OMW Cleanup

When installing ESUs, an OMW project is created. If you have installed a lot of ESUs those projects can make it very annoying when trying to find other legitimate projects that you have access to. Yes, you can filter the OMW Project display, but I kinda find that annoying too. Anyway, I created a very simple SQL that I run once in a while to clean up my OMW:

DELETE FROM sy811/f98221
WHERE PUOMWUSER ='userid'
AND PUOMWPRJID LIKE 'JJ%'

Of course the syntax will need to be adjusted if using a database other than an IBM iSeries.

E1 Command Line Install

I hate installing "fat" clients. That's right hate. With our E1 installations, I have between 6-9 fat clients that need to be updated when deploying a full package. Of those, 1 is my eGen PC that gets every package installed to it. Ok, that's not a very big amount, but it's still a pain.

It's not that the package install process is hard, but just time consuming. I mean what the heck takes so long when the screen shows those disks flying around?

Anyway, we did simplify the process a little by virtualizing the development PCs using VMWare. It's really slick.

That made it a little easier because it wasn't the developer's PCs and they didn't have to do the actual install (complaints from developers about install times was starting to get tiring).

Then, I decided to try and make it easier on myself and research some command line options. I found a great solution on Oracles support site (SolutionID: 200783264). Below is the syntax and parameters:

Usage: Setup.exe -d -p [-v|-s] [-e] [-t] [-r]

No args Starts the interactive gui installation
-v verbose installation - installation is shown on the screen
-s silent installation - installation is not shown on the screen.
-d the drive and path for the installation
-p package to install
-t install type: -t Typical or -t Compact
Typical to install development objects or Compact to install
production objects only. If not specified, development
objects are installed.
-r remove the previous installation
-e to generate error log.
H - All
I - Informational
W - Warnings
E - Errors

I have a BAT file that I use so all I have to do is give it the package name. I think I commented it fairly well below. Please note that this copies some files just so that I make sure I get all the right ones:

@ECHO off0
GOTO :GETPKG

:GETPKG
:Prompt the user for a package name
ECHO Enter package name:
SET /P pkg=
:If the package is blank, ask again
IF "%pkg%"=="" GOTO :GETPKG
GOTO :INSTALL

:INSTALL
:Install the package to c:\e811
ECHO Begining Install of %pkg%...
"\\DepServerName\e811\OneWorld Client Install\Setup.exe" -s -d c:\e811 -p %pkg% -t Typical
ECHO Completed Typical Install of %pkg%
GOTO :COPYFILES

:COPYFILES
:Copy various files to ensure proper configuration
ECHO Copying Correct INI Files...
NET USE i: "\\DepServerName\e811\OneWorld Client Install\misc\dev"
COPY i:\jde.ini c:\Windows\JDE.INI
COPY i:\jas.ini "C:\e811\JAS\EA_JAS_80.ear\webclient.war\WEB-INF\jas.ini"
COPY i:\jdbj.ini "C:\e811\JAS\EA_JAS_80.ear\webclient.war\WEB-INF\jdbj.ini"
COPY i:\jdelog.properties "C:\e811\JAS\EA_JAS_80.ear\webclient.war\WEB-INF\jdelog.properties"
NET USE i: /delete
ECHO Completed Copy of Correct INI Files
GOTO :END

:END
PAUSE

I get prompted for the package name and that's it. It usually takes between 15-20 minutes per install, but I can connect and get them started and leave them alone until they are done.

This could be made even easier. You could use something like psexec from MS Sysinternals and run another BAT file to run this on those PCs remotely.

Well, fairly basic stuff but pretty handy.

Have fun!

Security 101

Make sure all your security is in place before user training. This sounds like a "no-brainer" but believe me - do it.

During our most recent "go-live", the security function was in the hands of the Accounting Department. Which, really wasn't a big deal. I mean, they are the ones that know the app. So, why not have them setup security for it. It all worked out really well, except that the security was not completed before the day.

It caused a little bit of confusion and some frustrations but we went through it just fine. One of the things that I learned during that time was that BSFNs do not always give you an error that says anything about "security, permissions or access". The only thing that is evident to the user is that it doesn't work. They receive an "Asynchronous Business Function" error.

