1 The joys of upgrading to PT8.55SESSION 3719 MARCH 1, 2017
2 Your presenters Diane Wojtylewski Shaheda TajiSenior PeopleSoft Administrator DePaul University Senior IT Project Manager DePaul University DePaul University People Soft Administrator from 2001 – present Involved in CS, CRM, HCM &Financial Application Upgrades, Tools Upgrades, Tools Patching, Application Patching, and Development Support Projects Project Manager for DePaul University Information Services –Infrastructure. Responsible for Planning and Managing all PeopleSoft Applications Projects
3 About depaul Enrollment: 23,110 students Campuses: 3Nation’s largest Catholic university 10 Colleges & Schools ~300 academic programs About depaul
4 Depaul & Oracle PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.0 on PT8.54PeopleSoft Financials 9.2 on PT 8.54 PeopleSoft HCM 9.2 on PT 8.55 PeopleSoft CRM 9.2 on PT 8.55 Depaul & Oracle
5 Before we begin…A confession sort ofSource: Dilbert
6 today’s agenda BACKGROUND RESEARCH PHASE THE UPGRADEISSUES & RESOLUTIONS Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam molestie lectus at nibh semper egestas. Maecenas vel nisi blandit, egestas sapien eget, accumsan leo. Curabitur orci massa, blandit sed sollicitudin vitae, eleifend posuere sem. CONCLUSION Q&A
7 The background–the why?Why do we need to upgrade to PT8.55? Source: Peanuts Google Images
8 Background …ONCE UPON A TIMEWhen our story starts, DePaul’s HR-Payroll system is: HCM9.2 (upgraded to 9.2 in October 2014) PT8.53 PUM level 12 DePaul creates 3 year timelines for all PeopleSoft applications and we have a PT8.55 upgrade on the horizon
9 planned timeline for upgrade
10 But the best laid plans…HR Department introduces e-Performance in 2015 DePaul’s performance appraisal process covers the fiscal year July1 to June 30th Performance appraisals for the time period of July 2014 to June were completed online (ePerformance) BUT we discovered there is no “auto save” feature -results in general confusion around the university and a lot of calls to the HR department SO we need to upgrade to PT8.55 before the end of the next performance appraisal cycle ~ September 2016
11 revised plan for upgradeHR requests a timeline that allows for the auto save to be a feature we can use before the end of performance evaluations for this year
12 Where all questions get answeredThe research phase Where all questions get answered Source: Google Images
13 Research phase -up closeQuestions we asked ourselves: What were the existing problems in deploying Tools Upgrade? What is good? What is bad? What is ugly? What are the new offerings from PeopleSoft for faster deployment? Is it feasible to combine an Oracle patch from to , Tools Upgrade 8.53 to 8.55, Tools Patch and a catch-up for Application patching PUM v12 to Pum 17? for one maintenance window? Is it feasible to cleanup the directories ps_home and ps_app_home (known as the great divide)?
14 Research phase -up closeAnswers we found: Native OS DPK’s Pum Images (i.e. Powershell) Tools DPK method – unicode vs non-unicode databases\directories Larger disk size of D drive. Require at least 100GB to unzip files 2012 R2 as the OS for servers
15 Research phase -revelationsFor Fast Deployment: Research PUM Windows Native OS delivery Tools DPK non-unicode delivery Research PUM application patching vs Tools delta patching Finally resolve the 32 bit to 64 bit Change Assistant Generate VM Windows 64-bit template for web\app\process scheduler for deployment for dev, qua, tst and production for any PeopleSoft application Come to terms with ps_home, ps_cfg_home, ps_app_home and ps_cust_user for future patching and certain nasty java applications; modify (i.e. tweak) configurations for performance
16 Research phase outcome: scopeOriginal Scope Linux database servers RHEL6 Windows 2012 R2 app/proc/web servers Oracle Latest PUM PT Research phase original timeframe: 4 weeks in February
17 Research phase -conclusionRevised Scope Linux database servers RHEL 7.2 Windows 2012 R2 app/proc/web servers Oracle Latest PUM (17) PT Upgrade OEM to OEM13c Research phase revised timeframe: 4 weeks in February 4 weeks in March 4 weeks in April
18 The upgrade Let’s begin Source: Google Images
19 APR MAR FEB JAN Where’s the timeline?? TIMELINE READYSTILL NO TIMELINE TIMELINE EXPECTED MET WITH USERS
20 Present CLIMATE OF THE UPGRADESource: Google Images
21 Whew –a timeline! END OF APRIL, we’ve already requested servers
22 Upgrade Phases
23 Upgrade Phases- planning pHAse 5/10 – 5/31Project Tasks Admin Tasks Firewall rules for DEV and QUA Multiple builds of DEV DEV target for 5/31 Create Core Team Schedule Core Team meetings Identify Key HR/Payroll process and run these to get benchmarks. Query clean up Oracle 64 client for HRIS nVision Testing
24 Upgrade Phases –retrofits phase 5/31 – 6/27Broken down into three high level parts: Part I: review and finalize customizations for the upgrade Part II : retrofits for above customizations Part III: testing retrofits (test team), fix issues, retest, etc. In addition HR Processes runtimes can be tested here DW Test Plan/Testing Security Discussions? Project Tasks Firewall rules for QUA and PRD Multiple builds of PRD QUA target for 6/27 Admin Tasks
25 Upgrade Phases-Functional testing 6/27 – 7/20Development fixes for issues identified during testing Communication/Training finalized in this phase Go Live tasks and checklist created/reviewed/finalized in this phase Continue Performance testing of HR Processes Project Tasks Admin Tasks Firewall rules for PRD Multiple builds of PRD PRD timings finalized
26 By the way, more changes nVisions going to Office 64 bit?Crystal to BI conversion? Fluid settings (Doc ID ) Fluid for home page (Doc ID ) Password synching needs to be tested. The PS OPR_DEFN table has changed. A new encryption field has been added :SHA2. The previous one was SHA1 (Doc ID ) SHA1 will be supported until all other environments are upgrade to PT8.55.
