Java Web Start for Oracle EBS

Hello Everyone,

I have been exploring options in regards to our dependency on Internet Explorer (slow and clunky) due to the fact that we rely on the Java Plug-in (NPAPI) to launch the EBS Forms, and IE is the last reliable browser to support the Netscape Plug-in Application Programming Interface (NPAPI), which limits our users to only utilize this browser. Additionally, Microsoft continues to slowly but surely phase out IE in favor of Edge.

Those used to be our only problems, Oracle planned to deprecate the Java Plug-in for web browsers starting with the release of Java SE 9 (and they have).

The solution that Oracle is now offering in regards to these problems is Java Web Start. Java Web Start applications can be launched independently of a browser since they do not rely on a browser plug-in, and it provides a migration path from Java applets.

Below is a snippet of the architectural differences between the NPAPI approach and the Java Web Start approach:

The below is a snippet from Oracle in regards to Java Web Start:

What is Java Web Start?

Java Web Start provides a browser-independent architecture for deploying Java 2 technology-based applications to the client desktop. With Java Web Start, users can launch a Java application by clicking a link in a web page. The link points to a Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) file, which instructs Java Web Start software to download, cache, and run the application. This way, users can download and launch applications without going through additional installation procedures.

Java Web Start software is installed as part of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) software. Users do not have to install Java Web Start software separately or perform additional tasks to use Java Web Start applications.

What will this help solve?

1. Oracle, and modern browsers, will soon (already have) stop supporting NPAPI and launching Oracle Forms as we do today will not be possible (without major security concerns).
2. Many On-Prem EBS shops have issues today keeping up with JRE versions, and continue to use JRE 6 or 7, due to complexities around signing JAR files and the JRE executable (and compatibility issues with customizations).
3. Internal security guidance at most companies is aggressively moving to being more up to date with JRE versions on workstations, and Java Web Start is less dependent on the JRE and Oracle is working hard on ensuring the latest versions of JRE support Java Web Start.
4. Users can again utilize their preferred browser to navigate Oracle EBS Forms (such as Chrome, Firefox and Edge), and will no longer be limited to Internet Explorer.

In terms of implementation, if you are still on SSL, I believe you should combine these initiatives (Webstart and TLS migration) given you will also need to perform Forms testing when implementing TLS due to certain pre-requisite patches, and some tech-stack prerequisites are shared.

These are not nice to haves, this is the guidance from Oracle in terms of where they are moving with Forms and browser security. I believe the sooner you take these on the better, both of these are recommendations/mandates from Oracle noted in the Quarterly EBS Upgrade Recommendations: July 2018 Edition (and previous editions going back to 2017, however, they weren’t very mature).

I recommend you do a POC of the Java Web Start component by applying the pre-requisite patches in a test environment to test functionality and some key custom forms (which Oracle says should be fully supported by switching from NPAPI to Java Web Start).

Below are some key documents around Java Web Start (which is now fully supported for Oracle E-Business Suite Releases 12.2 and 12.1):

Using Java Web Start with Oracle E-Business Suite (Doc ID 2188898.1)

https://blogs.oracle.com/stevenchan/java-web-start-now-available-for-ebs-121-and-122

https://blogs.oracle.com/stevenchan/e-business-suite-and-java-web-start%3a-frequently-asked-questions

Thanks,
Julio