This chapter covers the following topics:
The upgrade to Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 introduces a number of technical changes to the architecture and technology stack. The method by which Oracle E-Business Suite is patched has also changed with Release 12.2. This section will provide an overview of the key technical impact and changes introduced with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2.
The upgrade process introduces changes to the system architecture and the way you administer and patch the system after the upgrade. This section provides an overview of key technical changes introduced with the upgrade.
Additional Resources: Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts contains a complete discussion of the architecture in this release, including information about the Oracle E-Business Suite multi-tiered architecture, enhancements, language support, file system structure, and the basic data model.
Two complete file systems are always present in an Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 environment. It is important to distinguish between the file system (fs1 or fs2) itself and its current role, which alternates between 'patch' and 'run' with every patching cycle.
The 'run' file system is the current system in use by the running application, while the 'patch' file system is the other system being patched or awaiting the start of the next online patching cycle.
The dual file system approach caters to application code, but applications also use the file system to read and write business data. In Release 12.2, application data files are stored in a third area, the non-editioned file system (fs_ne), which is used to store data that is needed across all file systems. Non-editioned files are not copied or moved during patching. Their location remains constant across online patching cycles.
The application tier has a dual role: hosting the various servers and service groups that process the business logic, and managing communication between the desktop tier and the database tier. The architecture of this tier (unlike that of the database and desktop tiers) has changed significantly in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2.
Three servers or service groups comprise the basic application tier for Oracle E-Business Suite:
Web services
Forms services
Concurrent Processing server
In Release 12.2, Web and Forms services are provided by Oracle Application Server. They are no longer servers in the sense of being a single process.
The Web services component of Oracle Application Server processes requests received over the network from the desktop clients, and includes the following major components:
Web Listener (Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache)
Java Servlet Engine (Oracle WebLogic Server, WLS)
The Web listener component of the Oracle HTTP server accepts incoming HTTP requests (for particular URLs) from client browsers, and routes the requests to WLS. When possible, the Web server services the requests itself. For example, returning the HTML to construct a simple Web page. If the page referenced by the URL requires advanced processing, then the listener passes the request on to the servlet engine which contacts the database server as needed.
An important change in Release 12.2 is the employment of the Oracle WebLogic Server for many system management and configuration tasks. Configuration using the Oracle WLS Console in Release 12.2 supplements, but does not replace the traditional use of the AutoConfig tool. Together, these tools provide comprehensive management capabilities for a Release 12.2 system.
It is important to understand the role of each and how they complement one another.
Additional Resources: See the Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts Guide Release 12.2 and the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 Setup Guide for additional information regarding WebLogic Server and AutoConfig.
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 uses two application tier ORACLE_HOMEs. The first is the OracleAS ORACLE_HOME, and the second is the Oracle Fusion Middleware (FMW) ORACLE_HOME.. This combination enables Oracle E-Business Suite to take advantage of the latest Oracle technologies.
Notable features of this architecture include:
The Oracle E-Business Suite modules are deployed out of the OracleAS 10.1.2 ORACLE_HOME, and the frmweb executable is also invoked out of this ORACLE_HOME.
All major services are started out of the FMW ORACLE_HOME.
Key changes from earlier releases include:
The FMW ORACLE_HOME (sometimes referred to as the Web or Java ORACLE_HOME) replaces the OracleAS 10.1.3.-based ORACLE_HOME used in Oracle E-Business Suite 12.x releases prior to 12.2.
On the database tier, the technology stack includes:
Oracle Database 12c Release 1 (12.1.0.2)
On the application tier, the technology stack includes:
Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g PS7 (11.1.1.9.0)
Oracle WebLogic Server 11g PS5
Oracle WebLogic JSP compiler
Oracle FMW 11g Java Required Files (JRF) libraries (except the use of ADF and MDS 11g)
Oracle WebLogic Portlet 11g PS3 Container
JDK 7.0
Apache version 2.2
Oracle 10g (10.1.2) Applications Server for Oracle E-Business Suite Forms based Applications
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 introduces Online Patching, a new feature that greatly reduces the downtime that was needed in previous releases for application of Release Update Packs (RUPs), Critical Patch Updates (CPUs), and other patches and bug fixes of various kinds.
