What's New in Oracle Access Manager?

This section describes new features of the Oracle Access Manager release 10.1.4. This includes details for 10g (10.1.4.0.1), 10g (10.1.4.2.0), and 10g (10.1.4.3).

Note:

You can apply 10g (10.1.4.3) as a patch to 10g (10.1.4.2.0). However, you cannot use 10g (10.1.4.3) packages for upgrading.

The following sections are included:

• Product and Component Name Changes

• Enhancements Available in 10g (10.1.4.3)

• Upgrade Using the Zero Downtime Method

• Upgrade Planning, Methodology, and Deployment Scenarios

• Upgrade Planning and Tracking Summaries

• Upgrade Concepts and Methods

• Automated Upgrade Processes and Manual Tasks

• Support Changes

• Globalization, System Behaviors, and Backward Compatibility

• Upgrade Prerequisites and Preparation

• Upgrading the Schema and Data

• Component Upgrades

• Customization Upgrades

• Auditing and Reporting Changes

• Combining Challenge and Response Attributes on a Panel

• Validating Your Upgraded Installation

• Upgrade Using the Zero Downtime Method

• Upgrading With a Switch From Solaris to Linux

• Troubleshooting

Note:

For a comprehensive list of all new features and functions in Oracle Access Manager 10.1.4, and a description of where each is documented, see the chapter on what's new in the Oracle Access Manager Introduction.

Product and Component Name Changes

The original product name, Oblix NetPoint, has changed to Oracle Access Manager. Most component names remain the same. However, there are several important changes that you should know about, as shown in the following table:

Item	Was	Is
Product Name	Oblix NetPoint Oracle COREid	Oracle Access Manager
Product Name	Oblix SHAREid NetPoint SAML Services	Oracle Identity Federation
Product Name	OctetString Virtual Directory Engine (VDE)	Oracle Virtual Directory
Product Name	BEA WebLogic Application Server BEA WebLogic Portal Server	Oracle WebLogic Server Oracle WebLogic Portal
Product Release	Oracle COREid 7.0.4	Also available as part of Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2).
Directory Name	COREid Data Anywhere	Data Anywhere
Component Name	COREid Server	Identity Server
Component Name	Access Manager	Policy Manager
Console Name	COREid System Console	Identity System Console
Identity System Transport Security Protocol	NetPoint Identity Protocol	Oracle Identity Protocol
Access System Transport Protocol	NetPoint Access Protocol	Oracle Access Protocol
Administrator	NetPoint Administrator COREid Administrator	Master Administrator
Directory Tree	Oblix tree	Configuration tree
Data	Oblix data	Configuration data
Software Developer Kit	Access Server SDK ASDK	Access Manager SDK
API	Access Server API Access API	Access Manager API
API	Access Management API Access Manager API	Policy Manager API
Default Policy Domains	NetPoint Identity Domain COREid Identity Domain	Identity Domain
Default Policy Domains	NetPoint Access Manager COREid Access Manager	Access Domain
Default Authentication Schemes	NetPoint None Authentication COREid None Authentication	Anonymous
Default Authentication Schemes	NetPoint Basic Over LDAP COREid Basic Over LDAP	Oracle Access and Identity Basic Over LDAP
Default Authentication Schemes	NetPoint Basic Over LDAP for AD Forest COREid Basic Over LDAP for AD Forest	Oracle Access and Identity for AD Forest Basic Over LDAP
Access System Service	AM Service State Policy Manager API Support Mode	Access Management Service Note: Policy Manager API Support Mode and Access Management Service are used interchangeably.

All legacy references in the product or documentation should be understood to connote the new names.

Enhancements Available in 10g (10.1.4.3)

Included in this release are new enhancements and bug fixes for 10g (10.1.4.3) in addition to all fixes and enhancements from 10g (10.1.4.2.0) bundle patches through BP07. The following topics describe 10g (10.1.4.3) enhancements described in this book:

• 10g (10.1.4.3) Installers, Patches, Bundle Patches, and Newly Certified Agents

• 10g (10.1.4.3) Language Packs

• Access Manager SDK Support for .NET

• Multi-Language Deployments and English Only Messages

• Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL) for Linux

• Packages for Upgrading

• Platform Support

See Also:

Chapter 4, "System Behavior and Backward Compatibility" for changes in behavior in all Oracle Access Manager 10.1.4 releases

10g (10.1.4.3) Installers, Patches, Bundle Patches, and Newly Certified Agents

A new topic has been added to clarify differences between Oracle Access Manager product packages and their use.

