Getting Started With Oracle BPM 11g

In a previous blog post I wrote a step by step guide on how to install Oracle BPM 11g. That was all good and well, but now what? The first thing I would suggest you do is go and by the book Getting Started with Oracle BPM Suite 11gR1 – A Hands-On Tutorial. Read that book cover to cover and go through the labs. It provides very good information and a great sample application that you build from scratch throughout the book. If you’re like me and you want to first play with the software a little bit before you go reading a 500 and some-odd page book, Oracle allows you download the same application that you create in the book.

To download the sample application, go to:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bpm/learnmore/index.html

Browse down to the Samples and Demos section for the link. The sample application is called the Sales Quote Demo and is a BPM process where sales people enter in a quote into the process system, have the quote go through approvals and reviews, perform some automated routing, and finalize the quote.

Once you download the sample application and unzip it there are two documents to help you set up and run it. The first doc is the ‘Setup Instructions’, it takes you step by step through prepping your environment for the application. It walks you through the steps of creating your schema, setting up the WebLogic server, seeding the LDAP, connecting JDeveloper (or BPM studio if you prefer) to the MDS, deploying the project, setting up the groups, and mapping the LDAP users to the process roles. The guide is very good and I didn’t have any problems following through it step by step and deploying the application.

The second document is the ‘Understand and Run’ guide. This document has two sections. The first section goes through the process design and describes the logic behind it. The second section walks you through actually running the application and the end-user experience. Just like the Setup document, this guide is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Unlike the Setup document, when you go through this guide you actually learn a little bit about Oracle BPM 11g and how it works.

Downloading the Sales Quote Demo and deploying it isn’t a replacement for reading the book I mentioned above or going to a training course, but it is a very good jumping off point. If you like dry reads you can download the various guides that Oracle has for BPM. The guides are all located at:

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17904_01/nav/portal_booklist.htm

The guides are actually invaluable and for Oracle BPM 11g I would recommend downloading the following and putting them into your library:

• Quick Installation Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite
• Installation Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite
• Modeling and Implementation Guide for Oracle Business Process Management
• Administrator’s Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite
• User’s Guide for Oracle Business Rules
• Business Process Composer User’s Guide for Oracle Business Process Management
• User’s Guide for Oracle Business Process Management

Going through these steps, setting up the Sales Quote Demo application, and reviewing it is a great way to start off learning BPM and I highly suggest it. Good luck!

 

John Linehan

ImageSource, Inc.

www.imagesourceinc.com

Oracle BPM 11g Install for a Development Environment

Who is finally ready to get off their laurels and start looking at Oracle BPM 11g? I knew I was, the question I had was: where do I start? I figured the best place to start would be to actually install the software. A special thanks to one of our Systems Engineer, Les Harris who helped in getting me going on installing the software. I installed the entire Oracle BPM 11g stack on my laptop and documented the procedure. The following outline is not for a production install, but rather for getting a development environment up and running. A production install would be different and require different install packages as well as a few more steps. This install is strictly for setting up a development environment which is why I used the versions of the software listed below. Sorry I didn’t take screenshots, but I documented everything I did and using these steps I have been able to install multiple environments without issue.

The first thing I had to do was go and download all of the different install packages that comprise the Oracle BPM stack, those are:

• JRockit (JDK R28.1.4)
• Oracle Database (10G Express Edition – Universal)
• Oracle Repository Creation Utility (version 11.1.1.5.0)
• Oracle Web Logic Server (version 10.3.5)
• Oracle SOA Suite (version 11.1.1.5.0)
• Oracle JDeveloper Studio Edition (version 11.1.1.5)

Next I had to unzip all the packages that came zipped up. I recommend 7-zip or pretty much anything else that isn’t the built in Windows utility, that thing is just too slow for these large files.

Now it’s time to start installing.

1. Install JRockit. Since I’ll need to type the path a lot I installed it to C:\Java.
2. Install the database server. It’s a very typical install, I used all the defaults. Be sure to write down the sys account password.

a. After installed launch SQL plus and run the following commands to up the process count:

i.      Connect
ii.      Enter the credentials (username: sys as sydba, password: whatever you specified during your database install)
iii.      alter system reset sessions scope=spfile sid=’*';
iv.      alter system set processes=400 scope=spfile;
v.      shutdown immediate
vi.      startup
vii.      exit

3. Install the RCU utility. This creates all the necessary components in the database.

a. This must be done from the command line. Install as follows:

i.      Cd:\<path to RCU install>rcuhome\bin
ii.      Set RCU_JDBC_TRIM_BLOCKS=TRUE
iii.      Rcu.bat

b. Use all the defaults, pointing it to the database server that was just installed (hostname = localhost, port = 1521, servicename = xe,)

i.      You will see an error message about the database not being supported. Ignore it, this isn’t a production install.When prompted for which components to install select SOA at the top level in order to get all the other necessary requirements.

4. Install Web Logic Server. This is the underlying foundation upon which the application runs.

a. This must be done from the command line. Install as follows:

i.      Cd:\<path to weblogic install>\
ii.      C:\Java\Bin\Java.exe – jar wls1035_generic.jar

b. Select a custom install but choose all the defaults when prompted.

5. Install SOA. This is the meatiest part of the Fusion Middleware stack.

a. This must be done from the command line. Install as follows:

i.      Cd:\ path to RCU install>\Disk1\
ii.      Setup.exe –jreLoc c:\Java

b. Select all the defaults.

6. Create the SOA domain.

a. This must be done from the command line. Install as follows:

i.      Cd:\oracle\middleware\oracle_SOA1\common\bin
ii.      Config.cmd

b. When prompted select the ‘Create domain’ option

i.      Select the BPM Suite for Development and Enterprise Manager option
ii.      Select the Admin Server, Managed Servers, and Deployments options

7. Now it’s time to test the install out (this may take a while, be patient).

a. This must be done from the command line.

i.      Cd:\ oracle\middleware\user_projects\domains\base_domain\
ii.      Startweblogic.cmd

b. When the server is all done with its first start-up the command window should say something like: ‘SOA platform is now running and accepting requests’)
c. You can now close out the WebLogic server (CTRL+C)

8. Install JDeveloper

a. Use all the defaults
b. Once installed, launch JDeveloper Studio from the start menu (it will be under Oracle WebLogic)
c. Go to Help|Check for Updates

i.      Select Next on the Source
ii.      In the search box type in SOA and select the SOA update, then type in BPM and select the BPM update.
iii.      Select Next, then Finish. When it is done, close out of JDeveloper.

9. Now it is time to create your very first BPM 11g project.

a. Launch JDeveloper Studio.

i.      Select File|New
ii.      In the prompt select Applications in the left pane and BPM Application in the right pane.
iii.      Select OK
iv.      Now you’ll be prompted to give your application a name, name it whatever you want or leave it default and select Next.
v.      Now you’ll be prompted to give your Project a name, name it whatever you want or leave it default. Make sure BPM and SOA are selected form the list of available technologies. Select Next.
vi.      Select the Composite with BPMN Process option and select Finish.
vii.      You should now be prompted to create a BPMN process, just select Finish and you can start from there.

You should now be looking at an empty project with a Start and an End event. Here is where the fun begins…

John Linehan

Sr. Systems Engineer
ImageSource Inc.