How to get OCC Case Processing Web Application to run on Windows 8.1

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I’m not sure it is possible to make the OCC Case Processing Web Application run natively in Windows 8. I’ve had some experience with Oracle’s jintiator in an application I used to manage several years ago. Oracle stopped supporting jinitiator several years ago and the version that is used on the OCC database is a decade old. I played with the settings a bit before going another route.

I created a virtual machine to run it in. A virtual machine is a emulation of a computer within a computer. So it is like having a second computer dedicated to a task but it resides within the same box.

The software I used to create the virtual machine is called “VMware Player”. It is similar to the more robust “VMware workstation” that has been around for many years. “Player” has all of the tools needed to pull off this task and it is free for downloading for non-commercial use. If a person needs to use it for commercial use, “Player Plus” is available for $99 directly from VMware.

The free download is here VMware Player

You will also need a licensed copy of Windows XP. I had bought a few copies a few years ago that I had not used so I was ready to go.

I’m not going to go into all of the installation details as it is a pretty simple install. It is rather blunt but; If you do not understand the terms I’m using and are not comfortable with making changes like this without step-by-step instructions, then this is not for you.

What I did was:

1) Created an ISO image of the installation disk and installed on removable media
2) Load VMware Player. Launch
3) Create a new Virtual machine. I used a 20gig space and then took the defaults
4) Point it to your ISO image and let it install.
5) Once loaded, download and install Service Pack 3 and the update. There were between 140 and 150 updates.
6) Then Follow OCC’s instructions. http://www.occeweb.com/Orawebapps/OCCOraWebAppsfixxpp.html

I did not open any shares to the host computer as I’m not running any malicious logic protection on the virtual machine. If it will only be used to access the database, this should not be a problem.

You could run Vista or Win 7 as XP will be non-supported at the end of the month. I was just trying to keep it quick, simple, and as small as possible because of limited disk space on my Surface Pro.

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Rick, I knew I should have kept my old XP. Great article!

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Updated Snapshot with commercial licensed version. Works the same, but keeps me within the software licensing agreement outside the trial period.

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Rick,

jintiator has to be run on a vulnerable JAVA. Updated JAVA will not run it.

I isolated one machine on my network to run this using Windows 7 Ultimate.

You are a real asset to the forum!

Thanks,

Tom Ed

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Tom,

Yes, jinitiator is vulnerable. Risk can be reduced if you are only using it at a trusted location. Running it in a virtual environment will isolate the risk to the virtual machine that has been created.

A person could take it a bit further using VMware workstation. Once the virtual instance is created, you can snapshot it. If it fails or is compromised, it can be restored/recreated in about 2 minutes. VMware workstation is about $250 however.

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It worked fine on my old XP but it got to where a 12 year old computer with a 20 gig drive wasn't good for much else.