Introduction

EBS Observability Overview

This solution playbook provides a comprehensive guide for monitoring and diagnostics of key EBS components, including Concurrent Manager, WebLogic, EBS Forms, Workflow Manager, and databases. We will also demonstrate how to aggregate data from multiple OCI Observability and Management (O&M) services into a custom dashboard and configure drilldowns from OCI Application Performance Monitoring (APM) to OCI Database Management (DBM), OCI Logging Analytics, and OCI Ops Insights.

Observability and Management offers a holistic solution by uniting application performance, database performance, log analysis, stack monitoring, and capacity planning. These services are interconnected through cross-service dashboards and defined drilldowns, enabling seamless navigation between services for deeper insights.

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Description of the illustration o&m_overview.png


OCI Application Performance Monitoring

OCI Application Performance Monitoring (APM) provides end-to-end visibility into application performance using OpenTelemetry standards. It collects trace data from EBS, allowing users to:

  • View calls made by the application
  • Understand the user experience
  • Triage errors and latency
  • Test application availability
APM allows users to quickly identify and resolve application bottlenecks, ensuring optimal performance and a seamless user experience.

Description
Description of the illustration APM.png

OCI Stack Monitoring

OCI Stack Monitoring provides full-stack visibility into the health and performance of an EBS environment. It enables proactive monitoring and management by collecting key metrics, allowing users to:

  • Monitor the availability and performance of Concurrent Manager, WebLogic, EBS Forms, Workflow Manager, and databases
  • Gain insights into resource utilization and dependencies
  • Detect anomalies and troubleshoot issues proactively
  • Create custom metrics on any resource type
By offering deep observability into the EBS infrastructure, OCI Stack Monitoring helps ensure system reliability, optimize performance, and minimize downtime.

Description
Description of the illustration StackMon.png

OCI Logging Analytics

OCI Logging Analytics (LA) provides powerful exploration and analysis capabilities, enabling users to efficiently monitor and troubleshoot EBS logs. It ingests, indexes, and analyzes logs from WebLogic and various EBS components, helping users:

  • Detect patterns and anomalies in log data
  • Correlate logs across multiple services for faster troubleshooting
  • Perform advanced searches and visualizations using a rich query language
  • Set up alerts and automated responses based on log insights
With machine learning-driven analytics and seamless integration with OCI services, OCI Logging Analytics enhances operational efficiency, accelerates root cause analysis, and improves overall system reliability. Logging Analytics also provides proactive functional checks to detect any issues in the business operation records on EBS.

Description
Description of the illustration LA.png

OCI Database Management

OCI Database Management (DBM) simplifies the management of databases through a unified interface. Its offers comprehensive views of database activity and performance, including:

  • SQL and user session performance
  • Execution statistics
  • Blocking sessions
  • Historical SQL monitoring reports
DBM provides insights into database performance, enabling customers to proactively address issues and maintain high availability and efficiency. This makes DBM a natural extension for triaging database-related performance issues identified in APM.

Description
Description of the illustration DBM.png

OCI Ops Insights

OCI Operations Insights (Ops Insights) provides deep visibility into resource utilization and capacity planning across Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and on-premises environments. It leverages machine learning to analyze historical performance data, helping users:

  • Analyze historical SQL
  • Monitor database and infrastructure resource consumption
  • Predict future capacity needs
Ops Insights enables proactive management of IT resources, ensuring scalability, efficiency, and optimal performance for mission-critical workloads.

Description
Description of the illustration Opsi.png


Benefits of EBS Observability

  • End-to-end monitoring for EBS components such as Concurrent Manager, WebLogic, EBS Forms, Workflow Manager, and databases.
  • Correlated logs, metrics, traces, and SQL performance for faster root cause analysis.
  • Visibility into requests, transactions, and events to identify application and database bottlenecks.
  • AI-driven log anomaly detection with real-time alerts, allowing proactive resolution of potential failures before they escalate.

