Exalytics: Steps To Upgrade JDK and JROCKIT

The Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Administration Guide for Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine, suggests Java Development Kit (JDK) 6 Update 29 for Linux 64-bit.  However, more recent Oracle Support security alerts have suggested that customers upgrade to JDK 1.6.0 update 33, or higher. 

This blog describes how JDK and JROCKIT are used in an Exalytics environment and also includes steps to upgrade the JDK on Oracle Exalytics.

JDK is used internally in three places on an Oracle Exalytics machine:

• The first is to support Weblogic, where on Exalytics, you use JRockit. Weblogic is used by many Oracle products and the process / procedures for updating the JDK are detailed in the appropriate documentation, but the specific steps for JRockit can be found at Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle WebLogic Server 11g Release 1 (10.3.6).
  
  
• The second is to support the Exalytics installation process which uses ANT. This is a one time use of the JDK, and the Exalytics product documentation specifies which version should be downloaded to support ANT.  The version specified corresponds to the test versions used by Oracle Exalytics Product Management. This JDK is used only during the installation process and is not used afterwards. This JDK can be removed after completion of the Oracle Exalytics installation.
  
  
• The third is to support a specific system component, i.e. Java Host, which is a component of BI used for a number of different operations. It's important to note that the Java Host is never accessed by desktop, browser or web-services. It is only ever accessed by the Presentation Server (OBIPS), using server to server Remote Procedure Calls (RPC).

The JDK can be updated manually if required and the steps to do so are broadly described as follows:

1. Stop all OBIEE related services.
   
   
2. Download the JDK and copy this into the ORACLE_HOME directory for OBIEE (for example /u01/app/oracle/product/fmw/Oracle_BI1).
   
   
3. Rename $ORACLE_HOME/jdk as $ORACLE_HOME/jdk.OLD.
   
   
4. Run the JDK installer (which unzips the distribution into a directory jdk<version>.
   
   
5. Rename the directory $ORACLE_HOME/jdk<version> as $ORACLE_HOME/jdk to ensure all existing configuration references do not break.
   
   
6. Restart the services.
   
   

For details on which versions of JDK, (or other components), are certified with Oracle Exalytics, please see Note 1505616.2 -Information Center: Certification Information For Oracle Exalytics.