Oracle Apps DBA Interview Questions and Answers

1. What Is Fndsm?

Ans:

FNDSM is an executable & core component in GSM (Generic Service Management Framework). You start FNDSM services via APPS listener on all Nodes in Application Tier in E-Business Suite.

2. What Is Ias Patch ?

Ans:

iAS Patches are patches released to fix bugs associated with IAS_ORACLE_HOME (Web Server Component) Usually these are shipped as Shell scripts & you apply iAS patches by executing Shell script.

3. Explain Architecture Of Oracle Apps 11i?

Ans:

Apps 11i is Multi Tier architecture with Desktop Tier (Client Tier), Middle Tier (Application Tier) and Database Tier.

4. What Are Various Components In Application/Middle Tier?

Ans:

In Application Tier various components are Web Server, Forms Server, Reports Server, Concurrent Manager, Admin Server & Discoverer Server

5. What Is Appl_top, Comn_top, Ora_top…..?

Ans:

XXX_TOP is a top level directory in Oracle Application 11i for respective Components.

6. What Is Us Directory In $ad_top Or Under Various Product Top’s?

Ans:

US directory is the default language directory in Oracle Applications. If you have multiple languages Installed in your Applications then you will see other languages directories besides US, that directory will contain reports, fmx and other code in that respective directory like FR for France, AR for Arabic

7. What Are The Main Concurrent Manager Types?

Ans:

ICM – Internal Concurrent Manager which manages concurrent managers

Standard Managers – Manages processing of requests

CRM – Conflict Resolution Managers, resolve conflicts in case of incompatibility

8. Where Is Concurrent Manager Log File Location?

Ans:

By default standard location is

In some cases it can go to

9. Where Would I Find .rf9 File, And What Exactly It Does?

Ans:

These files are used during restart of a patch in case of patch failure because of some reason.

10. Where Is Appsweb.cfg Or Appsweb_$context.cfg Stored & Why Is It Used?

Ans:

This file is defined by the environment variable FORMS60_WEB_CONFIG_FILE. This is usually in the directory

This file is used by any forms client session. When a user tries to access forms, f60webmx picks up this file and based on this configuration file creates a forms session for the user/client.

11. What Is a Multi Node System?

Ans:

Multi Node System in Oracle Applications 11i means you have Applications 11i Component on more than one system. Typical examples are database, Concurrent Manager on one machine and Forms Server, Web Server on second machine.

12. Can You Clone From Multi Node System To Single Node System & Vice Versa?

Ans:

Yes, this is now supported via Rapid Clone, Check if your system has all prerequisite patches for Rapid Clone and you are on the latest rapid clone patch.

13. Does Rapid Clone Take Care Of Updating Global Orainventory Or You Have To Register Manually In Global Orainventory After Clone?

Ans:

Rapid Clone automatically updates Global oraInventory during the configuration phase. You don’t have to do anything manually for Global oraInventory.

14. What Is .dbc File, Where Is It Stored, What Is The Use Of .dbc File?

Ans:

DBC. as name suggests is a database connect descriptor file which stores database connection information used by application tier to connect to database. This file is in the directory

secure also called FND_SECURE.

15. What Things You Do To Reduce Patch Timing?
Ans:

Ans:

• Merging patches via admrgpch
• Use various adpatch options like nocompiledb or not compile jsp
• Use defaults file
• Staged APPL_TOP during upgrades
• Increase batch size (Might result into negative)

16. How You Put Applications 11i In Maintenance Mode?

Ans:

Use adadmin to change maintenance mode in EBS. If you don’t want to put EBS in maintenance mode you can use adpatch options=hotpatch feature.

17. Can You Apply Patch Without Putting Applications 11i In Maintenance Mode?

Ans:

Yes, use options=hotpatch as mentioned above with adpatch.

18. What Are Various Options Available With Adpatch?

Ans:

Various options available with adpatch depending on your AD version are:

autoconfig, check_exclusive, checkfile, compiled, compile jsp, copy portion, database portion, generate portion, hotpatch, integrity, maintain hmrc, parallel, prereq, validate

19. Adident Utility Is Used For What?

Ans:

Adident utility in oracle apps is used to find versions of any file .

For example:

20. What Is Adsplice Utility?

Ans:

adsplice in oracle apps is a utility to add a new product to EBS.

21. How Can You License A Product After Installation?

Ans:

You can use ad utility ad licmgr to license products in Oracle Apps.

