How to Fix formsweb.cfg When Fusion Middleware Enterprise Manager Is Not Accessible

Recently for one of my customer  I ran into a tricky situation while Fusion Middleware Enterprise Manager (EM) 12c was completely inaccessible. Normally, any configuration changes in Oracle Forms, reports or for weblogic  we use Fusion Middleware Enterprise Manager (EM) . Our requirement was to update especially formsweb.cfg which generally is changed through EM. But when EM itself is down, we had to find a way out.

Below is exactly what we did to safely make the change and bring the environment back without causing configuration corruption.

 

Step 1 — Shut Down the Required Services

First, we stopped the Forms managed server and Admin Server to avoid any configuration lock or file corruption.

• Shutdown WLS_FORMS
• Shutdown Admin Server

 

Step 2 — Navigate to Domain Home

[appltest@testapp ~]$ cd $DOMAIN_HOME [appltest@testapp ~]$ pwd [appltest@testapp ~]$ /u01/app/oracle/product/12.2.1.4/user_projects/domains/prd

 

Step 3 — Clear Configuration Lock (edit.lok)

WebLogic sometimes leaves an edit session lock if a previous configuration change did not complete properly.

If the following file exists, remove it

[appltest@testapp ~]$  rm -rf edit.lok

 

Step 4 — Clear Pending Changes

WebLogic stores in-progress configuration updates inside a pending directory. If this folder contains files, the Admin Server assumes an edit session is still active.

Delete any files inside $DOMAIN_HOME/pending/*

[appltest@testapp ~]$ rm -rf $DOMAIN_HOME/pending/*

 

Step 5 — Clear Temporary and Cache Directories

To ensure a clean startup, we removed temporary and cache files. These directories will be recreated automatically when servers restart.

[appltest@testapp ~]$ $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/AdminServer/tmp/ [appltest@testapp ~]$ $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/WLS_FORMS/tmp/ [appltest@testapp ~]$ $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/WLS_FORMS/cache/

 

Step 6 — Edit formsweb.cfg Manually

After cleanup, we updated the required configuration directly in the file:

[appltest@testapp ~]$  vi $DOMAIN_HOME/config/fmwconfig/components/FORMS/instances/forms1/config/formsweb.cfg   userid=new_username/new_password@orcl

 

Step 7 — Restart serivces and Verify

1. Start the Admin Server
2. Wait until it reaches RUNNING state
3. Start Forms services and verify changes.

REP-50600 : Broadcasting is disabled. Please enable cosnaming for Reports discovery.

 

 

REP-50600 : Broadcasting is disabled. Please enable cosnaming for Reports discovery. 

 

Few days ago, we faced one issue with our customer where customer couldn’t start oracle standalone report server after they had restarted their physical server .

 

While tried to start the report server using command failed with following error

[oracle@dev-wls bin]$ ./opmnctl startproc ias-component=RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1 opmnctl startproc: starting opmn managed processes...================================================================================ opmn id=dev-wls.rcf.gov.in:6701 Response: 2 of 3 processes started.   ias-instance id=asinst_1 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ias-component/process-type/process-set:   RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1/ReportsServerComponent/RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1/   Error --> Process (index=1,uid=1518988558,pid=30017)   failed to start a managed process after the maximum retry limit   Log:   /u01/app/oracle/Middleware/asinst_1/diagnostics/logs/ReportsServerComponent/RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1/console~RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1~1.log

 

Upon checking console~RptSvr_dev-wls_asinst_1~1.log we didn’t find much information.

However we checked rwserver_diagnostic.log in same location and we found following error message

[2025-04-08T20:36:47.506+05:30] [reports] [INCIDENT_ERROR] [REP-50600] [oracle.reports.server] [tid: 10] [ecid: 0000POLw7MfFo2c5xjg8yW1bxJi2000001,0] REP-50600 : Broadcasting is disabled. Please enable cosnaming for Reports discovery.  [[ oracle.reports.RWException: IDL:oracle/reports/RWException:1.0         at oracle.reports.utility.Utility.newRWException(Utility.java:1053)         at oracle.reports.server.RWServer.startServer(RWServer.java:1123)         at oracle.reports.server.RWServer.jniMain(RWServer.java:307)

 

Solution:-

The issue is generally observed if the system has firewall enabled.

In our case firewall was disabled however it was not disabled on startup and when server came on it started the firewall service.

#systemctl stop firewalld #systemctl disable firewalld

 

Upon executing above, we finally fixed the issue and  report server started successfully.

How to Configure WebUtil in Oracle Forms 11g – A Step-by-Step Guide

 

Introduction

Oracle Forms 11g lacks native support for client-side operations, such as file selection dialogs, clipboard access, or interactions with Microsoft Office. WebUtil bridges this gap by enabling Oracle Forms applications to perform these client-side operations.

