Configurations and Customizations

In this document, the term configuration means editing configuration objects in the Identity Manager product. You can edit configuration objects by using the Identity Manager Administrator Interface or by editing repository objects in accordance with published documentation. For example, configuration includes specifying values in System Configuration or in a Reconciliation Policy. Configuration also includes defining Resource objects that represent the target systems and applications that Identity Manager will manage.

For the purposes of this document, the term customization refers to any code, file, or repository object that you write. Customizations include adding your own Java code, adding or modifying JSP files, and writing your own XPRESS code such as workflow, forms, and rules. Creating your own configuration objects or message catalogs is also considered customization.

Note that Sun Professional Services defines these terms somewhat differently. For example, Sun Professional Services might consider customer-specific workflows to be configurations.

In this document, however, the key distinction is that the Identity Manager product upgrade automatically preserves and updates customer-specified values within certain well-known objects and within instances of certain well-known types of objects. These are configurations. The Identity Manager product upgrade does not attempt to modify customer-written code or objects. These are customizations.