22. What Is Mrc? What Do You Do As Apps Dba For Mrc?

Ans:

MRC is also called as Multiple Reporting Currency in Oracle Apps. By default you have currency in US Dollars but if your organization’s operating books are in other currency then you as apps DBA need to enable MRC in Apps.

23. What Is Access_log In Apache, What Entries Are Recorded In Access_log? Where Is The Default Location Of This File?

Ans:

access_log in Oracle Application Server records all users accessing oracle applications 11i. Its file location is defined in httpd.conf with default location at

24. Where Is Jserv Configuration Files Stored?

Ans:

Jserv configuration files are stored in

25. Where Do Applications Start/Stop Scripts Stored?

Ans:

Applications start/stop scripts are in directory

26. What Are Main Configuration Files In Web Server (apache)?

Ans:

Main configuration files in Oracle Apps Web Server are:httpd.conf apps.conf oracle_apache.conf httpd_pls.conf jserv.conf, ssp_init.txt jserv.properties, zone.properties plsql.conf wdbsvr.app plsql.conf

27. How To Check If Apps 11i System Is Autoconfig Enabled?

Ans:

Under check for file adcfginfo.sh and if this exists use

If this file is not there, look for any configuration file under APPL_TOP if system is Autoconfig enabled then you will see entry like
# AutoConfig automatically generates this file.

28. How To Check If Oracle Apps 11i System Is Rapid Clone Enabled?

Ans:

For the system to be Rapid Clone enabled, it should be Autoconfig enabled. You should have Rapid Clone Patches applied.

29. What Is The Difference Between Two Env Files In <context>.env And Apps<context>.env Under $appl_top?

Ans:

APPS<CONTEXT>.env is main environment file which in turn calls other environment files like <CONTEXT>.env under

30. What Is Your Oracle Apps 11i Webserver Version And How To Find It?

Ans:

In order to find version under IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/bin
Execute ./httpd -version

31. What Is Pl Sql Database Cache?

Ans:

In order to improve performance mod_pls (Apache component) caches some database content to file. This pl sql cache is used to store session information. pl sql cache is used to store pl sql cache i.e. used by mod_pls

32. Where Is Database Pl Sql Cache Stored?

Ans:

plsql & session cache are stored under

33. How To Determine Oracle Apps 11i Version?

Ans:

34. What Is Content Of Dbc File & Why Is It Important?

Ans:

A DBC file is quite important as whenever Java or any other program like forms want to connect to a database it uses a dbc file. Typical entry in dbc file is

• GUEST_USER_PWD
• APPS_JDBC_URL
• DB_HOST

35. There Are Lots Of Dbc File Under $fnd_secure, How Is It Determined That Which Dbc File To Use From $fnd_secure?

Ans:

This value is determined from profile option “Applications Database ID”

36. What Is Rra/fndfs?

Ans:

Report Review Agent (RRA) also referred to by executable FNDFS is default text viewer in Oracle Applications 11i for viewing output files & log files.

37. What Pcp Is Oracle Applications 11i?

Ans:

PCP is an acronym for Parallel Concurrent Processing. Usually you have one Concurrent Manager executing your requests but you can configure a Concurrent Manager running on two machines. So for some of your requests primary CM Node is on machine1 and secondary CM node on machine2 and for some requests primary CM is on machine2 & secondary CM on machine1.

38. Why Do I Need Two Concurrent Processing Nodes Or In What Scenarios Pcp Is Used?

Ans:

If you are running GL month end reports or taxation reports annually these reports might take a couple of days. Some of these requests are very resource intensive so you can have one node running long running resource intensive requests while other processing your day to day short running requests. Another scenario is when your requests are very critical and you want high resilience for your Concurrent Processing Node, you can configure PCP. So if node1 goes down you still have CM node available processing your requests.

39. How To Confirm If Report Server Is Up & Running?

Ans:

Report Server is started by executable rwmts60 on concurrent manager Node & this file is under

Execute command on your server like

40. What Is the Difference Between Icm, Standard Managers And Crm In Concurrent Manager?

Ans:

ICM stands for Internal Concurrent Manager, which controls other managers. If it finds other managers down, it checks & tries to restart them. You can say it is an administrator to other concurrent managers. Standard Manager: These are normal managers which perform actions on the requests and do batch or single request processing. CRM is acronym for Conflict Resolution Manager and is used to resolve conflicts between managers & requests. If a request is submitted whose execution is clashing or it is defined not to run while a particular type of request is running then such requests are assigned to CRM for incompatibilities & conflict resolution.

