Upgrading Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 to 12.2.1.4 Quick Start

Background

WebLogic Server 10.3.6 has been a widely adopted release of WebLogic Server, successfully meeting user requirements for many years. However, Oracle encourages customers to upgrade to a more current release of WebLogic Server at this time.

Upgrading from WebLogic Server 10.3.6 to WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 specifically offers compelling benefits for WebLogic Server users:

Java EE 7 support, including additional support for RESTful applications, JSON processing, use of annotations and dependency injection, WebSocket support, Web Services improvements, JPA updates and more.
Support for running in cloud native Kubernetes environments, with a set of tools for migrating, deploying, monitoring and managing WebLogic Server applications in Kubernetes.
New capabilities in areas such as Maven support, automated scaling of WebLogic Server clusters, and management of WebLogic Server configurations using REST, which enable broader automation and DevOps support for the full application development lifeycle.
Improved scalability of WebLogic Server clusters and applications, particularly when using cloud-friendly unicast messaging protocols.
High availability enhancements, such as Application Continuity integration, Zero Downtime Patching, and Maximum Availability Architecture solutions.
Certification with updated environments, allowing for integration with more current operating systems, JDKs, database versions, Web servers and load balancers enabling users to leverage the benefits of these updated products.
Integration with standard Oracle installation and patching technologies to facilitate product maintenance.

Note:

Many of the above benefits can be leveraged by upgrading existing applications without requiring application changes. Development teams can use new API support to enhance these existing applications and build new applications.

Summary of Changes

Before you begin the upgrade, review some important changes to WebLogic Server.

The following list describes some of the primary changes between Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 and Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 that may affect your applications and configurations when performing an upgrade. You should familiarize yourself with these changes.

Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 is certified on JDK 8 (1.8.0_211+) as compared to Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6, which was certified on JDK 6 and JDK 7. You will need to upgrade your JDK to JDK 8 in order to upgrade from Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 to Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.
We recommend you upgrade to the most current JDK 8 upgrade level available. For more information, see JDK 8 and Server JRE 8 Certification .
In Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) technology replaces the installer technology used in Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6.
Oracle OPatch replaces the BEA Smart Update (BSU) patching technology used in Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6. You will need to modify any installation and patching automation you have created for your Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 environments to adapt to the new installation and patching technologies used in Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.
Oracle Reconfiguration Wizard replaces the WebLogic Upgrade Wizard. The Reconfiguration Wizard modifies the existing 10.3.6 domain home so that it is compatible with WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.
The Reconfiguration Wizard does not automatically back up the domain being upgraded like the WebLogic Upgrade Wizard. You must manually back up your domain directory prior to upgrading the domain. If you encounter an issue during the upgrade, you will need to restore your system from backup - there is no rollback option once the process has started.
The default Node Manager configuration has changed from per host to per domain. The per domain configuration allows multiple domains on a given machine to have different Node Manager configurations.
If you want to continue using a per host Node Manager configuration, then after the domain reconfiguration you must manually reconfigure Node Manager as described in Completing the Node Manager Configuration.

For a complete list of changes, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.

Known Issues and Workarounds

Learn about some of the common issues users encounter during an upgrade and how to resolve them.

The following issues are among the most commonly cited issues when upgrading, and are listed below for convenience. For a complete list of issues, see Known Issues and Workarounds in the Oracle WebLogic Server Release Notes for 12.2.1.4.0.

Using MetaspaceSize with JDK 8
The amount of native memory that can be used for class metadata in JDK 8 is by default unlimited. To maximize performance, use the option MetaspaceSize to put an upper limit on the amount of native memory used for class metadata.

For more JDK 8 tuning considerations, see the Class Metadata section of the Java Platform, Standard Edition HotSpot Virtual Machine Garbage Collection Tuning Guide.
Reapplying custom start scripts after the upgrade
When using the Reconfiguration Wizard to perform this evaluation upgrade, the Reconfiguration Wizard will create new start scripts for the domain upgraded to Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4. These start scripts will reference the new JDK 8 version you have installed and referenced when upgrading your domain using the Reconfiguration Wizard.

Any customizations to start scripts in the Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 domain will not be present in the start scripts generated for the upgraded domain. You may need to re-apply customizations applied to the start scripts for the Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 domain.