What a mess. No other hint as to what may be happening. Just start removing users from roles and see which one causes the issue. Then work from there to find out which security record is the issue.

So, again, have all your security in place before user training. That way everything gets tested before "go-live".

Have fun!

HelpDesk Role

Have you tried to create a Help Desk role? You know...one that only has access to the "Administrative Password Revisions" (P98OWSEC|W98OWSECF) application. Well, I've been fighting with it, on-and-off, for a couple days now. And, I'll tell ya, the solution is a little baffling.

In this case we also wanted the Help Desk staff to be able to "FastPath" to the application.

Why was this so hard?

The environments. Why is the non-"J" environment required? I have no idea. I found an entry on JDEList that referred to having 2 roles. One worked just fine and the other didn't. The only thing that was different between the 2 was the environments. So, I granted all the environments and got it to work. Then started pairing things down.

Here is what we had to do:

Security Workbench

• Application Security to "Run"
• W98OWSECD (allows them to change their own password)
• W98OWSECF (allows them to change other's passwords)
• W0092B (allows them to lookup UserIDs)
• Action Security for W98OWSECD & W98OWSECF
• Solution Explorer Security with "FastPath" access

Task View Change

• Add the task "5/GH9052" to "WBI Holdings Task Bar" & "MDU Task View"

Role Environments

• Add both the JDV811 & DV811 environments to the role

Fast Path Entry

• Product Code: H90
• UDC: FP
• ode: PSWD
• Description 01: User Passwords
• Description 02: 5/GH9052
• Special Handling:
• Hard Coded: N

QACX Files in IFS

We had almost 8000 QACXxxxxxx files in our tmp directory in the IFS on our System i Enterprise server. They didn't seem to be causing any harm, but they were definitely taking up space.

According to Oracle (WARNING: you will need access to Oracle's customer support site), these files are temporary and should be cleaned by the system when a UBE completes processing. So far, since I have been monitoring, the UBEs are completing successfully, but the QACX files are remaining in IFS.

According to the Oracle doc, these files can be deleted...preferably when E1 services are down to ensure that you do not delete something the system is using.

E1 Terminology

Speaking the language is key to becoming a knowledgeable Oracle EnterpriseOne administrator.

So here are a few key terms:

• CNC - Configurable Network Computing. This term was used by JD Edwards to describe the flexibility of OneWorld's architecture.
• Pathcode/Central Objects – code repository
• PD811, PY811, DV811, PS811
• Environment – Pathcode + Data
• PD – Production
• PY – Prototype, Test, CRP
• DV – Development
• PS - Pristine
• Package – compiled code; collection of C++ DLLs
• “Full” - contains all objects in the specified Environment’s Pathcode
• “Update” - contains only the objects specified while defining the package
• eGen – converting object specifications to serialized objects
• Serialized objects – code read by the JAS server to present the User Interface
• “Fat-Client” – EnterpriseOne Windows Client
• ESU/ASU – Electronic Software Update/Application Software Update
• Object updates provided by Oracle

Upgrade from Tools Release 8.95.P1 to 8.96.xx

Ok, I have been caught a number of different times thinking that a process was going to be "easy" and had it turn into a knock-down, drag-out, 3-week battle to get E1 to do what I wanted it to do. So, when researching what it was going to take to upgrade from Tools Release (TR) 8.95.P1 to 8.96 I figured I would go the extra mile and submit a case to Oracle's support.

Wow, was I shocked to learn that it was the same process that I have used in the past to upgrade one-offs (ex. 8.95.M1 to 8.95.P1)! Not bad. I've done this many times. However, there is one catch, I will have to install IBM Websphere 6.0 and scrap my IBM WAS 5.0. Hey, no problem. I was at Oracle's Open World last fall and sat through a full day of training for that.

So, now I asked one of our WinTel server guys to create a fresh install of Windows Server 2003 on our VMWare server. Once that is done, I will install IBM WAS 6.0. Then upgrade the deployment server so that I can use both TRs and configure the Enterprise Server to have Pristine run 8.96.xx and start testing.

Oh, if you are not using "Multiple Foundations", you are definitely making things harder than they have to be. I'll post a comment about that soon.

Have Fun!