See Also:

"About Installers, Patch Sets, Bundle Patches, and Newly Certified Components"

10g (10.1.4.3) Language Packs

Oracle Access Manager 10g (10.1.4.3) provides 10g (10.1.4.3) Language Packs. After upgrading and before applying a patch, you must remove 10g (10.1.4.0.1) language packs; after patching you can install 10g (10.1.4.3) language packs.

See Also:

• "Language Packs"

• "Acquiring and Using Multiple Languages"

• "Preparing Multi-Language Installations"

• "Preparing Upgraded Environments for 10g (10.1.4.3) Language Packs"

For more information, see "Acquiring and Using Multiple Languages" and "Preparing Upgraded Environments for 10g (10.1.4.3) Language Packs" in the the Oracle Access Manager Upgrade Guide.

Access Manager SDK Support for .NET

Oracle Access Manager 10g (10.1.4.3) software developer kit (SDK) for Windows continues to support .NET Framework 1.1 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2002. AccessGates created using the independently installed SDK will continue this support.

A new and optional 10g (10.1.4.3) SDK is also provided for Windows which supports .NET version 2 and MSDE Visual Studio 2005. This is specific to only custom AccessGates. This SDK can be independently installed in your deployment whether it is a fresh installation or an upgraded environment that includes the 10g (10.1.4.3) patch.

See Also:

"Recompiling Custom AccessGates for .NET 2 Support"

Multi-Language Deployments and English Only Messages

Oracle Access Manager 10g (10.1.4.3) provides new Lanauage Pack installers. 10g (10.1.4.3) Lanauage Packs are required in any 10g (10.1.4.3) deployment, whether it is a fresh installation or an upgraded and patched deployment.

See Also:

"Acquiring and Using Multiple Languages"

Messages for minor releases (10g (10.1.4.2.0) and 10g (10.1.4.3) added as a result of new functionality might not be translated and can appear in only English.

Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL) for Linux

On Linux, Oracle Access Manager 10g (10.1.4.3) supports Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL). However, LinuxThreads is used by default for all except Oracle Access Manager Web components for Oracle HTTP Server 11g. Using LinuxThreads required that you set the environment variable LD_ASSUME_KERNEL, which is used by the dynamic linker to decide what implementation of libraries is used. When you set LD_ASSUME_KERNEL to 2.4.19 the libraries in /lib/i686 are used dynamically.

See Also:

"General Behavior Changes" for more information on using Native POSIX Thread Library with Oracle Access Manager on Linux

Packages for Upgrading

In an existing Oracle Access Manager deployment, the base release for 10g (10.1.4.3) is 10g (10.1.4.2.0). You can use either 10g (10.1.4.0.1) packages for an in-place component upgrade or utilities for a zero downtime ugprade available with the 10g (10.1.4.2.0) patch set. Oracle Access Manager 10g (10.1.4.3) installers cannot be used to upgrade an earlier Oracle Access Manager release.

See Also:

"Obtaining Packages for Upgrades"

Platform Support

Oracle continually certifies Oracle Access Manager support with various third-party platforms, Web server releases, directory server releases, and applications. For the latest support details, see the certification matrix that is available at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/files/fusion_certification.html

See Also:

"Platform and SDK .NET Support"

Upgrade Using the Zero Downtime Method

Using Release 10.1.4 Patch Set 1 (10.1.4.2.0) tools and details in "Upgrading Using the Zero Downtime Upgrade Method", you can upgrade your deployment while ensuring there is little or no downtime for your customers (zero downtime upgrade method). The resulting deployment will be Release 10.1.4 Patch Set 1 (10.1.4.2.0). Following a zero downtime upgrade, you can apply the latest patch (10g (10.1.4.3)) and bundle patches.

See Also:

Chapter 15, "Introduction to the Zero Downtime Upgrade Method"

Upgrade Planning, Methodology, and Deployment Scenarios

Planning details for typical deployment scenarios have been added to this book to assist you and your team. This chapter includes a methodology that you can follow based on the two deployment scenarios. Downtime assessment considerations are included to help you establish a time frame for the upgrade in your environment.