Prerequisites

  • A working EBS environment

Implementation Steps

Task 1: Set Up APM

To begin using APM, follow these steps to create an APM domain and install the Java agent on your EBS environment.

  1. Create an APM Domain
    Refer to the APM Documentation on how to create an APM Domain.
  2. Install the APM Java Agent on EBS
    Follow the OCI guide for configuring APM for E-Business Suite to install the Java agent and start monitoring your EBS environment.
  3. Set up Real User Experience Insight (RUEI)
    Follow the OCI guide on setting up RUEI for EBS to monitor Forms sessions.
  4. Enable Availability Monitors
    Follow the OCI documentation of Availability Monitoring to proactively monitor your EBS environments.

Task 2: Install Management Agents

Stack Monitoring, Logging Analytics, and Database Management require Management Agents to discover and manage your resources. Once installed, enable all the O&M plugins.

  1. Install Management Agents
    Refer to the OCI guide on Management Agents for detailed installation instructions.
  2. Enable O&M plugins for the Management Agents
    Ensure that the plugins are checked for Stack Monitoring, Logging Analytics, and Database Management.
    Description of sample-image-1.png follows
    Description of the illustration mgmt_agent_plugins.png

Task 3: Enable O&M Services

Some configuration steps are required to enable the remaining O&M services.

  1. Stack Monitoring
    Follow the OCI Stack Monitoring documentation. for discovering EBS stack components. Ensure that discovery is applied for both Stack Monitoring and Logging Analytics.
  2. Logging Analytics
    Follow the OCI Logging Analytics documentation to point the Management Agent to the location of EBS log files.
  3. Database Management
    Enable DBM for your database targets using the OCI Database Management documentation.
  4. Ops Insights
    Enable Ops Insights for your targets using the OCI Ops Insights documentation.

Task 4: Configure APM Drilldowns

Create custom drilldowns from APM traces to other O&M services like DBM's Performance Hub.

  1. Navigate to Observability & Management, then Application Performance Monitoring, and select  Administration in the OCI console.
  2. Select the APM domain created earlier and click Drilldown Configuration.
  3. Provide a name, description, and URL for the drilldown. Use placeholders (e.g., <span_attribute>) to reference trace context dynamically.
  4. Save the configuration.
    5. Description of sample-image-1.png follows
    Description of the illustration drilldown_config.png

Task 5: Create Metric Extensions

Create custom metrics in Stack Monitoring to represent data collected from the various EBS stack layers. For example, you can create collect data on long-running concurrent requests from the EBS environment's Pluggable Database and use that as a metric.

  1. Download the Long Running Concurrent Request Metric Extension template
    GitHub Link
  2. Import the Metric Extension in Stack Monitoring
    Description of sample-image-1.png follows
    Description of the illustration importME.png

Task 6: Import EBS Admin Dashboard

You can view data from all the O&M services on a single page using custom dashboards.

  1. Download the EBS Admin Dashboard
    GitHub Link
  2. Import the Dashboard in OCI
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    Description of the illustration import_dashboard.png
  3. Adjust filters to match your environment
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    Description of the illustration dashboard_filters.png

Task 7: Deploy the OCI Marketplace App

From the OCI marketplace, launch the E-Business Suite Monitoring on OCI app. This will provide 300+ scheduled SQL functional checks in areas such as:

  • Accounts Receivables
  • Accounts Payable
  • General Ledger
  • Payroll
  • HR
  • Invoices
  • And more
Link to deploy the Marketplace App

APM Drilldown Configuration Examples

Here are sample URLs for configuring drilldowns to DBM, Logging Analytics, and Ops Insights.


