SuperPuTTY and WinSCP

Software tools on Windows PC for routine work.

SuperPuTTY

Steps to install and set up SuperPutty

1. Install Putty. Version 0.76 is installed in a folder under C:\Program Files\PuTTY (vs. just one file putty.exe).

PuTTY stores setup data (saved sessions, SSH host keys) in the Registry. The location is

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY

To configure PuTTY, such as log file location and font size (under Appearance), select and save them to "Default Settings".

 

2. Download SuperPuTTY from https://github.com/jimradford/superputty/releases (Release 1.5.0.0 is available in 2023).

3. Unzip the .zip file to a folder (e.g. c:\Putty\SuperPuTTY-1.5.0.0)

4. Create a shortcut on desktop pointing to file SuperPutty.exe

c:\Putty\SuperPuTTY-1.5.0.0>dir

 ... ...

01/29/2023  08:32 AM           44,464 License.rtf

01/29/2023  08:31 AM             1,129 License.txt

07/24/2022  11:40 PM          270,336 log4net.dll

01/29/2023  08:30 AM           20,623 ReleaseNotes.txt

05/29/2022  04:51 AM         804,352 Renci.SshNet.dll

01/29/2023  08:36 AM      1,090,560 SuperPutty.exe

01/29/2023  06:57 AM           10,378 SuperPutty.exe.config

01/29/2023  08:36 AM         794,112 SuperPutty.pdb

08/24/2023  06:54 PM    <DIR>        themes

08/27/2021  04:24 PM          244,736 WeifenLuo.WinFormsUI.Docking.dll

08/27/2021  04:24 PM            90,112 WeifenLuo.WinFormsUI.Docking.ThemeVS2005.dll

Initial setup info of SuperPutty is stored in file C:\Users\User_ID\SuperPuTTY.settings:

Tells where Putty is installed:

      <PuttyExe>C:\Program Files\Putty\putty.exe</PuttyExe>

Specifies a folder to hold server listing and session info:

      <SettingsFolder>c:\Putty\SuperPuTTY</SettingsFolder>

  

If needed, setup info can by changed by Tool -> Options.  File SuperPutty.exe.config holds configuration info.

 

To use the passwords on the command line or in a session, you must check the box 

"Allow plain text passwords on putty command line" in Tools -> Options -> Gui under security

You can disable the update check (Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Uncheck Automatically check for updates) to avoid message in version 1.5.0.0:

Error during update check

There was an error while checking for updates. Please try again later.

Need to backup folder C:\Putty\SuperPuTTY from time to time (specially when a new server session is added to the list!). When a SuperPutty is installed on a new PC, you can restore the backup folder to the new PC. Then, point SuperPutty to this folder to transfer all connection info to the new PC. 

WinSCP 

On its login box, it has a Tools dropdown for Import/Restore Configuration and Export/Backup Configuration. 

I have WinSCP version 5.19.5 installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\WinSCP. Its configuration is stored in Windows registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Martin Prikryl\WinSCP 2

On my old laptop, I ran potable version 5.5.6 in a folder by unzipping file winscp556.zip. File WinSCP.ini in the folder has all configuration info. When a newer WinSCP version was installed on a new laptop, I copied the .ini file to the new computer and use Import to transfer the info to the newer version.

Exceed

Exceed is a tool for bringing X Window (e.g. GUI forms) from Linux/Unix session to your PC. It is owned by Open Text and is installed in folder C:\Program Files\Hummingbird\Connectivity. OpenText website says "In October 2006, OpenText™ acquired Hummingbird. Hummingbird’s enterprise software solutions, including Exceed, enabled the management of the life cycle of enterprise content."

Oracle SQL Developer and JDK

After Oracle SQL Developer was installed (without including JDK in the pack) on my new laptop, its first launch creates file C:\Users\user_ID\AppData\Roaming\sqldeveloper\product.conf, which specifies and saves the path of Java. In the first run, it brings up a popup box says "Please specify the path to the Java JDK home (e.g. ... ...)". The correct path has to be entered here for SQL Developer to fire up. On my laptop, after I click on OK to accept default path C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18, the popup box goes away. Then nothing shows up and it seems at a dead end.

During troubleshooting, I learned my laptop has two Java installation locations, which leads some confusion. The one in C:\Program Files\Java\jdk18 is a 64-bit that was requested and installed for being used by SQL Developer. SQL Developer installed is a 64-bit application and needs 64-bit Java. After I entered C:\Program Files\Java\jdk18 in the popup box, SQL Developer 21.4.3 worked and the Properties info can be viewed by Help -> About.

It the first launch, it asks if you want to import preference from previous version. I copied over folder C:\Users\user_ID\AppData\Roaming\SQL Developer\system20.4.1.407.0006 from my old laptop, and let import copy SQL Developer setups from old computer. It keeps all database connections (ID & password). This is exactly what I want.

SQL Developer connection info is saved in location C:\Users\user_ID\AppData\Roaming\SQL Developer\systemX.X.X.X.X\o.jdeveloper.db.connection\connections. It is a good practice to back it up from time to time.

-- How to fine JAVA HOME and Java info on Windows?

On the Windows machine, use "cmd" window. 

