This chapter contains the following topics:
The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and World Change Assistant is a standalone Java application that helps you manage, download, and deploy JD Edwards EnterpriseOne packages. Change Assistant provides a single point of entry to facilitate administration of software updates and fixes. You can download Change Assistant from the Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Update Center by clicking the Download the Change Assistant Application link.
You can access the Update Center by using the following navigation from My Oracle Support:
My Oracle Support | Patches and Downloads tab | JD Edwards Products
Change Assistant requires either Java Runtime Engine (JRE) 1.5.0_03 or a higher version, or JRE 1.6 Update 2 or a higher version. If you do not have an appropriate version of JRE installed, you will not be able to use Change Assistant. You can download and install the Java Runtime Engine by navigating to the Sun Java website. The Change Assistant Launch page provides the link to launch the application via Java WebStart.
Caution:
Do not use JRE 1.5.0_06, JRE 1.5.0_07, JRE 1.5.0_08, or JRE 1.6 Update 1.If you have problems after installing the JRE, Oracle recommends that you manually remove all existing JREs and start over.
You download Change Assistant from the Update Center.
When the installation is finished, a Preference wizard opens, prompting you for preferences for setting up Change Assistant. If you already have Change Assistant installed, or if the Preference wizard does not appear when installing Change Assistant, you can launch Change Assistant from your desktop. You can change or set up your preferences by selecting Preferences from the Edit menu.
The Preference wizard provides an option for you to choose whether the Preference wizard always appears upon startup of the tool. If you choose to have the Preference wizard always appear, you are prompted for your Update Center password each time you launch Change Assistant.
To install Change Assistant:
Within Update Center, select Electronic Software Updates from the News and Links pane on the left.
Click the Download the Change Assistant Application link on the Update Center, Electronic Software Updates web page.
The JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and World Change Assistant page opens providing information about Change Assistant features.
Click the "here" link in Step 2, under Installing Change Assistant.
After Change Assistant installs, the Preference wizard opens prompting you for preference information.
For Update Center Authentication, enter your Update Center access information in these fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| User ID | Enter your Update Center user ID. |
| Password | Enter your password. |
| User Name | Enter a user name. |
| Enter your email address. | |
| Phone | Enter your phone number. |
If you want to disable the Update Center connection, select the Disable Update Center connection check box.
Caution:
If you select this check box, you will not be able to search for and download ESUs.If you want to be prompted for your password each time Change Assistant starts, select the Always Prompt at Startup? option.
This option is on all pages of the Preference wizard. If you change your selection on a future page, the change is reflected on all pages.
Click Next to open the next page of the Preference wizard, which prompts you for connection information.
The system provides default values for these Update Center Connection fields:
Timeout
Number of Retries
Oracle recommends that you use the default values.
If you access the Update Center through a proxy server that requires authentication, enter this information:
User ID
Password
Domain
Click Next to open the next page of the Preference wizard, which prompts you for a directory location for downloads.
Enter the path to the directory where you want to store downloaded updates.
For example, C:\Change Assistant\Downloads.
This is the root folder for packages that are downloaded from the Update Center. Typically, this is a folder that is shared by all your Update Center users to avoid downloading the same packages multiple times. Packages can be organized into additional folders under this parent folder.
Select the Include Dependencies option to automatically include dependent packages in download and deployment requests.
Select Show News and Links at Startup to automatically display this information each time you launch Change Assistant.
If you select this option, the Show News and Links page appears each time you launch Change Assistant. If you do not select this option, Change Assistant opens with the tree structure. The News and Links page enables you to view content that is downloaded from the Update Center, such as breaking news, planner information, or minimal technical requirement (MTR) information.
Click Next to open the next page of the Preference wizard, which prompts you for Logging information.
Enter the directory for the activity Log files.
For example, C:\Change Assistant\Logs.
Deployment activity for downloads is kept in the log file directory. This includes information about download times and deployment times. This location is also used to hold information that is captured during the deployment of downloaded packages. You create the download log by searching your local downloads or by retrieving download audit information from the Update Center.
Select the Create Download Log from current downloads option if you want the system to automatically generate logs based on downloads in the download folder.