41. What Is Use Of Apps Listener?

Ans:

Apps Listener usually run on All Oracle Applications 11i Nodes with listener alias as

mainly used for listening requests for services like FNDFS & FNDSM.

42. How To Start Apps Listener?

Ans:

In Oracle 11i, you have script adalnctl.sh which will start your app’s listener. You can also start it by command

(Replace sid by your Instance SID Name).

 43. How To Confirm If Apps Listener Is Up & Running?

Ans:

(replace SID with your Instance Name) so if your SID is VISION then use lsnrctl status APPS_VISION.

44. What Is a Web Listener?

Ans:

Web Listener is a Web Server listener which listens for web Services (HTTP) requests. This listener is started by adapcctl.sh & defined by directive (Listen, Port) in httpd.conf for Web Server.

45. How Will You Find The Total Number Of Invalid Objects In Database?

Ans:

from dba_objects where status like ‘INVALID’;

 46. How To Compile Invalid Objects In Database?

Ans:

You can use adadmin utility to compile or you can use utlrp.sql script shipped with Oracle Database to compile Invalid Database Objects.

 47. How To Compile Jsp In Oracle Apps?

Ans:

You can use ojspCompile.pl perl script shipped with Oracle apps to compile JSP files. This script is under

Sample compilation method is

 48. What Is The Difference Between Adpatch & Opatch?

Ans:

• # adpatch is utility to apply oracle apps Patches whereas
• # opatch is utility to apply database patches

 49. Can You Use Both Adpatch & Opatch In Apps?

Ans:

Yes you have to use both in apps, for apps patches you will use opatch utility and for applying database patch in apps you will use opatch utility.

 50. Where Will You Find Forms Configuration Details Apart From Xml File?

Ans:

Forms configuration at time of startup is in script and appswebfor forms client connection used each time a user initiates forms connection.

 51. What Are Different Modes Of Forms In Which You Can Start Forms Server And Which One Is Default?

Ans:

You can start forms server in SOCKET or SERVLET by default Forms are configured to start in socket mode.

 52. How You Will Start Discoverer In Oracle Apps 11i?

Ans:

In order to start discoverer you can use script addisctl.sh under

 53. How Many Oracle_home Are In Oracle Apps And What Is The Significance Of Each?

Ans:

There are three ORACLE_HOME in Oracle Apps, Two for Application Tier (Middle Tier) and One in Database Tier..

ORACLE_HOME 1: On Application Tier used to store 8.0.6 techstack software. This is used by forms, reports & discoverer.

ORACLE_HOME 2: On Application Tier used by iAS (Web Server) techstack software. This is used by Web Listener & contains Apache.

ORACLE_HOME 3: On Database Tier used by Database Software usually 8i, 9i or 10g database.

 54. Where Is Html Cache Stored In Oracle Apps Server?

Ans:

Oracle HTML Cache is available at

pages for some previous versions you might find it in

 55. What Happens If You Don’t Give Cache Size While Defining Concurrent Manager?

Ans:

Lets first understand what is cache size in Concurrent Manager. When Manager picks a request from FND CONCURRENT REQUESTS Queues, it will pick up the number of requests defined by cache size in one shot & will work on them before going to sleep. So in my views if you don’t define cache size while defining CM then it will take default value 1, i.e. picking up one request per cycle.

 56. What Are Few Profile Options Which You Update After Cloning?

Ans:

Rapid clone updates profile options specific to site level. If you have any profile option set at other levels like server, responsibility, user….level then reset them.

57. How To Retrieve a Sysadmin Password?

Ans:

If a forgotten password link is enabled and a sysadmin account is configured with a mail id user forgot password link, you can reset the password via FNDCPASS.

58. If You Have Done Two Nodes Installation, First Machine: Database And Concurrent Processing Server. 2nd Machine: Form, Web. Which Machine Has Admin Server/node?.

