URGENT Bulletin from Oracle - Disable JRE Auto-update for all E Business End Users

Blog Entry from Steven Chan URGENT BULLETIN: Disable JRE Auto-Update for All E-Business Suite End-Users Posted: 13 Jun 2012 04:16 PM PDT [Update 4:13 PM June 13, 2012: Added reference to My Oracle Support Note 1467442.1] [Update 1:40 PM June 13, 2012:  Added more details on finding the Java Update tab, and options 1 to 3] All desktop administrators must IMMEDIATELY disable the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Auto-Update option for all Windows end-user desktops connecting to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i, 12.0, and 12.1. You can find this option via the Windows Control Panel > Java > "Update" tab.  Uncheck the "Check for Updates Automatically" checkbox. If you can't find the "Update" tab From the Java help page: What is Java Update? § The Update tab may not be available if your network administrator has disabled the Java Update feature during installation. § If you are not logged in to system as administrator then options to change Java update notifications will be greyed out and user will not be able to change it. Your options are: 1.       Log into your PC using a userid with administrator privileges. 2.       If you don't have administrator privileges, you must contact your desktop administrators for further guidance. 3.       Check whether you're running the 32-bit or 64-bit JRE version.  The 64-bit version of JRE does not have an auto-update feature. If you have both the 32-bit and 64-bit JRE versions installed, the 64-bit Control Panel appears instead of the 32-bit version.  You can view the 32-bit version of the 'Java Control Panel' by running the 'javacpl.exe' from the JRE installation directory, for example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\javacpl.exe Why is this required? If you have Auto-Update enabled, your JRE 1.6 version will be updated to JRE 7.  § This may happen as early as July 3, 2012.  § This will definitely happen after Sept. 7, 2012, after the release of 1.6.0_35 (6u35).  As of June 13, 2012, the time of this bulletin's publication, Oracle Forms is not compatible with Java 7.  Java 7 has not been certified with Oracle E-Business Suite. Oracle E-Business Suite functionality based on Forms -- e.g. Financials -- will stop working if you upgrade to JRE 7. Reverting back to Java 6 from Java 7 If an E-Business Suite end-user's desktop has been inadvertently upgraded to JRE 7, you must: 1.       Uninstall JRE 7 2.       Reinstall the latest JRE 1.6 release. Stay on Java 6 for now EBS customers should continue to run JRE 6 on their Windows end-user desktops, and JDK 6 on their EBS servers. If a search engine has brought you to this article, please check the Certifications summary for our latest certified Java release. Our plans for certifying Java 7 for the E-Business Suite We plan on releasing the Java 7 certification for E-Business Suite customers in two phases: § Phase 1: Certify JRE 7 for Windows end-user desktops § Phase 2: Certify JDK 7 for server-based components When will Java 7 be certified with EBS? We're working on the first phase now. As usual, I cannot discuss release dates here, but you can monitor or subscribe to this blog for updates. Current known issues with JRE 7 in EBS environments Our current testing shows that there are known incompatibilities between JRE 7 and the Forms-invocation process in EBS environments.  We have been working directly with the Java division on this for a while now.  In the meantime, EBS customers should not deploy JRE 7 to their end-user Windows desktop clients. You should stick with JRE 1.6 for now.  But wait, you previously said... Older JRE certification announcements stated: Our standard policy is that all E-Business Suite customers can apply all JRE updates to end-user desktops from JRE 1.6.0_03 and higher.  We test all new JRE releases in parallel with the JRE development process, so all JRE releases are considered certified with the E-Business Suite on the same day that they're released by our Java team.  You do not need to wait for a certification announcement before applying new JRE releases to your EBS users' desktops. Yes, this is true.  This standard boilerplate text was written before JRE 7 was released, so there was no possibility of misunderstanding.  With the availability of JRE 7, that boilerplate needs to be revised to read: Our standard policy is that all E-Business Suite customers can apply all JRE updates to end-user desktops from JRE 1.6.0_03 and later updates on the 1.6 codeline.  We test all new JRE 1.6 releases in parallel with the JRE development process, so all new JRE 1.6 releases are considered certified with the E-Business Suite on the same day that they're released by our Java team.  You do not need to wait for a certification announcement before applying new JRE 1.6 releases to your EBS users' desktops. References § Recommended Browsers for Oracle Applications 11i (Metalink Note 285218.1) § Upgrading Sun JRE (Native Plug-in) with Oracle Applications 11i for Windows Clients (Metalink Note 290807.1) § Recommended Browsers for Oracle Applications 12 (MetaLink Note 389422.1) § Upgrading JRE Plugin with Oracle Applications R12 (MetaLink Note 393931.1) § URGENT BULLETIN: Immediately Disable JRE Auto-Update for All E-Business Suite End-Users (Metalink Note 1467442.1) Related Articles § Mismanaged Session Cookie Issue Fixed for EBS in JRE 1.6.0_23 § Roundup: Oracle JInitiator 1.3 Desupported for EBS Customers in July 2009

Java JRE 1.6.0_33 Certified with Oracle E-Business Suite Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:29 AM PDT I'm pleased to let you know that the latest Java Runtime Environment 1.6.0_33 (a.k.a. JRE 6u33-b03) is now certified with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11i and 12.   What's new in Java 1.6.0_33? See the 1.6.0_33 Update Release Notes for details about what has changed in this release.  This release is available for download from the usual Sun channels and through the 'Java Automatic Update' mechanism. 32-bit and 64-bit versions certified This certification includes both the 32-bit and 64-bit JRE versions.  64-bit JREs are certified only on 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Worried about the 'mismanaged session cookie' issue? No need to worry -- it's fixed.  To recap: JRE releases 1.6.0_18 through 1.6.0_22 had issues with mismanaging session cookies that affected some users in some circumstances. The fix for those issues was first included in JRE 1.6.0_23. These fixes will carry forward and continue to be fixed in all future JRE releases.  In other words, if you wish to avoid the mismanaged session cookie issue, you should apply any release after JRE 1.6.0_22. All JRE 1.6 releases are certified with EBS upon release Our standard policy is that all E-Business Suite customers can apply all JRE updates to end-user desktops from JRE 1.6.0_03 and later updates on the 1.6 codeline.  We test all new JRE 1.6 releases in parallel with the JRE development process, so all new JRE 1.6 releases are considered certified with the E-Business Suite on the same day that they're released by our Java team.  You do not need to wait for a certification announcement before applying new JRE 1.6 releases to your EBS users' desktops.