Select the Create Download Log from download audit history option if you want to create logs based on the Update Center audit history.
Click Next to open the next page of the Preference wizard, which provides licensing information.
Select the Always Accept option to hide the license agreement during the download process.
Click Finish.
Change Assistant is installed on your system with a shortcut available on your desktop.
The View SAR/BUG Details option appears within the Change Assistant tree structure. When you select View SAR/BUG Details, the SAR Details tab displays in the right pane. Enter the SAR or BUG you want to review and click on the Show Details button to retrieve the SAR or BUG information.
This section provides an overview of package searches and discusses how to:
Perform a search.
Analyze packages.
Run all queries.
Save search criteria for future use.
Package searches can be performed in various ways. You can use preexisting queries to find packages, or you can create your own query and save it for future use. The preexisting queries are organized by type, release, and business purpose within the Search for Packages tree structure under the JD Edwards folder.
Queries in the JD Edwards folder are updated each time that you launch Change Assistant.
When you choose one of the predefined queries, the system populates the fields in the Search pane. You can update these fields as needed or create your own query by populating these fields manually.
If you customize a query, you can save it for future use within the My Queries folder. Queries within the My Queries folder are persistent and do not get overwritten. You can configure the predefined queries with date ranges or other filters and save these searches in the My Queries folder or any subfolder therein.
You have the ability to run all queries inside a query folder. The queries will be run in the order that they appear in the tree, the results will be displayed on a single tab, and any duplications will be excluded.
You can customize any query folder that you have created under the My Queries folder using the Folder Options dialog. This enables you to designate a folder as an aggregate folder. An aggregate folder enables you to arrange the child queries in a particular order by simply dragging them to the desired location, while a regular query folder sorts the queries alphabetically. You can also use the Folder Options dialog to disable searching at the folder level.
Note:
When you use the Run All Queries option under an aggregate subfolder of JD Edwards, the results tab only allows you to download or download and deploy all of the packages in the order they appear in the grid.When you perform a search, the results are displayed on the right side of the form. Only the first twenty matches are displayed, and the results count is displayed above the grid. You can use the Page at a time button or the All Results button to continue fetching the results. Each search that you perform creates a new results tab.
Access Change Assistant.
Expand the Search for Packages node on the tree.
If you want to create a new query, use any of these fields on the Search pane to define your query:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Specify the type of update you want to search for. |
| Release | Specify the release for the selected updated type. |
| Platform | Specify the target platform of the package. |
| Defect Category | Specify the defect category of a SAR in the package.
Valid values are:
|
| Name | Enter the name of the package. Valid values include a single name with a wildcard (*) and a comma-separated list of exact names. |
| SAR Number | Enter the name of a SAR contained in the package or a comma-separated list of SARs. |
| Object | Enter the name of an object contained in the package. Valid values include a single name with a wildcard (*) and a comma-separated list of exact names. |
| System Code | Enter a system code for a SAR or an object contained within the package. You can also enter a comma-separated list of exact names. |
| Description | Enter a description for the package or for a SAR or an object contained within the package. You can enter a string including wildcards (*). |
| Search by Dates | Specify whether you want to search over a range of dates or for a duration of time.
|
If you want to use an Oracle JD Edwards predefined query, expand the JD Edwards folder to view a predefined set of queries and select a search.
Update the search criteria as needed to search by type, names, or dates.
Click the search button above the search criteria to run the search against the Update Center.
View the search results on the appropriate search tab on the right side of the screen.
To view details for a specific package, select the package.
The Package Details pane displays detailed information for that package, such as included SARs, objects, and dependency information.
View the package details below the search results by clicking the tab that corresponds to the information that you want to view.
Select any of these tabs to view more information:
| Tab Title | Description |
|---|---|
| SARs | Displays a list of all of the SARs included in the package. You can double-click on any of the SARs to see the SAR details. |
| Objects | Displays a list of all of the objects included in the package. |
| Objects by SAR | Lists the objects included in the package as well as the SAR with which they are associated. |
| Net Change | Lists the packages that are superseded by the selected package. Select the Compare button to see a comparison of the selected package and any of the superseded packages. |
| Dependencies | Lists any other packages upon which the selected package is dependent. These packages should be installed before the selected package. |
| Check Sum | When you select this tab, the system computes the checksum. This can be used after downloading a package in order to verify its integrity. The following two checksum algorithms are used:
|
To close a specific results tab, right-click it and select Close from the pop-up menu.