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19044.3324]

(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

c:\> echo %JAVA_HOME%

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk18;C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18

It shows two Java installations. The one in C:\Program Files\Java\jdk18 is a 64-bit,

c:\>cd \Program Files\Java

c:\Program Files\Java>dir

 ... ...

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          jdk18

08/14/2023  09:12 AM    <DIR>          jre8

c:\Program Files\Java>cd jdk18

c:\Program Files\Java\jdk18>dir /A:D

... ...

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          bin

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          include

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          jre

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          legal

08/14/2023  09:21 AM    <DIR>          lib

c:\Program Files\Java\jdk18>cd bin

c:\Program Files\Java\jdk18\bin>java.exe -version

java version "1.8.0_281"

Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_281-b09)

Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.281-b09, mixed mode)

The JDK in C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18 is 32-bit.

c:\Program Files\Java\jdk18>cd \Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18

c:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18>cd bin

c:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk18\bin>java -version

java version "1.8.0_281"

Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_281-b09)

Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 25.281-b09, mixed mode)

-- How to find out the Windows is 64-bit or 32-bit?

Go to Start > Settings (a wheel icon) > System > About

System Type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

How to allow only specific users to access EBS site

During some special time periods, Business management wants to restrict users to access R12.2 EBS website but allow only one or two users to complete some dedicated tasks, such as month-end process. 

Oracle EBS has a way to do that. See Oracle Doc ID 605538.1 (How To Lock Users Out Of E-Business Suite And Allow Specific Users). This only works if EBS website does not have multiple web nodes which may use load balancing (such as F5) in the middle.

Our users use VPN to log onto company's network and PC. After I added below lines to file $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/instances/EBS_web_OHS1/config/OHS/EBS_web/custom.conf and bounced apps services, only users use the two IP addresses can access our EBS site and all other users get "Forbidden oops." message on the login page. 

<Location ~ "/OA_HTML">

Order deny,allow

Deny from all

Allow from 10.55.xxx.92

Allow from 10.53.xxx.134

ErrorDocument 403 "Forbidden oops."

Allow from localhost

</Location>

Use "grep ohs_inst $CONTEXT_FILE" to identify the OHS# (i.e. EBS_web_OHS1) and the location.

If load balancing is used, above method may not work because end-user's IP may not reach EBS server. Other ways can be used to accomplish this but additional work is needed.

1. Create a special Responsibility. Then, disable all other Responsibilities. Only users in the new Responsibility will be able to log into EBS site to do the work.

2. You can disable/enable users in bulk using API. But this will change last_update_date and last_updated_by of table fnd_user, and may become a security auditing concern (specially when we have 57,000+ active users in the system. Huge worry is users' password would still work).

    fnd_user_pkg.disableuser('<username>');

    fnd_user_pkg.enableuser('<username>');

3. Ask internal firewall team to restrict access to the EBS Load Balancer URL to specific IP addresses.

4. Change the Load Balancer port to a temporary port that only will be given to the authorized users, and after the archive process is complete, the port can be switched back to the original port so it becomes available to all users.

An alternative solution is keep running a query to monitor who is using EBS site.

How to capture HTTP Header information from the client browser

Steps to generate the HAR file for Chrome (Version 112.0.5615.140). It is part of Oracle Doc ID 815734.1 (How to Gather HTTP Header Information From a Client PC)

1.    Open Google Chrome and go to the page (such as EBS login page) where the issue is occurring.

2.    Bring the Chrome menu by clicking on the upper right > More tools > Developer Tools.

3.    From the panel opened at the bottom of your screen, select the Network tab.

4.    Look for a round Record button (Record button) in the upper left corner of the Network tab, and make sure it is red. If it is grey, click it once to start recording.

5.    Check the box next to Preserve log .

6.    Click the Clear button ( Clear button ) to clear out any existing logs from the Network tab.

7.    Now try to reproduce the issue that you were experiencing before, while the network requests are being recorded.

8.    Once you have reproduced the issue, right click anywhere on the grid of network requests, select Save as HAR with Content, and save the file to your computer.

9.    Upload your HAR file to your ticket or attach it to your email so that we may analyze it.

Somehow, during the capture, I do see some menu items are missing from System Administrator responsibility.  

 

Which EBS server did a user session log into?

Oracle Doc ID 364439.1 (Tips and Queries for Troubleshooting Advanced Topologies) provides a few useful queries. One of them is to tell what server a user logged into.

A query to show and monitor all users who logged to the system within the last hour.

col server_name format a12

col user_name format a30

select

  to_char(first_connect, 'HH24:MI:SS') "TIME",

  user_name,

  decode

   (a.node_id,

   a.node_id,

   (select node_name  

   from fnd_nodes n  

   where a.node_id=n.node_id),a.node_id) server_name

from

  icx_sessions a,

  fnd_user b,

  fnd_nodes svr

where

  first_connect > (sysdate-1/24)

  and (a.user_id=b.user_id

       and a.node_id=svr.node_id)

  and disabled_flag='N'

order by first_connect;

TIME      USER_NAME         SERVER_NAME

----------- --------------------------- ------------

20:11:21 SYSADMIN          HOSTBE

20:17:53 USER                   HOSTINT

20:19:16 OPERATIONS     HOSTEMT

20:39:21 GUEST                HOSTPC8  (did not login, hit "forgot password")