This post covers reader’s question around Cloning in Oracle Apps R12/11i :
I want to clone my production instance without shutting down Application Tier and Database Tier. As per Metalink note 230672.1 “Cloning Oracle Applications 11i with Rapid Clone”, I have to shutdown Application Tier and Database Tier. For Database I can use RMAN for hot backup but How to copy Middle Tier without shutting down services. Can I copy Application Tier without shutting down services ?
Yes, It is safe to copy Application Tier (APPL_TOP, COMMON_TOP, ORA_TOP) while services are running. However on target location delete following PIDFiles
a) For 11i : $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/ Apache/ Apache/ logs/ httpd.pid & httpd_pls.pid
b) For R12 : $INST_TOP/pids/10.1.3/httpd.pid
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Why is it required to delete PIDFile from target location (after copy while Application Tier was running) ?
Web Server (HTTP Server) in Oracle Apps 11i/R12 uses Apache which creates PIDFiles at time of startup and remove it when you stop Apache.
If your WebServer (HTTP Server) is not running and you see PIDFiles in location then it is safe to remove them. For information on How to troubleshoot Apache (Web Server) issues in Oracle Apps click here
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What is PIDFile in Oracle Apps 11i/R12 Web Server ?
This it the file in which the server should record its process identification number when it starts.
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What is default PID file location ?
For 11i : $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/logs/httpd.pid & httpd_pls.pid
For R12 : $INST_TOP/pids/10.1.3/httpd.pid
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Where is PIDfile location defined ?
PIDFile location is defined in
For R12 : $ORA_CONFIG_HOME/10.1.3/Apache/Apache/conf/httpd.conf
For 11i : $IAS_ORACLE_HOME/Apache/Apache/Apache/conf/httpd.conf