27 TESTING BEGINS! Let’s find those bugs Source: Google Images
28 DAY ONE: joy, WE HAVE A SHOWSTOPPERProblem: The file attachment functionality works fine if a file attachment exists on the page itself. If the file attachment exists on a subpage, the functionality does not work. Normally a popup should appear when users click “Browse” button, but if the file attachment exists on subpage then it just sits there Impacts: Pay request attachments File attachment in eRecruiting (TAM) Next steps: Open an SR with Oracle
29 Functional testing - as time goes byEmployee Photo Issue & Workaround PeopleTool 8.55 uses 4 different types of the photos CARD, LIST, ORCH, PAGE, whereas ORIG was the only type used in PeopleTool 8.53. Our photos are synced from CS to HR every morning and catch-up sync for all active employees on Saturday. The table PS_EMPL_PHOTO is used between CS and HR. CS still uses one type ORIG. Need to convert this type to 4 different types on HR. We created a custom app engine based on the delivered app engine HR_EMPLPHOTO The initial run will took around 12 hours to convert all photos ( photos) in PS_EMPL_PHOTO table (Set Up HCM > System Administration > Database Processes > Resize Employee Photos). The impact of the photo resizing on go live timings: We will need to kick off a 12 hour process in HRPRD92 during the upgrade. With current timings, this process will be kicked off approx. 5am on Saturday (and will end Saturday 5pm). Any verifications related to photos will happen post-completion of this process. This process is a one-time sync that will update existing records. This process will run in parallel to functional testing.
30 Remember that showstopper?More details on Oracle SR: Known bug Fix targeted for PT DePaul Requests (read “begs”) a Proof of Concept Response from Oracle: Give us time. DePaul is the only customer on Windows and PT in need of this fix as a POC Project Status: Source: Google Images
31 Project timeline –time’s a wastin’Ten days go by: We escalated the SR Fix scheduled to come out with PT (to be released in a week) Consider options: There is a good possibility that they may ask us to go with the PT version Need time to test but it looks like our request is already as high up in the decision chain as it can go.
32 Project timeline –tick tockIssue reported 6/28 Go Live Date 7/22 Fall Back Date 8/5 TODAY but it looks like our request is already as high up in the decision chain as it can go.
33 Project timeline –UPDATEDIssue reported 6/28 Go Live Date 7/22 New go live 8/5 but it looks like our request is already as high up in the decision chain as it can go.
34 We got the poc!! PoC received: 7/18PoC tested: 7/19 and attachments work –joy! Go live: 7/22 possible again? But wait… Performance issues with COBOL Javascript error & timeout for timesheet approvers Let’s stick with 8/5 as go live
35 More joy… Status of new showstoppers:Performance issues with COBOL: needs another PoC but fixed in PT Javascript error & timeout for timesheet approvers: fixed in PT Should we maybe? Perhaps? Possibly… GO TO PT ?
36 Revising the scope & timelineA Sense of Deja vu Source: Google Images
37 Redoing the timeline Going to a new tools version means:Applying the tools patch to the HRDEV environment Retrofits in HRDEV Apply tools patch and retrofits to HRQUA Functional testing restarts (at least two weeks) Find a new date for go live
38 Captain’s log -depaul date 8.2.16This episode begins with us on PT All showstoppers have been resolved Internal testing starts 8/3 Functional testing starts 8/8 New go live date 8/25
39 Houston, we have a problem - 8.18.16PT issue related to supplemental life insurance: Time out issue on the Life Event and Open Enrollment page. When users click Supplemental life and Dependent Life, it times out. Oracle reports that the fix for this is scheduled to be released with PT8.56. We've opened up SR's (and escalated them) for a POC. But there is no guarantee that we will get a fix in time for upgrade this weekend. Another PoC wait?
40 Decision time Find a workaround:Decision made to go live without PoC for Supplemental life insurance We decided to temporarily hide the button until the PoC can be applied PoC released one day before go live Went live without PoC and coordinated applying/testing PoC post go live
41 Concluding thoughts Source: Google Images
42 Go live details Overview: Start time: 3pm, Thursday 8/25System ready for functional testing 9am, Saturday 8/27 Total upgrade time: 42 hours Database export/import: 10 hours Tools Upgrade : 12 hours Application patching: 7 hours Post DBA steps: 8 hours Configuration (IB, TNS names, etc. internal testing): 4 Functional testing 9am to noon, Saturday 8/27 System restored 1pm, Saturday 8/27
43 To summarize A new set of issues with each tool versionChange in tools version mid upgrade Timeline changes Go live changes Severe allergies to the word PoC were developed
44 All’s well that ends well –Questions?
45 Contact info Diane Wojtylewski Senior PeopleSoft Administrator DePaul University Shaheda Taji Senior Project Manager DePaul University Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquam molestie lectus at nibh semper egestas. Maecenas vel nisi blandit, egestas sapien eget, accumsan leo. Curabitur orci massa, blandit sed sollicitudin vitae, eleifend posuere sem. all Alliance presentations will be available for download from the Conference Site
46 THANK YOU!