Select Close All Results to close all results tabs.
After finding a package, you can perform a net change analysis before you download the package.
To analyze packages:
On the search results tab, select the packages that you want to analyze and click the Analyze button.
If you have selected more than one package and you choose the Analyze with Downloads option from the Analyze drop-down list box, the selected packages are compared to the superseded list. Next, the most current download found is used to perform the net change analysis by comparing the most current download to previously downloaded packages.
If you select the Summarize All option from the Analyze drop-down list box, Change Assistant will summarize the selected packages and will not perform a net change comparison.
When the analysis finishes processes, a report appears. Review the report.
Any manual special instructions are included in the report.
Note:
The Analyze option is only available when you are connected to the Update Center.To run all queries:
Select the folder for which you want to run the queries.
Note:
If the Disable Folder Search check box has been selected within the Query Folder Options, you will not be able to search at the folder level.Right-click and select Run All Queries to run all the queries in the selected folder and subfolders.
Change Assistant will display the combined results of all the included queries.
To save search criteria for future use:
Select one of the existing queries under the JD Edwards folder.
Configure the query as desired.
Click the Save Query button.
Specify the folder to save the query in within the My Queries folder.
Enter a name for the query.
Click the Save the Query button.
This section provides an overview of package downloads and discusses how to:
Change the downloads directory.
Download packages.
Extract packages.
Transfer packages with FTP.
Copy packages.
Perform an impact analysis.
Use Visual Compare for UDC descriptions and glossaries.
Delete packages.
Deploy packages.
Once you have searched for your packages, the next step is to download the packages. Downloading the packages makes them available to work with on your machine. For example, you can extract, transfer, copy, or deploy packages once they have been downloaded.
Your download folder structure appears in Change Assistant under the Work with Packages node. You can organize packages into subfolders based on release, package type, and platform. This allows for easy browsing, tracking, and management of packages. You could also further categorize the packages based on when they were downloaded.
To view your downloaded packages, select a downloads folder in the tree structure on the left side. The display on the right changes to display the packages contained in that folder in the Work with Packages grid. By default, only the packages that are immediate children of the folder selected in the tree are displayed in the grid. The Descendants option on the View menu allows you to display the contents of the selected folder and all the subfolders.
Clicking on the column in the grid header allows you to sort rows in ascending and descending order based on that column. You can also sort multiple columns by holding the Control key down while clicking on one or more column headers. Selected packages can be extracted, deployed, transferred to a different machine using FTP, or deleted, using the tool bar options.
To change the downloads directory:
Select File, Open Downloads Directory.
Enter the new downloads directory and click OK.
Note:
The downloads directory must have read/write access. To access a PAR file on a CD or from the Oracle E-Delivery web site, copy the PAR file to a folder within the current downloads directory, or to a folder with read/write access. Then, change the downloads directory to the folder where you copied the PAR file.To quickly switch back to previously used directories, select File, Recent Home Directories.
Packages in the Search Results grid are downloaded from the Update Center. The checked boxes in the first column of the grid specify those updates that have not been downloaded. This status is determined by local information that is taken from the download log. You can select which packages to download by manually checking or unchecking the check boxes in the first column. You can download multiple packages simultaneously by selecting more than one package in the Search Results grid.
To download packages:
Within the Search Results grid, select the packages you would like to download by placing a check mark in the first column.
Open the Download drop-down list box by selecting the down arrow next to the Download button.
To download the selected packages, select either the Download To option or the Download and Deploy To option from the drop-down list box.
The Download and Deploy To option provides a way to download and deploy all selected packages in one step.
Select your download folder from the list of previously chosen folders or select a new folder to which to download your packages.
Note:
During the download process, you have the ability to pause, resume, and cancel the download using the appropriate buttons in the bottom-right corner of the form. You can also view the progress of the download in the status bar at the bottom of the form.If you selected to download and deploy in one step, you are prompted to sign into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and then must enter your specific deployment information before starting the download.