Ans:

Admin Server will be on the First machine with a concurrent processing server

59. What Is Two_task In Oracle Database?

Ans:

TWO_TASK mocks your TNS alias which you are going to use to connect to the database. Let’s assume you have a database client with a TNS alias defined as PROD to connect to Database PROD on machine teachmeoracle.com listening on port 1521. Then usual way to connect is sqlplus username/passwd@PROD; now if you don’t want to use @PROD then you set TWO_TASK=PROD and then can simply use sqlplus username/password then sql will check that it has to connect to TNS alias define by value PROD i.e. TWO_TASK

 60. What Is Gwyuid?

Ans:

GWYUID stands for Gateway User ID and password. Usually like APPLSYSPUB/PUB

 61. Where Gwyuid Defined & Why Is It Used In Oracle Applications?

Ans:

GWYUID is defined in dbc i.e. Database Connect Descriptor file. It is used to connect thin clients to databases.

62. What Is The Difference Between Guest_user_pwd (guest/oracle) & Gwyuid?

Ans:

GUEST_USER_PWD(Guest/Oracle) is used by JDBC Thin Client whereas GWYUID is used by Thick Clients like via Forms Connections.

63. What Is 0 & Y In Fndcpass, Fndload Or Wfload?

Ans:

0 & Y are flags for FND Executable like FNDCPASS & FNDLOAD where 0 is requested id.  ‘Y’ indicates the method of invocation i.e. it is directly invoked from the command-line not from the Submit Request Form.

64. In A Multi Node Installation, How Will You Find Which Node Is Running What Services?

Ans:

You can query for table FND_NODES and check for column, SUPPORT_CP (for Concurrent Manager) SUPPORT_FORMS (for forms server), SUPPPORT_WEB (Web Server), SUPPORT_ADMIN (Admin Server), and SUPPORT_DB for database tier. You can also check the same from CONTEXT File (xml file under APPL_TOP/admin).

 65. If Your System Has More Than One Jinitiator, How Will The System Know, Which One To Pick?

Ans:

When a client makes a forms connection in Oracle Applications, the client session uses a configuration file defined by the environment variable FORMS60_WEB_CONFIG_FILE.

 66. While Applying Apps Patch Using Adpatch, If You Want To Hide The Apps Password, How Will That Be Possible?

Ans:

Use adpatch flags=hidepw while applying patches in apps to hide apps or system password being displayed on screen.

 67. What Is The Importance Of Imap Server In Java Notification Mailer?

Ans:

IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol and Java Notification mailer requires IMAP server for Inbound Processing of Notification Mails.

 68. What Is the Difference Between Socket & Servlet Mode In Apps Forms?

Ans:

When forms run in SOCKET Mode these are dedicated connections between Client Machine & Form Server. When Forms run in servlet mode there will be additional JVM for Forms Request in that case and you won’t start form via adfrmctl.sh.

 69. What Is a Make Program In Unix?

Ans:

make is utility in Unix/Linux to maintain , update & generate a file mainly executable.

 70. If By Mistake Someone Deleted Fndlibr Can This Executable Be Restored If Yes, How & If No, What Will You Do?
Ans:

Ans:

• Yes, you can restore FNDLIBR executables
• Run adadmin on concurrent manager node
• Select Maintain Applications Files menu
• Then select Relink Applications programs
• When prompts for “Enter list of products to link (‘all’ for all products) [all]” select FND
• When prompted for “Generate specific executables for each selected product [No]?” select YES
• From list of executables select FNDLIBR this will create new FNDLIBR executables

 71. What Is .pls Files Which You See With Apps?

Ans:

.PLS file stands for pl sql files. In apps patch these files contain code to create package spec or package body or both.

72. What Are .ldt And .lct Files Which You See In Apps Patch Or With Fndload?

Ans:

.ldt & .lct stands for Loader data file & Loader configuration files, used frequently in migrating customization, profile options, configuration data etc. across Instances.

73. What Are .odf File In Apps Patch?

Ans:

odf stands for Object Description Files used to create tables & other database objects while applying a patch.

74. Where To Find Form Server Log Files In Forms?

Ans:

Form Server Startup log file default location is

Forms Runtime Diagnostics default location is

75. How To Convert Pll To Pld File Or Pld File To Pll ?

Ans:

pll->old f60gen module=MSC CW3.pll module_type=library user id=apps/ module_access=file output_file=MAC OS CW1.old script=yes.

pld -> pll f60gen module=MSC SCW3.old user id=apps/ module_type=library module_access=file output_file=MSCOSCW1.pll parse=y batch=yes compile_all=special.