Key Features
In Release 12.2, all patching operations are carried out while the applications are in use and users are online.
Patching is performed using the new adop (AD Online Patching) utility.
A short period of downtime is required, but this amounts to little more than a restart of the services: the time the applications are unavailable is measured in minutes rather than hours, and this can be specified to be at the most convenient time.
Note: The classic patching model is designed to minimize downtime by running as fast as possible, using whatever resources are needed. In contrast, the online patching model is designed to minimize downtime by allowing patching operations to be performed while users remain on the system.
Principles
In essence, online patching is performed as follows:
A copy is made of the running system.
Patches are applied to the copy while users continue to access the running system.
Transparently to users, the copy becomes the new running system.
What was the original running system (now obsolete) is deleted.
This introduces the concept of a patching cycle that consists of several phases, in contrast to the model used in previous releases. These phases are denoted prepare, apply, finalize, cutover, and cleanup.
Note: For more information about online patching principles, see Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts.
Implementation
Any mechanism that uses a copy of the running application must take into account that an Oracle E-Business Suite application comprises both code and data, stored in the file system and database.
The file system is the easier of the two to cater for, simply requiring an additional copy to be created and maintained. The resulting dual file system consists of one file system that is used by the running system and another one that is either currently being patched, or (as will be the case for most of the time) standing ready to be patched. The two file systems swap roles at the end of each patching cycle, with the transition between them being managed by AutoConfig.
Creating a copy of the database portion of the running applications system is more complex. It has been accomplished by taking advantage of the Oracle Database 11g R2 Edition-Based Redefinition (EBR) feature. This allows an application to efficiently store multiple copies (editions) of its application definition in the same database, and thereby enables online upgrade of the database tier.
The database patch edition only comes into existence during a patching cycle, and becomes the new run edition at end of the cycle. The former database run edition (the old edition) and the obsolete objects it contains are discarded at the end of a patching cycle, and the space reclaimed during the cleanup phase.
Tools
Patching is performed by running the new adop (AD online patching) tool. This tool invokes the adpatch utility that was run directly in previous releases of Oracle E-Business Suite.
Warning: Running adpatch directly is not supported in an online patching environment, except under explicit instruction from Oracle.
The adop tool orchestrates the entire patching cycle, and can be used to run individual phases as required.
Note: For full details of adop features and options, refer to the Patching section of Oracle E-Business Suite Maintenance Guide.
There are also implications for general (non-patching) maintenance activities.
Additional Resources: For information on choosing the appropriate file system to run AD tools from, refer to: Choosing the Correct File System For Maintenance Tasks in Chapter 7 of the Oracle E-Business Suite Maintenance Guide, Release 12.2.
Additional Information: For additional information, refer to: Online Patching, Oracle E-Business Suite Concepts, Release 12.2.
Customized environments require additional attention during an upgrade. The instructions in this guide assume that you have followed the standards for customizing Oracle E-Business Suite.
Suggested Reading: See the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 Developer's Guide and the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 User Interface Standards guide for additional information regarding customization standards.
Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 introduces a new set of compliance, code, and patching standards that customizations must adhere to. The Online Patching Readiness Reports provide a set of utilities that report any compliance issues.
Suggested Reading: Refer to Using the Online Patching Readiness Report in Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 (Doc ID: 1531121.1) to run the Online Patching Readiness Reports.
Tip: Detailed information on preparing your customizations is covered in Chapter 3, Planning and Performing Pre-Upgrade Tasks, Preparing Customizations.
There are two levels of compliance that can be targeted:
Minimal Compliance (Minimal) - These checks represent the minimum requirement for correct operation of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2. Do not attempt to operate the system if there are P1 minimal compliance violations. Custom code should pass the minimal compliance checks before being used in a Release 12.2 system.
Full Compliance (Full) - These checks indicate whether an object can be patched using Online Patching. Objects which do not meet full compliance may have limitations in how they can be patched, or may need to be patched using downtime patching. Full compliance also requires that all minimal compliance checks are passed. Custom code that will only be patched using downtime patching does not need to meet the full compliance level.