Drilldown to Performance Hub by SQL ID

Replace [PDB OCID] with your database's OCID.

dbmgmt-ui/perfhub?ocid=[PDB OCID]&perfhubContext={
	"dateTime": {
		"startDate":,
		"endDate":
	},
	"viewPort": {
		"startDate": "",
		"endDate": ""
	},
	"selectedTab": {
		"name": "activityTab",
		"filters": [
			{
				"key": "filter_list",
				"value": "{\"sqlid\":{\"value\":\"\",\"disabled\":false}}"
			}
		]
	}
}

Drilldown to Logging Analytics by ECID
https://cloud.oracle.com/loganalytics/explorer?viz=records_histogram&query=ECID%20%3D%20%27<ECID>%27%20%7C%20timestats%20count%20as%20logrecords%20by%20%27Log%20Source%27&vizOptions=%7B%22customVizOpt%22%3A%7B%22primaryFieldIname%22%3A%22mbody%22%2C%22primaryFieldDname%22%3A%22Original%20Log%20Content%22%7D%7D&scopeFilters=lg%3Aroot%2Ctrue%3Brs%3A<OciCompartmentId>%2Ctrue&startTime=<APMStartTimeMs>&endTime=<APMEndTimeMs>®ion=<OciRegion>

Drilldown to SQL Insights by SQL ID

Replace [OPSI DB OCID] with your database's Ops Insights OCID.

https://cloud.oracle.com/opsi/dashboard/sqlInsights?
dashId=OOBD-opsi-sql-dashboard
&dashFilter.opsiFlexFilter=<DbOracleSqlId>
&compartmentId=<OciCompartmentId>
&activeCompartmentId=<OciCompartmentId>
&dashFilter.opsiSqlId=<DbOracleSqlId>
®ion=<OciRegion>
&dashFilter.opsiDatabaseFilter=[OPSI DB OCID]
&dashFilter.opsiContext=sqlInsights
&dashFilter.compartmentId=<OciCompartmentId>


Example: EBS performance triage with O&M

Drilldown from application transactions to SQL performance

  1. Open Trace Explorer in APM and locate a trace with JDBC spans. Use the following Trace Explorer statement to filter for JDBC spans which have an SQL ID: 
    show (spans) ServiceName, OperationName, DbOracleSqlId, DbOracleSessionId, DbUser, StartTime, DbStatementExecTime 
where component = 'JDBC' and DbOracleSqlId is not omitted 
order by DbStatementExecTime desc
  2. Select a JDBC span to view detailed information.
  3. Use the drilldown button to navigate to DBM’s Performance Hub.
  4. Analyze the SQL or user activity in DBM to identify and resolve bottlenecks.
    5. Description of sample-image-1.png follows
    Description of the illustration APM Drilldown to DBM.png


EBS monitoring use cases

  • Analyzing Database Call Performance

    Drill down from JDBC spans in APM to DBM Performance Hub or Ops Insights for further analysis of the SQLs and user sessions.

  • Understanding Error Context

    Drill down from Forms and server traces to the corresponding logs in Logging Analytics for further insights.

  • Monitoring Long-Running Concurrent Requests

    Use Metric Extensions in Stack Monitoring to track long-running concurrent requests. Create alarms on the metrics or pull the data into a dashboard widget.

  • Identifying Issues in WebLogic

    Create powerful log representations of WebLogic errors, stuck threads, and problem labels.

  • Monitor EBS Service Availability with Apdex

    Set up proactive monitors to assess the availability and user experience of you EBS environment.

  • Gain Key Insights with EBS Admin Dashboards

    Consolidate EBS observability data in custom dashboards for quick insights into EBS performance.



Next steps

To maximize the value of monitoring and triaging your EBS environment, follow these actionable next steps

  1. Collect more monitoring data from your EBS environment
    • Enable new Metric Extensions in Stack Monitoring
    • Create Saved Searches in Logging Analytics
    • Save important Trace Explorer Queries in APM
    • Set Apdex thresholds for EBS services in APM
    • Enable more extensive Availability Monitors
  2. Leverage OCI’s Observability & Monitoring ecosystem
    • Set up alerts for metrics that are emitted by the various O&M services.
    • Create custom dashboards with trace, log, and metric data.
    • Enable Weekly News Reports in Ops Insights


Documentation
Blog Articles

GitHub Link

Acknowledgements

  • Primary Author - Zyaad Khader (Principal Member of Technical Staff)

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