Note:
If you added PermSize and MaxPermSize JVM arguments to your start scripts for JDK 6/7, you do not need to add these arguments to the new start scripts. Use the MetaspaceSize argument to set the upper limit of native memory as described above.
Thread deadlock detected causing servers to go into Warning state
Stuck threads in weblogic.wsee.jaxws.spi.ClientIdentityRegistry are causing the Managed Server to go into a warning state with the Deadlock Detected error message.
To resolve this issue, apply patch 30965440 and restart the servers.
Limitation on the size of JSP files
The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) limits the amount of code to 65536 bytes per Java method, post upgrade. Therefore, when redeploying applications after upgrading to Oracle WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.0, if the JSP files are embedded with too many scriptlets, the compiler fails to optimize the code, causing the deployment to fail with CompilationException.
Reduce the size of the JSP files with minimal scriptlets and redeploy the application.
Changes to Apache Commons FileUpload jar file
The Java class org.apache.commons.fileupload.disk.DiskFileItem in the WebLogic Server bundled Apache Commons FileUpload jar file no longer implements java.io.Serializable in order to prevent the potential security vulnerability.

See "How to Configure Filtering Class Loader in Weblogic.xml?" (Doc ID 1163020.1).
If your application uses APIs that have been deprecated or removed, then you might encounter warnings or exceptions at runtime if the applications are not recompiled. For a complete list of deprecated features, see Deprecated Functionality (Oracle WebLogic Server 12c 12.2.1.x)

Verifying System Configurations

Verify that your JDK, operating system, database and other configurations meet the minimum 12.2.1.4 certification requirements.

Category	Minimum Requirements
JDK 8	1.8.0_211+
Operating Systems	Oracle Linux 6+, 7, or 8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6+, 7, or 8 SLES 11 SP3+ or SLES 12 SP1+ Microsoft Windows Server 2012, 2012R2, 2016 or 2019 Oracle Solaris 11.2+ HP-UX Itanium 12+ IBM AIX on POWER Systems 7.1+
Databases	IBM DB2 10.1 FP6+ IBM DB2 10.5 FP9+ IBM DB2 11.1 FP2+ Microsoft SQL Server 2012, SP4+ Microsoft SQL Server 2014, SP2+ Microsoft SQL Server 2016, SP1+ Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Microsoft SQL Server 2019 MySQL Database Server 5.7+ or 8.0 Oracle Database 11.2.0.4+ Oracle Database 12.1.0.1+ Oracle Database 12.2.0.1.0 Oracle Database 18c Oracle Database 19c Oracle Database 19c Autonomous Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 15.7
Web Servers	Apache HTTP Server 2.4.4+ Microsoft Internet Information Services 8.5+
Browsers	Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.* Google Chrome 84+ Mozilla Firefox 79+ Apple Safari 11+

Note:

Oracle may have introduced new certifications that are not reflected in the table above. In addition, some of the technologies in the table may no longer be supported by the technology vendor. Please consult the applicable vendor documentation.

Creating a Backup of Your Existing Domain

Before any upgrade you'll want to create a complete backup of your existing domain and copy the files to a safe location.

Make sure that your backup includes any customized startup scripts. You may need to re-apply these customizations to the start scripts created for the upgraded domain, as discussed above.

For this upgrade evaluation, use the domain backup files to create a cloned 10.3.6 domain environment. You'll perform the upgrade on the cloned environment.

Note:

You cannot roll back the upgrade once the process has started. You will need to restore the system from your backup files.

Downloading Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.2.1.4)

Download the installer package from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud or Oracle Technical Resources.

If you already have a commercial license, you should download your software from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud at https://edelivery.oracle.com.

Sign in to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud portal.
Select Download Packages from the Categories drop-down menu.
Enter
```
WebLogic Server 12c
```
and click Search.
Select Oracle WebLogicServer 12.2.1.4.0 (Weblogic Server12c ) to add the package to your Download Queue.
Click Continue (upper right corner) to select the products you want to install.
Specify the platform for each product, then click Continue and accept the terms and restrictions.
Click Continue and review the list of products.
Click Download (lower right corner) to begin the download process.

Developer and production downloads are also available from Oracle Technical Resources (Formerly Oracle Technology Network) at https://www.oracle.com/middleware/technologies/weblogic-server-downloads.html

There are several installer options available from Oracle Technical Resources:

Generic Installer (579 MB)
Recommended installer for most production deployments.
Quick Installer for Mac OSX, Windows and Linux (225 MB)
For Oracle WebLogic Server and Oracle Coherence development only.
Slim Installer (182 MB)
The Slim Installer does not contain examples, WebLogic Server Administration Console, WebLogic clients, Maven plug-ins or Java DB.