For example, deploying Electronic Software Update (ESU) packages from the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne deployment server requires the name of the target environment and other deployment options. An additional input dialog is displayed to prompt for these options.
Note:
You must be on the deployment server in order to deploy the packages.See Deploying Packages.
View your downloaded packages by selecting Work with Packages and then Downloads from the tree structure.
If you think there may have been problems during the download process, you can perform a checksum validation to ensure the integrity of the downloaded package by selecting the Check Sum tab within the Package Details pane.
When you select this tab, the system uses 2 algorithms, MD5 and SHA-1, to calculate checksum values for the downloaded package and compares these values to the original package. A green check mark appears next to each value if the checksum value for the downloaded package and the original package are the same. If there is a problem with the integrity of the package, you will see a red universal no symbol over a check mark next to the value.
If the downloaded package is a PAR file, you need to extract the contents of the package.
Select the Work with Packages node from the tree structure.
Select the Downloads node, and your downloaded packages appear on the Work with Packages tab.
Select the package to download and click the Extract button.
When you click the Extract button, the contents of the package appear in a new Extract window in a tree structure or in a tabular form.
In the Extract window, select one or more files or folders to be extracted by selecting the corresponding check box.
Selecting a folder automatically selects all of its contents.
To examine a file before extracting it, right-click the tree or grid and select Open/Launch.
To transfer packages with FTP:
On the Work with Packages tab, click the FTP button to display a dialog box.
Enter the information for the machine to which the selected packages are to be transferred.
Transfer the packages.
To copy packages:
On the Work with Packages tab, select the package that you want to copy and click the Copy button.
Enter the target directory on the Select the Target Location form and click OK.
Note:
The target directory must allow write permission, and cannot be the same as the source directory.To perform an Impact Analysis:
On the Work with Packages tab, select the packages for which you would like to perform an impact analysis.
Click the Impact Analysis button and the system will verify the selected packages as ESUs, extract the impact analysis document from the package deliverable, and import the impact analysis document into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.
If you want to import impact analysis documents from the deployment server, select Impact Analysis from Deployment Server directory from the Impact Analysis drop-down list box.
Use the Impact Analysis Tool to review the changes for your selected software updates.
Note:
The Impact Analysis option is only available when JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is installed.To use Visual Compare for UDC Descriptions and Glossaries:
On the Work with Packages tab, select the packages for which you would like to run Visual Compare.
On the Impact Analysis drop-down list box, select Visual Compare for UDC Descriptions and Glossary.
If you want to import impact analysis documents from the deployment server, select Visual Compare for UDC Descriptions and Glossary from Deployment Server directory from the Impact Analysis drop-down list box.
Change Assistant verifies that the selected packages are ESUs, extracts the automated special instructions document from the package deliverable, and imports only documents containing User Defined Codes or Glossaries into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.
Use the Visual Compare for UDC Descriptions and Glossary Tool to review the changes and accept the changes for your target environment.
Note:
The Visual Compare for UDC Descriptions and Glossary option is only available when JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is installed.To delete packages:
Click the Delete button.
Select Continue in the Delete Confirmation dialog box to delete the selected packages and the corresponding temporary folders from the local machine.
Note:
This process only deletes the file from your machine and does not affect deployment status. If the package was deployed, it will not be uninstalled.Before deploying a package, you should check whether the prerequisites or dependencies for the package have been deployed. This information is displayed on the Dependencies tab.
When you click the Deploy button, the activity log is checked to determine whether any of the selected packages have been superseded. If so, a list of these packages is displayed. Also, the log is checked to determine whether all prerequisites for the selected packages have been deployed. If not, a list of these dependencies is displayed and you can continue or cancel deployment.
To deploy packages:
Select Deploy.
From the Deploy drop-down list menu, select one of these two options:
Deploy
Select Deploy to search for a previous batch for the current object at an "in process" status. The system will restart that deployment where it left off or if it cannot find any batches with an "in process" status, it will start a new batch. This is typically used in an Oracle Business Accelerator (OBA) where there is a question and answer session that may require input from multiple sessions, but the "logical" session remains intact.