To preserve customizations and minimize the impact during the upgrade:
Follow Oracle E-Business Suite Customizations Standards for customizing your system and upgrading your customizations.
Maintain complete documentation for customizations
Back up customizations before the upgrade
Caution: Customizing any concurrent program definitions, menus, value sets, or other seeded data provided by Oracle E-Business Suite is not supported. The upgrade process overwrites these customizations.
If you use Oracle E-Business Suite Cloud Manager to manage your environments, then refer to Upgrading Oracle E-Business Suite in Getting Started with Oracle E-Business Suite on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, My Oracle Support Knowledge Document 2517025.1. This describes important information about the use of Cloud Manager after the upgrade to Release 12.2.
In addition to the technical impact and changes described in the previous section, an upgrade also initiates specific changes that affect the way your existing products work after the upgrade, and the look and feel of the user interface. These functional (business-related) changes have an impact on the way you use the products as you conduct daily business.
Functional topics in this guide that pertain to a Release 12.2 upgrade include:
Reasons for the change and areas that benefit from new functionality
Functionality that is temporarily disabled or has been made obsolete
Changes to user interfaces, terminology or concepts, and menu options
Steps you can take to verify that all transactional data is upgraded as expected
Suggestions for reducing downtime
For some Oracle E-Business Suite products, upgrade planning includes choosing the most active set of data for upgrade processing. Then, you can upgrade historical data that was omitted from the upgrade at a later date, or when it is needed. For example, you might include only the last fiscal year in the upgrade to Release 12.2, and then upgrade the remaining data outside the 12.2 downtime window.
This section lists obsolete products in Release 12.2.
| Product Name |
|---|
| *** Oracle Balanced Scorecard |
| * Oracle CAD-View 3D |
| * Oracle Contracts Intelligence |
| Oracle Customer Intelligence (bic) |
| *** Daily Business Intelligence |
| Demand-Side Product Data Synchronization for GDSN |
| Document Management and Collaboration |
| *** Embedded Data Warehouse |
| Global Accounting Engine |
| Information Technology Audit |
| Supply-Side Product Data Synchronization for GDSN |
| * Oracle Demand Planning (obsolete in release 12.2.5) |
| * Oracle E-Business Intelligence |
| * Oracle Enterprise Planning and Budgeting |
| * Oracle Enterprise Performance Foundation |
| Oracle Financial Aid |
| * Oracle Financial Consolidation Hub |
| * Oracle Financials and Sales Analyzers |
| * Oracle Financials Intelligence |
| Oracle Funds Pricing |
| * Oracle Grants Proposal |
| * Oracle HR Intelligence |
| * Oracle Install Base Intelligence |
| * Oracle Interaction Center Intelligence |
| * Oracle Internal Controls Manager |
| * Oracle Manufacturing Scheduling (obsolete in release 12.2.5) |
| * Oracle Marketing Intelligence |
| * Oracle Operational Intelligence |
| Oracle Personal Portfolio |
| * Oracle Process Manufacturing Intelligence |
| * Oracle Procurement Intelligence |
| * Oracle Product Intelligence |
| * Oracle Product Lifecycle Management |
| * Oracle Profitability Manager |
| * Oracle Projects Intelligence |
| * Oracle Public Sector Budgeting |
| * Oracle Sales Intelligence |
| * Oracle Service Intelligence |
| ** Oracle Student Recruiting |
| ** Oracle Student Systems |
| * Oracle Supply Chain and Order Management Intelligence |
| * Oracle Transportation Execution |
| * Oracle Transportation Planning |
| Web Analytics Daily Business Intelligence for iStore |
* A migration plan exists for customers who have purchased these products in earlier releases. Contact your Sales Representative or Account Manager for more information.
** Customers continuing to use Oracle Student Recruiting and Oracle Student Systems should not upgrade to this release.
Support will be provided to existing customers on earlier releases, in accordance with the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy.