See Also:

Chapter 1, "Introduction to Oracle Access Manager Upgrades and Planning"

Upgrade Planning and Tracking Summaries

Planning summaries are a useful guide as you gather information about your existing deployments and begin planning for the upgrade. Tracking summaries are included so that you and your team can quickly follow the progession of activities that must be performed during any upgrade process.

See Also:

Appendix F, "Planning and Tracking Summaries"

Upgrade Concepts and Methods

This book provides upgrade concepts and methods, as well as strategies for back up and recovery and for proceeding with an upgrade when certain support has been deprecated.

See Also:

Chapter 2, "Upgrade Concepts, Strategies, and Methods"

Automated Upgrade Processes and Manual Tasks

Get a quick tour of the automated processes and manual tasks involved in the upgrade. Discussions include information about what is preserved during automated processing and what must be handled manually

See Also:

Chapter 3, "About Automated Processes and Manual Tasks"

Support Changes

Changes in supported platforms and versions are discussed in this book.

See Also:

• "Supported Components and Applications"

• "Support Deprecated"

• "Platform and SDK .NET Support"

Globalization, System Behaviors, and Backward Compatibility

A new chapter has been added that describes system behavior changes between earlier Oracle Access Manager releases and the latest 10.1.4 release. For example, Oracle Access Manager 10.1.4 has undergone a process to provide globalization support for 29 languages through the use of Unicode. This support is discussed in detail. Some file formats have changed form the proprietary .lst format to .xml as you can see in all guides. Other system changes have also occurred and are summarized in a centralized overview.

See Also:

Chapter 4, "System Behavior and Backward Compatibility"

Upgrade Prerequisites and Preparation

Tasks that you must complete to prepare your earlier installation for the upgrade have been expanded and divided for your convenience.

See Also:

• Chapter 5, "Preparing for Schema and Data Upgrades"

• Chapter 8, "Preparing Components for the Upgrade"

Upgrading the Schema and Data

A new methodology has been developed to assist administrators who are responsible for the schema and data to perform a schema and data upgrade and ensure that it is successful before the rest of the installation is upgraded.

See Also:

• Chapter 5, "Preparing for Schema and Data Upgrades"

• Chapter 6, "Upgrading Identity System Schema and Data In Place"

• Chapter 7, "Upgrading Access System Schema and Data In Place"

Component Upgrades

A new section in this book is devoted to upgrading components following a successful schema and data upgrade.

See Also:

• Chapter 8, "Preparing Components for the Upgrade"

• Chapter 9, "Upgrading Remaining Identity System Components In Place"

• Chapter 10, "Upgrading Access System Components In Place"

Customization Upgrades

This information has been expanded and divided according to customization types: Identity System customizations and Access System customizations.

See Also:

• Chapter 12, "Upgrading Your Identity System Customizations"

• Chapter 13, "Upgrading Your Access System Customizations"

Auditing and Reporting Changes

The definitions of oblix_audit_events, oblix_rpt_as_reports, oblix_rpt_as_resources, and oblix_rpt_as_users tables have changed in Oracle Access Manager 10.1.4 to support internationalized characters. The steps you need to take to process internationalized characters depend on the type of database you are using.

See Also:

• "Upgrading Auditing and Access Reporting for the Identity System"

• "Upgrading Auditing and Reporting for the Access Server"

Combining Challenge and Response Attributes on a Panel

In earlier releases, the challenge phrase and response attributes were allowed on different panels of the Profile page of the User Manager, Group Manager, and Organization Manager. In 10.1.4, however, both the challenge phrase and response attributes must be on the same panel.

See Also:

"Combining Challenge and Response Attributes on a Panel"

Validating Your Upgraded Installation

A new chapter has been added to help you validate the upgraded environment.

See Also:

Chapter 14, "Validating the Entire System Upgrade"

Upgrading With a Switch From Solaris to Linux

Oracle Access Manager provides a way to upgrade an existing deployment to 10g (10.1.4.0.1) on a Solaris platform while switching to a supported Linux platform. The resulting deployment will be release 10g (10.1.4.0.1). After this in-place component upgrade, you can apply the latest patches (10g (10.1.4.2.0) and 10g (10.1.4.3)), and bundle patches.

See Also:

Appendix B, "Migrating from a Solaris Platform to a Linux Platform While Upgrading"

Troubleshooting

A new troubleshooting appendix includes information to help you during all upgrades tasks and processes.

See Also:

Appendix G, "Troubleshooting the Upgrade Process"