value, and type for the metric.
  4. In the TableDescriptor tab, provide a name for the table, and follow the steps listed in Adding ColumnDescriptor to add a ColumnDescriptor.
  5. In the QueryDescriptor tab, select IncludeQueryDescriptor if you want to run a query. Select the FETCHLET_ID from the menu, and insert the Query Properties. To add Query Properties, see Adding QueryProperties.
  6. In the ExecutionDescriptor tab, enter relevant values in the GetTables and GetViews section. To do so, see Adding ExecutionDescriptor Table and Adding ExecutionDescriptor View.
  7. In the Configure Collection tab, to setup data configuration for the metric, click Add new. For more information, see Configuring Collection Items for a Target.
  8. Click Finish.

For example, the following graphic describes how to create a metric group containing metrics that collect CPU performance data:

You can edit or delete the metric property by selecting the respective option available in the Metric section.

4.9.5.1 Adding ColumnDescriptor

To add a ColumnDescriptor, follow these steps:

  1. In the TableDescriptor tab, click add (+) icon. Add ColumnDescriptor dialog box is displayed.
  2. Enter Name, Type, NLSID, and Label for the output column that you would like to include in the table. Select the IS_PRIMARY check box to make the selected column the primary key column in the Management Repository. Click OK.

4.9.5.2 Adding QueryProperties

To add a QueryDescriptor, follow these steps:

  1. In the QueryDescriptor tab, click add (+) icon. Add QueryDescriptor Property dialog box is displayed.
  2. Enter Name and Scope for the query property. Click OK.

4.9.5.3 Adding ExecutionDescriptor Table

To add an ExecutionDescriptor table, follow these steps:

  1. In the ExecutionDescriptor tab, click add (+) icon in the GetTables section. Add ExecutionDescriptor Table dialog box is displayed.
  2. Enter Name and Metric Name, and click OK.

4.9.5.4 Adding ExecutionDescriptor View

To add an ExecutionDescriptor view, follow these steps:

  1. In the ExecutionDescriptor tab, click add (+) icon in the GetViews section. Add ExecutionDescriptor Table dialog box is displayed.
  2. Enter Name and Metric Name. If you select Filter, you can provide a single column name, and a corresponding value. If you do not select Filter, click add (+) icon to add multiple column names and values. Click OK.

4.9.5.5 Configuring Collection Items for a Target

In the Configure Collection tab, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Skip: Choose skip to bypass this step. Basically, no collection item is associated with this metric.

  • Add New: Choose Add New to configure a new collection item that will collect data for this metric. To add or edit the properties for a collection item, see Inserting or Updating Collection Item Properties.

  • Use Existing: Choose Use Existing, and select the collection item from the menu to associate an existing collection item to this metric for data collection.

4.10 Adding a Collection Item for the Target

There are two approaches to add new collection item for the target.

Table 4-3 Adding or Updating a Collection Item

Approach 1 Approach 2

Select the project name from the Application menu.

Select the project name from the Application menu.

Expand the oms folder for your project, then select Target Type.

A list of target types is displayed.

Open the plugin.xml file in an overview editor.

Select the target type to associate collection item.

Select Collection Items tab.

A list of all the available collection items for the target is displayed.

Select Metrics tab, then click Add icon. In the Insert Metric wizard, select Configure Collection, then click Add New.

Note: To add or edit the properties for a collection item, see Inserting or Updating Collection Item Properties

Select one collection item from the list, and do the following:

In the General tab, the metadata version and target type information is displayed.

In the Collection Items tab, the collection item name is displayed.

Note: To add or edit the properties for a collection item, see Inserting or Updating Collection Item Properties

4.11 Inserting or Updating Collection Item Properties

To add or edit the properties of a collection item, follow these steps:

  1. In the General tab, enter a name for the collection item. Upload value determines the value following which the data will be written to the repository. For example, an UPLOAD value of 6 implies that every sixth collection of data will be written to the Management Repository. Provide a value for Interval and the time unit. For example, an interval of 5, and time unit of Min would mean that collection will happen at 5 minutes interval. Click Next.
  2. In the Conditions tab, you can set a metric alert condition. To do so, click Add (+) in the Conditions section. The Add Conditions dialog box is displayed. Enter all the values for your condition here, and click OK. Click Next.
  3. In the Metric Collection tab, provide the necessary details, and click Finish.

The following example represents the CollectionItem entry for the basic Response metric group, which includes the Status metric. It specifies that data for this metric should be collected every 5 minutes, which is the standard collection interval for this type of metric. A condition has been set on the Status metric.:

In the General tab, enter the following details:
META_VER: 1.0
TYPE: test_demo_targetType

In the CollectionItem tab, enter the following details:
NAME: Response
UPLOAD: 6
INTERVAL: 5
TIME_UNIT: Min

In the Add Condition Dialog box, enter the following details:
COLUMN_NAME: Status
CRITICAL: 0
OPERATOR: EQ
CLEAR_MESSAGE_NLSID: Response_Status_clearalertmessage
MESSAGE: Failed to connect to database instance: %oraerr%.

4.12 Deinstalling Plug-in Builder

To deinstall the plug-in builder, follow these steps:

  1. Run the command to stop the existing JDeveloper instance.
  2. Navigate to the JDeveloper Instance home:

    On Linux

    <EDK_INSTALL_DIR>/jdevhome/

    On Windows:

    <EDK_INSTALL_DIR>\jdevhome\

    Where, EDK_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where EDK is installed.

  3. Run the command to manually delete the following files:
    • jdeveloper/jdev/extensions/oracle.em.edk.pluginbuilder.jar

    • jdeveloper/jdev/extensions/oracle.em.edk.pluginbuilder.help.jar

  4. Run the command to restart the JDeveloper instance.

4.13 Appendix

This section contains the following topics:

4.13.1 Using the Structure View

Structure view shows the element structure of the XML file and can be used to navigate to specific elements whose attributes will then be displayed in the Property Inspector section.

4.13.2 Using Property Inspector

Instead of using the Overview section, you can choose to use the plug-in builder specific labels and elements available in the property inspector section to modify the source XML code of the plug-in. This section provides all the plug-in specific attributes that make the editing experience user-friendly

Note:

For a complete list of DTD elements and their usage, see Enterprise Manager DTD.

4.13.3 Directory Structure for a Plug-in Project

The following is a typical example for a plug-in project. This example describes four targets, and their corresponding collection items. The collection items are essentially meant to collect data from these target types. There are four Collection Items, one for each target. A Perl script is available in the discovery folder. The primary function of this script is to automatically discover all the targets added as a part of this project when the plug-in archive is imported and deployed to Enterprise Manager.