New Batch Deploy
Select New Batch Deploy to start deployment of a new batch.
Select Run All to deploy all of the packages.
If multiple packages are selected, a new window is launched and the packages are deployed as an aggregate.
If a single package is selected and if the package is suitable for deployment, one of the following processes will occur, depending on the type of package that is selected:
If the package is a documentation package, the documentation link is displayed in a new documentation window, and clicking the link launches the associated application.
If the link points to an HTML page that resides inside the package itself, it is directly displayed in the window.
If the package only contains some files that need to be extracted to the disk, the extract window is displayed.
If the package is a PAR file that contains some deployment tasks or is an EXE file, a new window is displayed that enables you to view the documentation for these tasks and run them.
Configurations and packages with JD Edwards EnterpriseOne tables or objects are validated for their release level. If the source and target release do not match, a warning is displayed. If you choose to ignore this warning, you must give careful consideration to changed table formats, object dependencies, and so forth.
During the deployment of configurations that contain versions, the Versions tab appears. Use this tab to change the version prefix. Enter the From Prefix and the To Prefix values in the grid.
Note:
The new prefix string must be the same length as the old prefix.If the package is an ESU, a new window is displayed that prompts you to select the target deployment environments and the following deployment options:
| Batch Deployment Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Backup | Select the backup check box to create a backup of object specifications included in the updates. Backups are used with the compare/merge tools to aid the retrofitting process and to examine changes made by the update. Backup is selected by default. |
| Environment | Select the environments to which you want to deploy the update. It is recommended to apply updates to the Pristine and Development environments using Change Assistant. After retrofitting custom objects, you can transfer the objects to the Prototype and Production environments using OMW. |
| Notes | Use this tab to add any runtime notes that you would like displayed on activity reports and during restart of a deployment. |
| Skip Spec Merge | Select this option if you would like to skip the spec merge for objects for a particular environment. |
| Skip OMW and Package Build Data | Select this option to skip the creation of OMW projects and package build definitions. |
| Summary | Select this option to deploy the group automatically with minimal status information. If you do not select this option, you step through each task of the deployment with full status. The manual mode requires clicking the Run or Run All button before starting the deployment. |
| Unattended | Select this option to deploy a group of updates in a single process. If you do not select this option, you step through each task of the deployment manually (attended mode). The unattended mode requires no further input after clicking the OK button. The status of each update displays as the application runs. |
This section provides an overview of batches and discusses how to work with batch details.
A batch is created for each download, deployment, and delete action taken. All packages selected for the initial action are preserved in a single link to simplify future tasks with these same packages. You can research all packages that were downloaded in a batch by right-clicking the batch record. You can also use the Deploy button to deploy all packages that were previously downloaded in a batch.
You can use the following options when you are working with a batch:
Deploy
To deploy all the packages in the selected batch, click Deploy. If the batch contains one or more ESUs, you will be prompted to sign into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne.
Export
This feature is useful when you want to download packages to one machine and deploy them from another machine. For example, if your deployment server does not have access to the Update Center, you can download packages to a client and then export the packages to a Jar file. This file can then be copied to the deployment server and imported using the Import option.
Import
This option enables you to import packages to a machine from a jar file that was created using the Export option. The application prompts you to select the jar file from which you want to import the packages and to choose the directory to which you want to import the packages.
New
You can create a custom batch by clicking the New button on the Work with Batches grid. This enables you to group the previously downloaded packages together for the purpose of deployment or exporting.
Delete
Use this option to remove any batches that you do not need. This option removes only the batch information, not the packages themselves.
Batch Summary
This option generates a summary report of all the actions that were performed on the highlighted batch. The report is displayed in the default browser.
To work with batch details:
Select Work with Batches in the tree structure.
A list of batches will appear in the Batches pane.
Select the batch that you want to work with.
A list of packages included in that batch will appear in the Batch Details pane.
To add a package to the batch, select Add Package.
To remove a package from the batch, select Remove Package.
To view more information about one of the packages, select the package to highlight it, and select Package Summary.
To view a history of actions that were performed on the batch, select the Batch Actions tab.
You can also restart deployment from the Batch Actions tab by clicking the Restart Deployment button.