Installing Oracle WebLogic Server 12c (12.2.1.4)

Use the Oracle Universal Installer to install 12.2.1.4 into a new Middleware home.

This is the start of your topic.

Launch the installation program by running
```
 java -jar
```
from the JDK 8 directory on your system. Specify the full name of the installer you downloaded. For example:
```
$ ORACLE_HOME/jdk/jdk1.8.0_211/bin/java -jar fmw_12.2.1.4.0_wls_lite_generic.jar
```
When the installation is complete, deselect the option to automatically launch the Configuration Wizard. You do not need to configure a new 12.2.1.4 domain.

For more information about using the Oracle Universal Installer, see Starting the Installation Program in Installing and Configuring Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence.

Upgrading the Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 Domain

Use the Reconfiguration Wizard to upgrade the WebLogic Server 10.3.6 domain to be compatible with 12.2.1.4.

After the upgrade you will continue to use the 10.3.6 domain home, but the WebLogic Server version will be updated to 12.2.1.4.

Start the Reconfiguration Wizard from the 12.2.1.4 Middleware home directory.
```
$ MW_HOME/wls12.2.1.4/oracle_common/common/bin/ reconfig.sh
```
Select the domain directory that has the cloned version of your 10.3.6 domain. The 10.3.6 domain is upgraded in-place and will be overwritten during this phase of the upgrade.
Continue through the screens as instructed.
When the upgrade is complete, restart the WebLogic Server from the 10.3.6 Middleware home directory. See Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script
```
$ MW_HOME/user_projects/domains/<1036_domain> startWebLogic.sh
```
If you used customized start scripts in your previous environment, you will need to re-apply the customizations after the upgrade as described in Custom Startup Scripts.

Deploying Your Applications to the New Domain

WebLogic Server applications can typically run without modifications in the new WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.0 application environment.

To determine whether any feature changes affect the applications in your environment, review the compatibility information in WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.0 Compatibility with Previous Releases.

Validating the Security Configuration

After the upgrade you may need to configure WebLogic Server security to meet new minimum requirements.

SSL and TLS Support

You may need to configure WebLogic Server to limit the lowest supported versions of SSL and TLS that are enabled for SSL connections. Oracle recommends using TLS V1.2 or later in a production environment.

For more information, review the security standards in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server:

SSL Certificate Validation

If SSL communications that worked properly in WebLogic Server 10.3.6 start failing unexpectedly, see Troubleshooting Problems with Certificate Validation. The SSL certificates may need to be renewed or replaced after an upgrade.

For detailed information about renewing an expired or expiring SSL certificate configured on Oracle WebLogic Server, see SSL Certificate Validation in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server.

RDBMS Security Store in a WebLogic Domain

If you plan to use the RDBMS security store in a WebLogic domain, Oracle recommends that you create a new domain in which the RDBMS security store is configured. If you have an existing domain in which you want to use the RDBMS security store, you should create the new domain, and then migrate your security realm to it. Oracle does not recommend "retrofitting" the RDBMS security store to an existing domain.

For more information, see Managing the RDBMS Security Store in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server.

AES 256-bit Encryption Used in New Domain

When you use the Reconfiguration Wizard to upgrade the WebLogic Server 10.3.6 domain to 12.2.1.4, the same AES 128-bit encryption used for the source 10.3.6 domain is used in the upgraded 12.2.1.4 domain. However, newly created WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 domains are created using AES 256-bit encryption, which is more secure than AES 128-bit encryption and recommended in production.

After validating the single-server domain upgrade using the Reconfiguration Wizard, and after validating that applications run properly in the upgraded domain, Oracle recommends that you create the 12.2.1.4 production domains using AES 256-bit encryption. This may be accomplished, for example, by using the Domain Template Builder to create a domain template from the upgraded domain, and using the Configuration Wizard or WLST Offline to create a new domain with AES 256-bit encryption.

Certificate Chains (Deprecated)

The use of file-based certificate chains is deprecated. In the current release of WebLogic Server, the whole certificate chain is imported into the keystore.

For more information, see Configuring Keystores with WebLogic Server.

Compatibility Security (Deprecated)

Make sure your 10.3.6 domain is not using Compatibility security.

For more information about security changes in 12.2.1.4, see Configuring Security for WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4.

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