*** Oracle's Daily Business Intelligence (DBI), Balanced Scorecard (BSC), and Embedded Data Warehouse (EDW) are not offered with Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2. Support will be provided to existing customers on Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.x, 12.0.x and older versions of DBI, BSC, and EDW according to Oracle's published lifetime support policies.
Additional Information: For additional information, refer to DBI: Announcing the Desupport of Daily Business Intelligence (DBI), Balanced Scorecard (BSC), and Embedded Data Warehouse (EDW) (Doc ID: 1351505.1) on My Oracle Support.
An Applications upgrade alters both the technical and functional aspects of your Oracle E-Business Suite system. In addition to changes to the technology stack and file system, an upgrade also initiates specific changes that affect the way your existing products work after the upgrade and the way they look and feel. These functional changes have an impact on the way you use the products as you conduct your daily business.
Note: This section describes some of the ways in which the upgrade changes your existing products. Oracle assumes that you have read about the new features and products delivered in this release that are included in the product-specific Release Content Documents (RCDs) and TOI, on My Oracle Support.
The discussions of the functional aspects of the upgrade in this section are arranged by products within the Financials and Procurement product family.
Changes to the products in this section affect Financials and Procurement products. Before you begin the upgrade, your Financials and Procurement application specialists should have made plans to accommodate the relevant changes.
This section is applicable to those scenarios where historical release 11i data was not completely upgraded to release 12 during Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.0 and Release 12.1 upgrades. You can upgrade this data anytime, or after upgrading to Release 12.2. For more information, refer to SLA: Upgrade Historical Subledger Transaction Accounting Program (XLAONDEUPG) (Doc ID: 1376752.1) and Oracle E-Business Suite Upgrade Guide - Release 11i to 12.2.
Changes to Oracle Advanced Collections in the upgrade are described in this section.
Multiple Level Strategy Support
Advanced Collections allows you to define different strategy levels by Operating Unit separate from the System level. The strategy levels can also be overridden at Party level. Advanced Collections supports the setting for certain Operating Units by Dunning and certain Operating Units by Strategy.
Stage Dunning Support
Advanced Collections supports the Staged Dunning method separate from the Days Overdue method. In addition, while creating Overdue Dunning Plans, you can specify the Include Current, Include Disputed Items, Include Unapplied Receipts, and Use Grace Days options.
Collections Manager Functionality
Collections Manager Functionality has been rewritten using OA Framework which allows sorting and filtering for a particular account.
New Scoring Engines
A new scoring engine is seeded with Pre-delinquency status at Invoice level. In addition, a Quick scoring engine has been added that only processes invoices closed in the last 60 days rather than all invoices. You can test the Scoring Engine for a particular account from the Collections Scoring Admin window instead of running the batch program to verify the score engine setup.
Strategy Improvements
Advanced Collections allows editing of 'To be created' work items. The 'To be created' work items in the current strategy can be overwritten with new Pre-wait/Post-waits and Collector without creating new Work Items.
Improved Disbursements and Payables
oklupdpassthrupaydate.sql: This script updates the contracts having a NULL pass-through pay start date. It updates the pass-through pay start date with the Effective from date of Fee/Service.
oklcrctptpaygrouppmntterm.sql: This script identifies contracts having a NULL pay group or payment term for base and evergreen pass-through terms, and updates those values based on supplier and supplier site setup. If the supplier setup does not exist, then it defaults the pay group and payment term appropriately.
Improved Customer Billing
oklupdinvfrmtid.sql: This script upgrades the contract billing invoice format rules and replaces the invoice format information from name to id.
oklvarast.sql: This script upgrades interest billing streams with stream purposes VARIABLE_INTEREST, INTEREST_CATCHUP and VARIABLE_LOAN_PAYMENT. It historicizes the contract level streams and generates streams at the asset level by prorating the contract level streams. It also upgrades the calculated variable rate parameters to be at asset level by prorating the contract level calculated variable rate parameters.
Improved Pricing
oklupdincomefee.sql: This script upgrades contracts that have Income Fees with a single payment. It updates the origination income on Income Fee lines with the fee line amount. Incomes fees with recurring payments continue to have origination income as NULL.
