Script WebLogic and Java Patches

Dan Iverson

In December, we talked quite a bit about patching Java and WebLogic on the blog and podcast. There was a WebLogic CVE, and then a patch, to apply. If you want a recap on the CVE and patching process, here are the posts:

• WebLogic Patching – Part 1
• WebLogic Patching – Part 2
• Java Patching
• WebLogic CVE – 2015

While applying the patches, I wanted to script the process so patching would be consistent across all our servers. I pulled the scripts into a GitHub project for sharing and reuse. If you haven’t scripted a WebLogic patch, this would be a place to start. The scripts use PowerShell and built for WebLogic 10.3.6. So, they use SmartUpdate instead of OPatch. I also added in a Java patch to the process too. You could pull out the Java patch script to use by itself. One more note: all the patches, Java, and scripts were set to run from the folder e:\installers\weblogic1036-2015-CVE-Patches. If you use these for your environment, or just use them as a template, you’ll want to update those paths for your specific configuration.

There is nothing ground-breaking about these scripts 🙂 I can write scripts, but I’m not the best script developer out there. If you see places where the scripts need improvement, file an issue with the project or submit a pull request! The main goal with this project and post is to get others started with scripting. Scripting, even if the scripts are basic, can benefit administrators. I hope that this quick overview might help someone get started.

Scripts Overview

These scripts are writtin in PowerShell. If PowerShell scripts are not enabled on the server, run this command to allow PowerShell scripts to run:

set-executionpolicy unrestricted

1. Install new SmartUpdate version (3.3.0)

   installSmartUpdate.ps1

   The silent.xml file is used for a silent install (no prompts). The installation directory is set to e:\oracle. If you want a different directory, change the value for “BEAHOME”. 1. Stop all web servers running on the server .stopPIAServices.ps1 The script looks for any Windows service that containts “*-PIA” in the name. If you have any WebLogic domains were not created by the

   installNTService script, you may need to shut them down by hand.

2. Prepare and copy files from the weblogic1036-2015-CVE-Patches folder

   prepareFiles.ps1

   This script performs tasks to prepare different files for patching: On our servers, two files needed updates to run the Smart Update utility. registry.xml needed to remove a reference to Tuxedo; bsu.cmd needed an increase in memory to the Java Heap. The registry.xml file also contains a reference to the server where it was installed. The script will change that value based on the new server’s name. The original files are backed up first and a .bkp extension is added to the file name. The script also copies jdk-1.7.0_79 to our e:\java folder. If you want the new java version in a different location, you can change the path in the file.

3. Apply both WebLogic patches The patches we are applying resolve the December 2015 CVE with WebLogic. If you are using these scripts for future patches, you’ll want to update the patch ID’s in the script.

   applyWebLogicPatches.ps1

   Both patches are applied to WebLogic using the bsu command. The script assumes your patches are in the folder e:\patches\cve-2015-4852. NOTE: On one of our servers, the second patch stalled during the “Checking for Conflicts” step. If the script stalls for more than a few minutes, hit Cntl-C.

4. Update the JAVA_HOME values

   updateJavaVersion.ps1

   The JAVA_HOME value in the setEnv.cmd script will be updated to the new path. You must update this script for each server. The paths in the script are hard-coded. (The hard coding is an obvious candidate to fix next. Should be able to use the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to find all the setEnv.cmd files.)

5. Update Registry value for JAVA_HOME

   updateRegistryJavaVersion.ps1

   The JAVA_HOME value in the Registry for each web service will be updated. You must update this script for each server. The paths in the script are hard-coded. (Again, another place for improvement. Need to find a search cmdlet for the Registry. Could look for -PIA in the service name.)

6. Start all web servers running on the server.

   startPIAServices.ps1

   Again, this looks for all Windows services that have *-PIA in the name and starts them. That’s it.

The scripts are pretty simple, and you can write a wrapper script to run all the sub-scripts. That way you’d have one script to kick off. Or, you could add these into a tool like Rundeck to execute from a centralized place. Once you start down the path of scripting, many opportunities open up to speed up everyday tasks.

Note: This was originally posted by Dan Iverson and has been transferred from a previous platform. There may be missing comments, style issues, and possibly broken links. If you have questions or comments, please contact [email protected].