 76. Does Apps_mrc Schema Exist For Mrc In 11.5.10 And Higher?

Ans:

No, apps_mrc schema is dropped with 11.5.10 Upgrade & 11.5.10 new Install. This is replaced by more Integrated Architecture.

 77. If Apps Mrc Schema Is Not Used In 11.5.10 And Higher Then How Mrc Is Working?

Ans:

For products like Payable, Receivables which use MRC and if MRC is enabled then each transaction table in the base schema related to currency now has an associated MRC sub table.

 78. When You Apply C Driver Patch Does It Require Database To Be Up & Why?

Ans:

Yes, database & db listeners should be UP when you apply any driver patch in apps. Even if the driver is not updating any database object connection is required to validate apps & other schema and to upload patch history information in database tables.

 79. Can C Driver In Apps Patch Create Invalid Object In Database?

Ans:

No, C drivers only copy files in the File System. Database Objects might be invalidated during D driver when these objects are created/dropped/modified.

 80. What Is Dev60cgi & F60cgi?

Ans:

cgi stands for Common Gateway Interface and these are Script Alias in Oracle Apps used to access forms server . Usually Form Server access directly via http://hostname:port/dev60cgi/f60cgi.

 81. Why Does A Worker Fail In Oracle Apps Patch And Few Scenarios In Which It Failed For You?

Ans:

Apps Patch worker can fail in case it doesn’t find expected data, object, files or anything which driver is trying to update/edit/modify. Possible symptoms may be underlying tables/objects are invalid, a prerequisite patch is missing, login information is incorrect, inconsistency in seed data.

82. What Is The Difference Between Mod_osso & Mod_ose In Oracle Http Server?

Ans:

mod_osso is Oracle Single Sign-On Module whereas mod_ose is a module for Oracle Servlet Engine.

 83. What Is Difference Between Compile_all=special And Compile=all While Compiling Forms?

Ans:

Both the options will compile all the PL/SQL in the resultant .FMX, .PLX, or .MMX file but COMPILE_ALL=YES also changes the cached version in the source .FMB, .PLL, or .MMB file.

 84. How Will You Find The Apache, Forms, Reports Version In An Ebs Suite?

Ans:

• http –v – Apache
• f60gen – Forms
• ar60run – Reports

 85. Find the Jinitiator Version?

Ans:

Client side – Control panel

Server side –

 86. List Some Ad Utilities And Their Functions?

Ans:

adadmin, adctrl, adpatch, adlicmgr, admrgpch, adsplice and adworker

 87. List Out The Modules Related To Oracle Apps Dba?

Ans:

FND – Application Object Library,

AU – Application Utilities,

AD – Application DBA

 88. What Are The Different Types Of Oracle Patches Available?

Ans:

One-off, mini, diagnostics, cu, rup, language, help, platform specific, OS, OPatch, Interoperability, family pack and maintenance pack.

 89. List Out The Important Env Files?

Ans:

Appsora.env, appsSID_hostname.env, adovars.env, APPSSID_hostname

 90. What Are The Components In The Application Tier?

Ans:

• Apache(http)
• Jserver(jre)
• Forms Server(f60srv)
• Metric Server(d2ls)
• Metric Client(d2lc)
• Report Server(rwm60)
• Concurrent Server(FNDLIBR)
• Discoverer

 91. What Are Main File Systems In Oracle Apps?

Ans:

APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP, DB_TOP,ORA_TOP 7

 92. What Is The Location Of Jinitiator In The Desktop Tier?

Ans:

 93. What Are Adadmin Utilities And Their Location?

Ans:

• $AD_TOP/bin
• adadmin
• adpatch
• adsplice
• adident
• adrelink
• adlicmgr

 94. How Do You Start The Apps Services?

Ans:

 95. What Is Dad?

Ans:

It is a file which stores apps passwords in hard coded format i.e. wdbsvr

 96. How Do You Know The Package Version?

Ans:

 97. What Are Restart Files And Its Location?

Ans:

These files contain the previous session info about adadmin. Location is

98. How Do You Validate Apps Schema?

Ans:

To validate synonyms, missing synonyms and all grants use adadmin. After validating it will produce a report in the location

99. How To See The Version Of A Script Or Form Or Report Or Etc?

Ans:

100. What Is The Location Of Adadmin Log?

Ans:

101. What Are The Profile Options, What Are Various Types Of Profile Options?

Ans:

You set profile options at the following levels

• Site level
• Application level
• Responsibility level
• User level