Chapter 1
Overview of BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Administration
This document provides information on how to administer a fully-installed BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system.
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Note
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The BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Concepts document contains extensive conceptual and introductory information on BuyerXpert/SellerXpert. If you have not already read Concepts, do so now, before beginning administration.
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Note
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In most cases, the material in this document applies to both BuyerXpert and SellerXpert. Where it does not, an asterisk (*) at the beginning of a chapter name/heading or at the end of a line indicates that the material applies to BuyerXpert only.
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This chapter contains the following sections:
About BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Administration
BuyerXpert/SellerXpert is made up of processes that interact with resources within the BuyerXpert/SellerXpert framework to accomplish the task of electronic procurement. As the administrator, you are concerned with the interactions of these elements.
Processes
The main BuyerXpert/SellerXpert processes are:
Searching seller catalogs
Ordering items from catalogs (creating requisitions or orders)
Submitting requisitions for approval/submitting confirmed orders through checkout
Approving requisitions as orders in BuyerXpert
Transmitting orders to seller organizations or the SellerXpert hosting organizations
Tracking requisitions and orders
Receiving ordered goods from seller organizations in BuyerXpert
Gathering payment information in BuyerXpert
An additional process, timecards, is used to create special timecards requisitions that traverse the approval and tracking processes of BuyerXpert.
Resources
During procurement, there are a number of entities that are manipulated by BuyerXpert/SellerXpert users, administrators, or processes. These entities are called resources, or business objects.
Resources are either system resources or organization resources. System resources apply to the entire BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system, affecting all organizations the same way. System resources can only be created, updated, or deleted by a superadmin. Organization resources are any BuyerXpert/SellerXpert resources that are not system resources. Organization resources can be created, updated, and deleted by the orgadmin for the organization, or any superadmin.
In SellerXpert, typically the system administrator is the selling company's admin and the orgadmin is the buying company's admin.
BuyerXpert/SellerXpert resources include the following:
Members—organizations, organizational units, users, user groups, locations
Accounting resources—accounting code segments, accounting code values (BuyerXpert only)
Commodity resources——commodity code segments, commodity code values
Units of measure resources—system units of measure, organization units of measure
Additional information fields (AIFs)
Pricing resources—price lists, price adjustments
Payment resources—payment types and subtypes, payment instruments
Shipping and freight
Approval resources—approval matrix, approval model, delegation tables, approval cases (BuyerXpert only)
Business rules
The main tasks you perform in administering BuyerXpert/SellerXpert concern setting up and modifying these resources and the business rules associated with them. In this guide, relevant information is contained in the following chapters:
Most of the details and procedures of how to perform the administrative tasks are contained in the Admin interface Help.
Administration Tasks
Administration begins after the BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system has been fully installed and configured for your site. Any sample data has been loaded, and decisions regarding business rules, organization setup, access and security, and catalog management have been made.
Your responsibilities for administering a BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system can be divided into the following categories:
Availability tasks—Performing installation/upgrade (if applicable); making sure BuyerXpert/SellerXpert is running and available to users; monitoring performance, granting access to catalogs and reports; setting up access for ECXpert and OBI; managing seller catalog data; protecting data from damage or unauthorized access.
Configuration tasks—Setting up resources and business rules for your organization, adding members, configuring new seller catalogs.
Data management tasks—Adding, updating, or deleting system, product, organization, membership, and business rules data.
Customization tasks—Integrating upgrades and customizations into BuyerXpert/SellerXpert.
Table 1-1 contains a list of BuyerXpert/SellerXpert administrator tasks. In this table, the right-hand column provides information about where to find instructions, guidelines, or tools for performing that task.
In general, the chapters in this Administrator's Guide are presented in the order that you should perform the tasks when setting up your BuyerXpert/SellerXpert environment:
Set up access.
Set up your resources.
Set up your business rules.
Set up taxation, if applicable.
Set up catalogs.
Configure reports.
Implementation planning details and a number of configuration procedures are contained in the Deployment Guide.
Administration Tools
All user-level tasks are accomplished using a web-based graphical user interface (the User interface). Administrator-level tasks are accomplished using the graphical administrative interface (Admin interface), the User interface, and various other tools.
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Note
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The Admin interface online Help contains procedures and reference material associated with the tasks that can be performed using the interface screens. Procedures for individual tasks are also contained in the User interface Help.
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Table 1-2 lists the tools available to you and the tasks you can perform using them.
Table 1-2 Administration Tools
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Tool
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Task You Do with Tool
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User interface
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Verify changes made using the Admin interface.
Track requisition and order status.
Troubleshoot user problems.
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Admin interface
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Administer access and security.
Manage data.
Monitor processes.
