Chronicles of Technology

What I ignore in Ansible projects

Keep your repository neat and clean is a mandatory repository requirement, same as readable documentation and a good code, preferably useful. So, one of the first things I do in a new project is a .gitignore file.

Ansible

How to run Ansible playbooks à-la Tower

Our Red Hat Ansible projects drift to the Ansible Tower. I found that it much faster to do quick fixes and debug playbooks from the server rather than go through the full chain VSCode -> Git -> Tower. Well, to be productive, I automated the automation.

GCP

Absolutely insane billing from Google Cloud Platform!

Google Cloud Platform (aka GCP) has the most insane approach to charging that I've ever seen. I haven't experienced this with any other cloud service provider such as Amazon Web

OpenSSL

Quick Certificate Validation

Check certificate validity for a site; what could be easier? It's a click away if the address of interest is in your browser. Learn how you can check expiration dates for multiple Learn how you can check expiration dates for multiple host or virtual hosts with SNI.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Enforce HTTPS With OCI Load Balancer

To enforce secure connection you should enforce rewrite rules to rout your clients toward secure listener. The same could be done with load balancer in Oracle Cloud.

Oracle Cloud

Is Oracle Cloud really that cheap?

In January 2019, I conducted performance tests of various compute cloud providers, specifically against services from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), IBM Cloud, Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

WebLogic

OutOfMemoryError when running bsu.sh

I was trying to apply a CPU (Critical Patch Update) on an older version of Oracle WebLogic Server, namely 11g (10.3.6). This is done through the bsu utility. I received the following OutOfMemory exception when trying to apply the patch: oracle@weblogicdev:

WebLogic

Speeding up WLST

Back in Java 7 days, when your WebLogic domain runs like a snail on a sunny meadow, you knew that you forgot to fix your random source. It is not

Ansible

Using Ansible to connect to Oracle Dynamic Monitoring Service (DMS)

The Oracle Dynamic Monitoring Service (DMS) enables Oracle Fusion Middleware components to provide administration tools, such as Oracle Enterprise Manager, with data regarding the component's performance, state and on-going behaviour.

Networking

TTL expired in transit on Windows client

Normally I get speeds in excess of 100 Mbps on my home wifi on both uploads and downloads. Speeds during normal operationThis morning, it was down to 6-10 Mbps and I couldn't figure out why. I tried connecting to my router's gateway at 192.

JDeveloper

Running into IntegratedWebLogicServer issues for Windows users with spaces

When attempting to start the IntegratedWebLogicServer in Oracle JDeveloper 12.2.1.3, I received the following error: Error: Could not find or load main class Aboulnaga\AppData\Roaming\JDeveloper\system12.2.1.3.42.170820.0914\DefaultDomainAnd here's a screenshot from the IDE:

JDeveloper

Can't create OSB Business Service in JDeveloper 12.2.1.3

I ran into an error recently where I wasn't able to create a Business Service when developing an Oracle Service Bus (OSB) project in Oracle JDeveloper 12.2.1.3.

JDeveloper

Easy JDK update

Working on the integrated WebLogic server configuration, I run into a very neat Middleware 12c feature. The primary fix for the issue is to use old JDK8. When you have JDeveloper and domain configured, you can upgrade your installation to the desired JDK version, with simple steps below.

JDeveloper

DefaultDomain in SOA Studio 12.2.1.4

I always struggle to configure internal WebLogic 12.2.x server and domain. Finally, Oracle Support helped me to complete the SOA/BPM Studio 12.2.1.4 configuration.

Red Hat

Too much security: Is it a thing?

What I love about Red Hat classes, you get a live environment . This time, my new lab was partially unavailable. I click on the link, glimpse the application page, and then I get a protocol error page.

Red Hat Ansible: Yes and No, True and False

During the code review, my colleague and I have fixed a few ageless Boolean variable issues. If you have ever done even a humble sized JavaScript project, you know what

Ghost

ER_MUST_CHANGE_PASSWORD_LOGIN on Ghost blog platform

Seems that our Ghost blog platform received the following error when I tried to publish a post: Internal server error, cannot list posts. ER_MUST_CHANGE_PASSWORD_LOGIN: Your password

Don't kid yourself - you're not a Cloud Architect

With the boom in cloud adoption, many IT professionals are looking to formalize their new skillsets by acquiring various cloud certifications. Last week, I took advantage of Oracle's free training

Certification

What you need to pass the OCI Architect Associate certification exam

In March 2020, Oracle announced free access to online learning content and certifications to a broad array of Oracle Cloud certifications for about 2 months (details here). Literally tens of

Compute Cloud

Setting up our compute cloud virtual machines for POCs

We've been doing some quick performance testing of Oracle software on various compute cloud providers that include AWS, Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. Once the virtual machine is created, most setup/configuration is generally standard. This post is mostly self-documentation

OCI

How Oracle Cloud helps you save on Oracle Cloud

The recent Ahmed's post on OCI client installation gave me an idea to post this piece. My Oracle Cloud trial has ended, and I have no other option but to be more budget aware. The most apparent recipe is quite similar to the basic household rule: "Turn the lights off when you leave the room."

JDBC

Using "utils.dbping" to test JDBC database connectivity

Recently I ran into a problem with an Oracle WebLogic Server data source. We were getting an IO Error: Connection reset in the console and logs when we try to

OCI

Can't find the "oci" executable in Oracle Cloud?

A few months ago, I attended an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure workshop in Oracle Reston. In one of the hands-on labs, it appears that the oci executable was not found in

OEM

Yet another custom OEM uptime report

Here is my custom availability report in Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM) 13c (using Information Publisher). It consists of multiple elements across multiple rows. Though this report is specific to WebLogic Managed Servers, it could apply to any target type. Each element is a distinct

OEM

Create a custom OEM uptime report for business hours only

There was a need to create a custom Information Publisher Report in Oracle Enterprise Manager 13c to provide uptime metrics. These uptime metrics were to be calculated weekly, from Monday to Friday, only for the hours of 8am to 5pm, and for specific targets.