Improved Contract Authoring
oklreamg.sql: This script upgrades contracts that have re-leased assets. It updates the re-leased asset indicator for assets based on the re-leased asset indicator on the contract header.
okltxsalmg.sql: This script upgrades contracts that have not yet been booked, including contracts undergoing revision that have not yet been completed. It updates the salvage value for tax books in the internal asset transaction tables based on salvage value rules applicable to the tax book.
This section describes the way the upgrade affects your existing Oracle Human Resource Management System (HRMS) products, and highlights the impact of these functional changes on your day-to-day business. This section contains products in the HRMS product family, arranged alphabetically.
An Applications upgrade alters both the technical and functional aspects of your Oracle E-Business Suite system. In addition to changes to the technology stack and file system, an upgrade also initiates specific changes that affect the way your existing products work after the upgrade, and the way they look and feel. These functional changes have an impact on the way you use the products as you conduct your daily business.
Note: This appendix describes some of the ways the upgrade changes your existing products. Oracle assumes that you have read about the new features and products delivered in this release, which is included in the product-specific Release Content Documents (RCDs) and TOI on My Oracle Support.
The discussions of the functional aspects of the upgrade in this chapter are arranged by products within the HRMS product family.
Your HRMS applications specialists should be completely familiar with the information in this section and should make appropriate plans to accommodate the associated changes before you begin your upgrade.
Sparse Matrix
Sparse Matrix functionality is automatically enabled in Release 12.2. This effectively prevents the creation of null run result values if all run result values are null for the given run result. There is no need to run the ENABLE_SPARSE_MATRIX upgrade program.
Review the Sparse Matrix Null Result Values Upgrade program.
It is enabled for each legislation and requires a row in the pay_upgrade_legislations table for the definition SPARSE_MATRIX. The process purges old (null) run result values that would not have been created if the Sparse Matrix functionality had been used within the Payroll processes (such as Run, QuickPay, and so on.)
Improved Performance of the Recruitment Summary Report
To improve performance and display recruitment summary details faster when handling huge volumes of recruitment data, iRecruitment now summarizes the recruitment data into summary tables. You must run the new iRecruitment Recruitment Summary program to populate the recruitment summary data in summary tables.
This section outlines changes made to Oracle Performance Management.
Reference to Talent Management Replaced with Performance Management
Oracle Performance Management is licensed as a separate product as of June 18th, 2007. If you purchased a Self-Service HR license before June 18th, 2007 and have an Oracle Human Resources (HR) license, then you can use Oracle Performance Management. The purchase of a Self-Service HR license on or after June 18th, 2007 does not permit the use of Performance Management. You must purchase a separate Performance Management license in addition to an Oracle Self-Service HR license to use the Appraisals, Questionnaire Administration, and Objectives Management self-service functions. With this change, all references to Talent Management are replaced with Performance Management.
UI for Succession Planning
Oracle Succession Planning is a newly licensable product that is available for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1.1 customers. Oracle Succession Planning includes the following three functions:
Succession Plans
Suitability Matching
Talent Profile
An Applications upgrade alters both the technical and functional aspects of your Oracle E-Business Suite system. In addition to changes to the technology stack and file system, an upgrade also initiates specific changes that affect the way your existing products work after the upgrade and the way they look and feel. These functional changes have an impact on the way you use the products as you conduct your daily business.
Note: This appendix describes some of the ways the upgrade changes your existing products. We assume that you have read about the new features and products delivered in this release, which is included in the product-specific Release Content Documents (RCDs) and TOI on My Oracle Support.
The discussions of the functional aspects of the upgrade in this chapter are arranged by products within the Supply Chain Management product family.
If you are using Oracle Process Manufacturing's Formula Security functionality, then you must temporarily turn off Formula Security when upgrading to 12.2, and turn it back on after the upgrade.
Changes for Oracle Product Hub (previously known as Oracle Product Information Management or PIM) are described in this section.
In prior releases, you could only update structure attributes for common structures (also known as common bills of material) in the source bill. You can now edit structure attributes, and can have different values from the source bill. These attribute fields include:
Operation Seq.