Troubleshoot administrative problems.
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Reports
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Track productivity, spending, activity, requisitions, and so on.
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Import utility
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Import product, membership, and system data.
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Upgrade utility
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Migrate your data to a new version of BuyerXpert.
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Catalog Manager
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Manage catalogs; create catalog data.
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Process Manager
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Set up approval processes (BuyerXpert only).
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BuyerXpert/SellerXpert logs
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Review for successful completion of importing.
Gather troubleshooting data.
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Command line utilities
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Import product, membership, and system data.
Tune the system.
Troubleshoot problems.
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UNIX
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Manage system components
Backup and restore data
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Stopping and Starting BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Components
Depending on what task you need to accomplish, you may have to stop or restart your BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system. It is important that you perform the steps for these tasks in the correct order.
Stopping the BuyerXpert/SellerXpert System
Shut down BuyerXpert/SellerXpert.
% IAS-ROOT/ias/bin/KIVAes.sh stop
Shut down the Directory Server.
% LDAP-ROOT/slapd-instance-name/stop-slapd
Shut down the iPlanet Application Server.
% IAS-ROOT/slapd-machine-name/stop-slapd
% IAS-ROOT/stop-admin
Shut down the iPlanet Web Server.
% IWS-ROOT/https-machine-name.red.iplanet.com/stop
% IWS-ROOT/https-admserv/stop
Starting/Restarting the BuyerXpert/SellerXpert System
Start the iPlanet Web Server.
% IWS-ROOT/https-admserv/start
% IWS-ROOT/https-machine-name.red.iplanet.com/start
Start the iPlanet Application Server.
% IAS-ROOT/slapd-machine-name/start-slapd
% IAS-ROOT/start-admin
Start the Directory Server.
% LDAP-ROOT/slapd-instance-name/start-slapd
Start BuyerXpert/SellerXpert.
% IAS-ROOT/ias/bin/KIVAes.sh start
Guidelines for Restoring Data
One of your most important responsibilities is protecting your data. This includes the following:
Oracle database data
LDAP directory data
Staged update files
Customization files
If you have a DBA on site, the database will have its own backup schedule. However, if you are planning to put import files or customization files into production, you will need to coordinate with the DBA to make sure that all backups are current before overwriting anything. This also applies to the LDAP data, if it is administered by a person other than yourself.
When to Restore the Oracle Database
The most commonly required restoration of data is the Oracle database. You might need to restore Oracle data if:
You are upgrading BuyerXpert
You are planning to manipulate data directly in LDAP or through SQL in Oracle
You are conducting periodic maintenance
When to Restore LDAP Data
LDAP data restoration is needed if:
The data is corrupted
The system must be restored to a previous state after an unsuccessful upgrade or unsuccessful data manipulation
When to Restore Customizations
The main situation that will require you to restore customizations that your organization has made is during an upgrade. You will need to first make backup copies of your customizations, and then restore them after you have upgraded your system to the latest version.
*Administrator's Role in Upgrading
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Note
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An asterisk (*) at the beginning of a chapter name or heading indicates that the material applies to BuyerXpert only.
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When hardware or software is being upgraded in your BuyerXpert environment, you must plan carefully so that your data is protected and users are impacted as little as possible. Although the actual upgrading is done by your iPlanet representative, you are responsible for protecting your data and keeping your users informed and productive. Full instructions for upgrading from one version of BuyerXpert to another are contained in the Upgrade Guide.
In general, it is good practice to schedule upgrading activities to take place during non-critical hours. If the upgrade is a long process, you will need to plan for multiple phases of implementation.
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It is crucial that you back up your entire system before any upgrading steps are started.
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*Administrator's Role in Upgrading Software
When your BuyerXpert system is initially installed, three environments are set up:
Staging
Development
Production
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Software upgrading is usually done on either your staging or development system, never directly on your production system. After you have verified that the upgrade is successful on the staging system, the upgrade can then be implemented to your BuyerXpert production environment.
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The following types of upgrading can be done to the BuyerXpert software:
New version upgrade
Service pack upgrade
Developer customizations done by a programmer
Customizations done by you
*New Version Upgrade
When you are upgrading to a new version of the BuyerXpert software, follow the instructions in the Upgrade Guide.
*Service Pack Upgrade
When you are upgrading to a service pack release of the BuyerXpert software, follow the instructions in the release notes for the service pack.
Administrator's Role in Upgrading Hardware
Observe the following guidelines when adding or upgrading hardware in your environment:
Back up all databases, LDAP, and other data sources.
Stop the web server, LDAP server, Oracle server, applications server, and any other servers.
Restart all servers.
Verify functionality of the upgrade.
Notify users of what happened, what's different, and so on.