This guide provides a detailed step-by-step procedure to configure WebUtil in Oracle Forms 11g, complete with actual commands.

1.      Prepare the Database Schema for WebUtil

Before using WebUtil, you must create the necessary database objects by executing the create_webutil_db.sql script.

 

Connect to the database as SYSDBA:

$  sqlplus / as sysdba

Create a dedicated WebUtil user :

SQL>CREATE USER webutil IDENTIFIED BY webutil DEFAULT TABLESPACE USERS TEMPORARY TABLESPACE TEMP;   SQL> GRANT CONNECT, RESOURCE, CREATE SYNONYM, CREATE PUBLIC SYNONYM TO webutil;

Run the WebUtil database script from application server:

$ sqlplus webutil/webutil@DB_SID $ORACLE_HOME/forms/create_webutil_db.sql

1.      Download and Place the JACOB Library Files

WebUtil depends on the JACOB library to interact with Windows-based applications.

Download the Required JACOB Version

·         For Forms 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.X) → JACOB 1.10.1

·         For Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.X) → JACOB 1.14.3

 

The JACOB version can be downloaded from following github site

https://github.com/freemansoft/jacob-project/releases

1.      Copy JACOB Files to Oracle Forms

After downloading the JACOB files, extract to the  ZIP file:

Copy the files in following path of application server

copy jacob.jar $ORACLE_HOME/forms/java/

1.        Place the JACOB DLL Files

Place the JACOB DLL files in the correct directories:

For Forms 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.X):

copy jacob.dll $ORACLE_HOME/forms/webutil/

Forms 11g Release 2 (11.1.2.X):

cd jacob-1.14.3 cp jacob-1.14.3-x86.dll $ORACLE_HOME/forms/webutil/win32/ cp jacob-1.14.3-x64.dll $ORACLE_HOME/forms/webutil/win64/

1.      Sign the JACOB JAR File

To avoid security issues when running Forms, sign the jacob.jar file using Oracle's provided script.

Before sign, change the following in $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin/sign_webutil.sh  file

SET JAR_KEY_PASSWORD=Password123#

SET KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=Password123#

SET VALIDDAYS=3600

 

cd $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin $ sh sign_webutil.sh $ORACLE_HOME/forms/java/jacob.jar

1.      Update CLASSPATH in default.env

Modify default.env to include the necessary JAR files.

cd $DOMAIN_HOME/config/fmwconfig/servers/WLS_FORMS/applications/formsapp_11.1.2/config   Add following parameter   CLASSPATH=$ORACLE_HOME/forms/java/frmall.jar

1.      Modify the formsweb.cfg Configuration File

cd $DOMAIN_HOME/config/fmwconfig/servers/WLS_FORMS/applications/formsapp_11.1.2/config   Add following [webutil] configuration   [webutil] WebUtilArchive=frmwebutil.jar,jacob.jar baseHTMLjinitiator=webutiljini.htm baseHTMLjpi=webutiljpi.htm archive_jini=frmall_jinit.jar archive=frmall.jar Form=webutil_demo.fmx Userid=username/password@DB_SID ##Provide db username and password and DBsid to connect the DB

Save and exit.

1.      Compile and Deploy webutil_demo.fmb

First download webutil_demo.fmb from following url and place it in application server

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mdkhjh7997r8arh/webutil_demo.fmb?dl=0

 

Open form builder and compile the form webutil_demo.fmb and place it under

$ORACLE_HOME/forms location. 

Or compile it using command

$ Cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin $ frmcmp module=webutil_demo.fmb module_type=form userid=webutil/webutil_password@yourdb compile_all=yes

1.      Compile webutil.pll to create webutil.plx

$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin $ frmcmp module=webutil.pll module_type=library userid=webutil/webutil_password@yourdb compile_all=yes

Restart Oracle Forms and weblogic services

$ cd $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin $ ./opmnctl stopall     #Stop reports services cd $DOMAIN_HOME/bin   ./stopManagedWebLogic.sh WLS_REPORTS   #stop forms services   ./stopManagedWebLogic.sh WLS_FORMS     #stop weblogic admin server   ./stopWebLogic.sh   #start weblogic admin server   cd $DOMAIN_HOME/bin   nohup ./startWebLogic.sh > /dev/null 2>&1 &   #Wait for sometime to start the admin server   #start forms services   nohup ./startManagedWebLogic.sh WLS_FORMS > /dev/null 2>&1 &     #Start reports services   nohup ./startManagedWebLogic.sh WLS_REPORTS > /dev/null 2>&1 &   #start opmn   $ cd $ORACLE_INSTANCE/bin ./opmnctl startall ./opmnctl status

1.      Test WebUtil Configuration

http://your_server_hostname:port/forms/frmservlet?config=webutil

This should open a window like below