Include in Cost Rollup
Supply Type
Subinventory
Locator
You can choose to change these attributes when you create a new common structure, change an existing common structure, or add or update a common structure when using the Bill Import open interface program.
The profile option EGO: Enable Oracle Collaborative Development should not be enabled from Release 12 onwards.
You can now only update structure and component attribute values using the Product Workbench.
Suggested Reading: For additional information, refer to Editing Structure Information in the Oracle Product Hub User's Guide.
The advanced search function has been enhanced so that searches using the operator “contains” are now case-insensitive.
Columns created within a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet during the information export process now match the column formats of the display format selected.
Item Organization Assignments
In prior releases, when assigning items to organizations, some of the item primary attributes were defaulted from the master item during organization assignment and could not be changed. In this release, you can now edit the following attributes during organization assignment:
Tracking
Pricing
Secondary Unit of Measure
Defaulting
Positive Deviation Factor
Negative Deviation Factor
Simplified Item Creation Process
The item creation process in releases prior to 12.1.1 involved multiple steps and different user interfaces. You can now create one or more items using a one-step process for entering basic item information. You can then go to the item's Overview page to provide additional details.
Ad-hoc New Item Request
As of Release 12.1.1, the new item request process enables users to create items and then submit a new item request for the item or group of items at a later date. The new item request is no longer created automatically at the end of the item creation process. This enables a user to work on an item or set of items as a draft, then request further definition and approval using workflow when appropriate.
Versioning of Item Catalog Categories and Value Sets
You can now create versions for item catalog categories and certain types of value sets. Versioning is possible only if the profile option Enable PIM for Telco Features is set to Yes. For versioning pre-upgrade item catalog categories, see the post-upgrade tasks section. For versioned item catalog categories, only transaction attributes and structures can be maintained within versions.
Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN)
Both Demand-Side Product Data Synchronization for GDSN and Supply-Side Product Data Synchronization for GDSN are obsolete. Functionality related to this is not visible.
Value Set Security
When you initially install or upgrade Oracle Product Hub to Release 12.2.4 or later, users cannot view, insert or update any value set values. You must explicitly set up access for specific users by enabling appropriate grants and roles for those users.
Suggested Reading: Refer to Flexfield Value Set Security, Oracle E-Business Suite Flexfields Guide.
Additional Information
For additional information, refer to the Oracle Product Hub Implementation Guide and the Oracle Product Hub User's Guide.
This section discusses some important considerations for managing your translations, languages, and character sets during the upgrade.
Additional space for each non-American English language will be required in the database to complete the upgrade. It is not possible to predict the amount of additional space your system will need, because the space depends on factors such as the database character set, the number of active languages other than American English, and in particular the volume of transaction data in the system.
Conditional Action: For the recommended minimum space required for each active language in the APPL_TOP, see the Oracle E-Business Suite NLS Release Notes for your release level.
You must retain your existing Applications Release status until the entire upgrade process (including the post-upgrade and finishing steps) is complete. The base language must also remain the same, and new languages cannot be activated.
After the upgrade process is complete, you can activate new languages or change the base language. Oracle does not support disabling or removing installed or enabled languages.
Conditional Action: See Adding and Maintaining NLS Languages section in Oracle E-Business Suite Maintenance Guide.
You cannot set the APPL_TOP character set. It is automatically set to the same value you selected as the db character set.
Additional Information: Refer to License Manager in the Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 Maintenance Guide and Migrating to Unicode in the Globalization Guide for Oracle Applications Release 12 (Doc ID: 393861.1)
Before you prepare your system and product data, you should gather information about the upgrade process, the tools required, the number and types of tasks involved, and the way your system and products will look in Release 12.2.
It is very important that you read the documentation associated with this release. In addition, you may also find it useful to review any presentation materials on upgrade technology and white papers on Multi-org, and links to various Consulting services as well as Oracle University training courses.
Application specialists and functional users should pay special attention to the Release Content Documents (RCDs), Electronic Technical Reference Manuals (eTRMs), and Transfer of Information (TOI) documentation for the products that are active in your system. This information describes new features and functionality in Release 12.2.